Bingo! She Says / He Says
A story of sentimental nostalgia and belly busting
humour has travelled from a Guysborough, Nova Scotia stage to Neptune Theatre’s
Fountain Hall. Daniel MacIvor’s Bingo! premiered last year at Mulgrave Road
Theatre and plays an encore (with the entire original cast) in Halifax until
November 4th.“Welcome Back Class of ‘82” reads a sign suspended from the ceiling and Kiss’ “Rock and Roll All Nite” fills the room, as five Cape Bretoners come back together for their high school reunion. No more are the days of mixed cassette tapes or smoking in the local bar, but their three-decade old nicknames, as well as the rules for their own personal drinking game, have remained.
Insecure and ditsy Bitsy (Heather Rankin), tough postal carrier Boots (Emmy Alcorn), party animal Heffer (Ryan Rogerson), nerdy Nurk (John Beale) and alpha dog Dookie (Marty Burt) become more and more intoxicated the night before the reunion, skimming off the layers of high school personas to reveal secrets and true colours.
Friday night’s audience gave MacIvor’s play a stunning review. The crowd did not simply giggle but often broke into uproarious laughter and impromptu applause so much so that it was sometimes difficult to hear the next line. This is not to say that the actors botched their pacing. In fact all five were nearly flawless in this respect, as well as at embracing their characters during more serious scenes. Rankin’s timing and technique were particularly impressive (one drunken scene where she had to act like she was a terrible singer was quite entertaining) suggesting her stage presence exceeds her musical talent and fame.
Whether you finished high school in the 80s, decades before or have yet to graduate, Bingo! promises a fun night out, offering you two hours of escape from the hum drum or stress of daily life. ~ Michelle Brunet
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Daniel
MacIvor’s Bingo! tells the tale of
five forty-somethings re-connecting for their 30th High School
reunion. Dookie (Marty Burt) and Nurk (John Beale) have moved away to
successful careers, while the others have remained ‘home’.
Drinks
and remember-whens flow freely as scenes shifts from a Sydney hotel room to the
local bar and back again. Old cassettes are thrown into a ‘boom-box’, with
characters singing along to the soundtrack of their teen years.
Unlike the baby-boomers of The Big Chill, however, these Gen-Xers lack the societal milestones of reference, instead slipping stealthily though the icy cracks of age with marriage, children, and monthly car/mortgage payments.
Still,
prevailing themes of lost innocence and faded dreams are true to all
generations, making this production relevant and relatable – everyone over the
age of forty has asked the question ‘How
did I get here, and where am I going?’
MacIvor’s
replies ring familiar; ‘this didn’t turn out the way I expected’, ‘no more first
times for anything’, ‘nothing lasts’, ‘people get used to everything’, ‘happiness
is fleeting’ and ‘we are Kings who forgot we were once Princes’.
Later
lamenting the fading health of their parents, the five friends reflect upon the
inevitability of their own decline.
Heady
topics, indeed, but brilliantly offset by the Cape Breton playwright’s hearty,
home spun humour; the laughs are a mile-a-minute, with well-worn jokes
re-worked to sound fresh and funny. In particular, Heather Rankin’s ditsy Bitsy
steals smiles (and hearts) with her quirky, perky persona. Ryan Rogerson also
shines as the lovable Heffer, the perennial party-boy who bickers and banters
with the bittersweet Boots, played to near-perfection by Emmy Alcorn.
The
real draw here, however, is the dialogue; fluid, and with a healthy dose of
regional nuance, the dialect successfully bridges the gap between performers
and audience, smashing the ‘fourth wall’ with a sure mix of sass and sentiment.
To
that end, each performer enjoys a short soliloquy at centre stage, doling out
opinions and observations on the tiny details that make up the bigger picture
of our daily lives. In doing so, we are reminded that the aging process
includes trading in our telescopes for magnifying glasses. ~ Stephen Patrick Clare
Bingo! until November 4
at the Neptune Theatre in Halifax.
