A Fear And Loathing-esque road trip journey is elevated and driven by powerful and heartfelt performances for a story about friendship, history, love, and regret.
D. Halpern’s story starts off with a return to nostalgia through camcorder video tapes. Well edited and shot by designer Seamus Easton, the beginning montage evokes feelings of past childhoods, the friends made and adventures undertaken. It is then we meet two nameless old friends in a car, played by Canadian Theatre legends Walter Borden and Scott Wentworth. These two are on a journey with a collection of drugs that made me first think of that inventory scene in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. But, rather than a satirical take on excess, this collection is for a far deeper purpose.
In the intimate space of Red Sandcastle Theatre, movement is limited particularly with the impressive set and car design by Sahana Dharmaraj and Kevan Cress. However, the expanse of the desert of this road trip is brought to life by the projections of Cress and works to show the scale of the world in a very intimate story. Lighting design by Cress and Lidia Foote and sound design by Ashley Naomi Skye also do their part in painting a wide expanse in the space, while never letting the characters be lost in it.
Halpern’s story takes a familiar route of two best friends, reminiscing about their childhoods, retreading old hurts, revealing lifelong secrets, judging each other’s pasts and presents, finding comfort in each other. They poke and prod at each other. They embrace. They fight. They make judgements. They gossip as if they were teens again. They come close and push apart. They know each other’s weak points and how to stab them exactly right. This is narrative territory that has been covered before but Halpern does it in such a way that never feels like it is just treading water and there is variety in this journey as it goes towards a sobering end. It is a journey that finds heart in the performances of Borden and Wentworth.
Borden and Wentworth’s chemistry is so solid, so full of life and connection, that I look at this journey and say this is just them in an alternate timeline. They flip from loving embrace to fiery anger to sassy judgement to warm comfort to heartbreaking love as natural as breathing. These are two performances that reminded me of what makes acting great. The simplicity of it all when done right. The beauty that comes from two not just actors but two people just being in the space and listening to each other and moving with an open heart. They kept me engaged throughout the entire piece and the connections they have with each other and the story, connected me to them.
Heart. That is one word I would use to describe this piece. The openness of the heart to be on stage with another person and actively exist with them. The heart to be vulnerable. The heart to tell an honest story about regret, childhood, love, loss. The heart to acknowledge vulnerability and the heart to say that sometimes all one needs is just someone to be with them.