{"id":16158,"date":"2018-07-11T10:04:19","date_gmt":"2018-07-11T17:04:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=16158"},"modified":"2018-07-11T10:13:15","modified_gmt":"2018-07-11T17:13:15","slug":"the-drawer-boy-delivers-laughter-and-tears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2018\/07\/11\/the-drawer-boy-delivers-laughter-and-tears\/","title":{"rendered":"The Drawer Boy<\/em> delivers laughter and tears"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two things I wish I had known about Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre\u2019s current production of The Drawer Boy<\/em>: one, it\u2019s pronounced drawer (like an artist), not drawer (like the thing in a desk); two, bring tissues\u2014lots of tissues.<\/p>\n

Even though Michael Healey\u2019s play is considered a landmark in Canadian theatre, I must admit I had never heard of The Drawer\u00a0<\/em>Boy\u00a0<\/em>until recently. With a cast of three and a single set, I did not have high hopes that it would hold my attention over the evening.<\/p>\n

I was wrong.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The Drawer Boy<\/em> is considered a Canadian classic, and it\u2019s on now at Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre (photo by Jam Hamidi).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The play\u2019s set of a minimally furnished kitchen, framed by studs and 2x4s, is a visual metaphor for the stripped-down simplicity and raw realness of The Drawer Boy<\/em>. The occasional twangy country tune and chicken sound effects were pumped through the sound system to create atmosphere without being overbearing.<\/p>\n

With a lack of visual movement, the task fell on the actors to create colour and texture with their storytelling skills. The three men tasked with this mind-boggling mission (not to mention the amount of dialogue, including a few multiple-minute monologues, they had to deal with) did so with grace and effortlessness.<\/p>\n

Griffin Leonard Lea was charming as the earnest, young Miles, and Michael Armstrong brought me to tears as the well-meaning Morgan. The heart of the show belongs to the character of Angus, played by actor Gary Farmer. Farmer gutted me more than once as the simple man with a captivating complexity.<\/p>\n

The three together were engaging, and their chemistry was well balanced, with each taking a turn at stealing a scene\u2014none of which felt overly contrived, thanks to the minimalist direction of Jacob Richmond. In the few instances where the acting felt forced, the actors quickly found their feet again, settling back into the simmering subtilty for a vast majority of the show.<\/p>\n

From the brilliant writing to the understated directing and organic acting, the slow build of The Drawer Boy\u00a0<\/em>from heart-warming humor to soul-splintering heartache is a steady burn that will stick with me long after the run of Blue Bridge Repertory\u2019s production is complete.<\/p>\n

The Drawer Boy
\n<\/em>Various times,\u00a0until Sunday, July 15
\nVarious prices, Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre
\nbluebridgetheatre.ca<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two things I wish I had known about Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre\u2019s current production of The Drawer Boy: one, it\u2019s pronounced drawer (like an artist), not drawer (like the thing in a desk); two, bring tissues\u2014lots of tissues. Even though Michael Healey\u2019s play is considered a landmark in Canadian theatre, I must admit I had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16132,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-webexclusive"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16158"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16159,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16158\/revisions\/16159"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}