(Posted 27/04/07)
ENCORE! pulls off marvelously tangled web of a play
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online

Eli Fay, played by Albert Nassrallah, looks out a window for his estranged mother Madame Fay during a scene in the ENCORE! Theatre production of 'The Killdeer' being presented this week at the Orleans Theatre. Fred Sherwin/Photo

It was Sir Walter Scott who first wrote the words "Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive".

I can only imagine James Reaney had that same thought in mind when he sat down to write "The Killdeer", a wonderfully complex play about a sociopath cosmetics saleswoman, her estranged son and her sister's daughter whose family was murdered by the cosmetic lady's husband when he found out she ran off to Buffalo with her sister's husband. I told you it was complex.

The ENCORE! Theatre Company's production of "The Killdeer", which recently wrapped up after three nights at the Orleans Theatre, is actually a tremendously engaging play and a wonderful character study revolving around four main people – Madame Fay, the cosmetics lady, played by Kathleen Shore; her son Eli Fay, played by Albert Nassrallah; Rebecca Lortimer-Fay, played by Maryse Darch; and Harry Gardner, played by Patrick Villeneuve who is also the play's student director.

The play opens in the home of Mrs. Gardner, played by Karine Longpré, who is being solicited by Madame Fay. A God-fearing church-goer, Mrs. Gardner has no use for beauty products, but when she recognizes Fay's face from an old newspaper story her curiosity gets the better of her and she buys a couple of things in order to get Fay to admit her role in the scandal.

It's through the story that we first learn of her childlike 19-year-old son Eli and her sister's daughter Rebecca.

In the second scene, the audience is introduced to Mrs. Gardner's son Harry, a bank employee whose only wish is to get out from underneath his mother's suffocating omnipotent presence in his life. He gets his chance when his boss invites him to a dinner party during which the boss' daughter proposes to him.

But young Harry also has eyes for Rebecca who earns a living raising hens and selling their eggs. Alas, Rebecca is already bequeathed to Eli who fate has thrown together with a little help from Harry's guardian Clifford Hopkins.

When Hopkins turns up murdered, Harry, Rebecca and Eli are thrown together through fate and circumstance when one of them is accused of killing him.

But what of Madame Fay, the women responsible for creating this tangled web? What role does she play in its unraveling? Well, as it turns, she killed Hopkins and tried to make it look like Rebecca did it. What she doesn't know is that it was Hopkins who told Eli to go over to the Lortimer house to see what his father had done to Rebecca's family before killing himself all those years ago, answering the question that Madame Fay asked her at the beginning of the play -- how dod her husband find out about her running off with her sister's family..

As for the performances, they were all great. I especially liked Nassrallah as the childlike Eli Fay. The final scene in which Eli comes out of his shell is brilliant, as is the birthday scene with Rebecca and Harry Gardner.

The entire play is set in the Gardener house, which is a no small feat in itself. Most of the action takes place off stage, both figuratively and literally, as the actors come and go down the theatre aisles.

Rounding out the cast members are Fiona Watts as Mrs. Budge, Hayden Smith as Clifford Hopkins, Mariti Lord as Mrs. Delta, Nathalie-Anne Allard as the cleaning lady and Tyler and Sydney Smith as the children.

"The Killdeer" is the first in a series of works being presented by Orleans Young Players entitled OYP "PLAYS” Reaney Student Showcase. James Reaney is an award winning playwright best known for penning the trilogy"The Black Donnellys".

The theatre school will be staging 26 different productions over the next six weeks that were either written or inspired by Reaney. The initiative is part of a longer term effort to celebrate Canadian playwrights by integrating their work into the school's programming.

Harry Gardner, played by Patrick Villeneuve, tries to comfort Eli Fay, played by Albert Nassrallah, during a scene in the ENCORE! Theatre production of 'The Killdeer' on this week at the Orleans Theatre. Fred Sherwin/Photo

(This story was made possible thanks to the generous support of our local business partners.)

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