Billy (The Days of Howling), (A Play, a Pie and a Pint), Traverse

We each have our own ways of doing wrong.  And often of doing so unintentionally.

The three characters in this drama weave their often disconnected monologues through each others, as events bring them together.  Billy's Dad, rough and ready and red of neck.  Alice's Mum, so prim and proper and certain.  The Admin Lady, bitter and twisted and petty.  All three make judgements about others, all three get it wrong.  Sometimes with serious consequences.  As the connections between the trio become clearer the mistakes take shape, the misconceptions and stereotypes and conviction of rightness causing unforeseen damage.

The storyline, leading to its twisted end, goes at a cracking pace, riding over the snowbound Canadian landscape that is implanted in our minds, and it comes a surprise to realise that fifty minutes has passed, so absorbing is the flow of words.  We get to see people we all recognise, and parts of ourselves we choose to forget.  The superficial and capricious critiques of others we know little of as human beings, the assumptions we make that hide realities and disconnect us from those people who are 'not like us', the rash actions that override thoughtfulness.

All three actors give strong portrayals, with Hilary Lyon's cynical Admin Lady perhaps the pick of the trio, and the direction and minimalist set help highlight the power of the script and draw out a powerful ensemble performance.  Powerful and thought provoking.