Playwrights Theatre Centre (Granville Island, Vancouver)

Workshop production of Murray Logan's Power Lines

A review by June Heywood

"Power Lines" is a dark play about lines of power and greed within family relationships. It is a work in progress with potential that played to a small audience at the Playwrights Theatre Centre Studio in Vancouver on February 12th.

The action centres on a visit by Tom (Steven Hill) and Alise (Lois Anderson) to the home of Brian (Forbes Angus) and Rachael (Deborah Williams). Although the cast is strong (especially Lois Anderson as Alise), this play lacks clarity and is overburdened with too many topics. Within the 80 minutes of show time, conversation covers a name change, greed, betrayal, family, high voltage electricity, a fire arm, murder, resurrection, real estate prices, alcoholism and impotence. By the end of the play, the four characters show no morality, saving grace, or possibility of redemption. The potential for "Power Lines" lies in having a clear vision of the message delivered through a script which defines the characters and brings the action to a firm conclusion.