Arts Club Theatre
Morris
Panych's
The Dishwashers
Dates 23 February - 12 March 2005 Venue Granville Island Stage
Reviewer Erin Jane
|
Ted Cole and Stephen E. Miller |
Vancouver Playwright Anosh Irani said of Morris Panych, “Morris magnifies the mundane until it is both tragic and comic.” Panych's The Dishwashers does just that. With only four characters and one set, it creates a picture of an entire world outside of the dank restaurant basement where the play occurs.
The play is about three dishwashers working in an industrial-looking dish area of a large, expensive restaurant. Two veteran dishwashers are welcoming a third member of the dishwashing team, referred to as “the New Guy” – because only a significant amount of trust earned can win him the honour of being called by his actual name, “Emmett.”
Thus, a play full of witty and intellectual banter ensues. Stephen E. Miller plays the forceful role of Dressler, the gruff and tough boss-man who posits that in the basement of the restaurant, everyone is of the same class. His disgust of the upper-class men and women who eat above is illustrated as he points out uneaten meals on “his” plates: “Look – a monument to decadence.”
w
w
w
.
r
e
v
i
e
w
V
a
n
c
o
u
v
e
r
.
o
r
g
While the play itself is extremely well crafted and draws to an interesting conclusion, the actors' portrayals of the characters are somewhat overly forced, meaning that they work too hard to convince the audience of their authenticity.
I was unable to suspend my disbelief as I was constantly noticing their efforts to put their characters' personalities across, with the exception of Shawn Macdonald who did an excellent portrayal of Moss, the obscenely old man who has washed various things all of his life. Macdonald's perfectly timed and often one-word insertions were the highlight of this play.
|
Shawn Macdonald and Ted Cole |
The only other thing that must be mentioned is the incredible set design. Before the performance even started, I felt myself transported. Set Designer Ken MacDonald, partner and frequent collaborator of Panych, did an outstanding job of creating a credible set that truly captures the claustrophobic reality, somewhat reminiscent of Sartre's No Exit, that Panych is trying to convey.
Despite some effortful acting and the occasional cringe-inducing cliché, The Dishwashers is a well-written and interesting examination of human happiness and expectation.
© 2005 Erin Jane