Playwright gives, but we don't always get it

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Sharon Bajer kicks Rod Beilfuss out of bed for eating crackers.

In his 2006 drama Generous, Toronto playwright Michael Healey's benevolence is displayed with no fewer than four two-act storylines.

Healey, whose hit The Drawer Boy is one of the most produced Canadian plays of the last decade, is obviously in the giving spirit, judging by Theatre by the River's season-opener, but his value-added structure is being too charitable to his audience. A little less plot might have accomplished more cohesion in what is still an entertaining night of theatre.

Generous begins like it's shot out of a cannon, as a gaggle of agitated MPs burst into the prime minister's office following a surprising budget-vote defeat. The air is blue with recriminations over the embarrassing vote of non-confidence.

Their bickering is interrupted by the arrival of a stunned female heritage minister, who mumbles that she got a backbencher. The PM is aghast when he's told by his blood-stained cabinet minister that she was only following his suggestion that someone should slit the victim's throat. One cold-hearted minister pipes up that with the opposition now short-handed, the government can survive its non-confidence vote.

It's disappointing that we never get back to these people and instead move on to low-key vignettes featuring high-powered women in conversation with younger men before and after sexual encounters. Then, before intermission, the focus veers wildly to a puzzling scene in which the arrival of a delivery man with a bucket of KFC sets off a wordless fight night between two lovers.

At the break, it is hard to know where Generous is headed. Three subsequent scenes make it apparent Healey is exploring the nature of altruism and the consequences of our sometimes misguided desire to help people. Can good deeds really be motivated by something other than self interest? Healey is a smart writer, witty (he calls Canadian Tire "where retail goes to puke its guts out") and with a sharp eye for creating compelling characters, particularly the in-charge women in Generous.

The local cast does a commendable job with the challenging material, especially a pair of Winnipeg's leading actresses. Sarah Constible excels as Julia, a lusty oil-company CEO who juggles husband and boyfriend with the job. She is deliciously amoral, not even pretending to give a hoot about the environment when she is talking to a reporter/boy toy she later seduces.

Sharon Bajer has the less showy role of Maria, a formidable, newly widowed judge who is not quite as assured as she seems. A controlled Bajer offers glimpses of the cracks in Maria's unflappable demeanour after a one-night stand with a younger male clerk from her office.

Rod Beilfuss also stands out as Maria's emotional escape, Alex, a man enjoying youthful cockiness but not the accompanying adolescent insecurity. His post-coital pas de deux with Bajer is a highlight.

Beilfuss does double duty as the director, accomplishing all he can from the uneven tone that buffets the two-hour production.

Generous is more successful at exploring personal altruism than the political variety, but there are probably many in the audience who would like to know how the prime minister dealt with the blood on his hands.

kevin.prokosh@freepress.mb.ca

Theatre review

Generous

• Theatre by the River
• Until Oct. 7 at 70 Albert St.
• Tickets: $15, $10 (seniors/students) at 417-0271
• Three and a half stars out of five

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 1, 2011 G8