Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Black comedy looks on the bright side
You know those guys who really think highly of themselves?
Lawrence is one of those.
THEATRE REVIEW
Lawrence and Holloman
Prairie Theatre Exchange
To Feb. 28
3-1/2 out of five
A go-getter menswear salesman who can flog a cheap suit to anybody, he's got a rich fiancée, a cocksure attitude and a future so bright, he can't stop talking about it.
In fact, Lawrence almost never shuts up, especially in the first act of Morris Panych's very black, absurdist 1998 two-man comedy, Lawrence and Holloman.
The Canadian play opened Thursday at Prairie Theatre Exchange. It follows the ultra-upbeat Lawrence and his downbeat, nebbish co-worker, Holloman, from their first shared beer through a few months of increasingly twisted friendship.
At first, Holloman is pretty much that -- a hollow nobody -- because Lawrence is an arrogant non-listener who simply presumes that the uptight, brainy fellow in the sweater-vest toils in the bargain basement and lives with his mother.
As Lawrence blabs about his philosophy -- essentially a capitalist, individualist view that "for some to succeed, some have to fail," Holloman seems in awe of his new bud's born-winner status.
It's as if a doltish high school football captain has taken a chess-club nerd under his wing.
Brian Perchaluk's effective set is almost all hard, public surfaces -- even the trees are metallic -- creating a sterile, unforgiving universe as a backdrop to the pair's seeming connection.
The problem in Act I is that Panych's smart-alecky script hardly gets off the page into three dimensions. Obviously, the play is not realistic. But if the men are nothing more than ludicrous caricatures, we're only engaged at the level of following a too-scripted badminton match of opposing world views.
As Holloman, Michael Spencer-Davis gets closer to creating a human character beneath his clenched body, constricted voice and furrowed brow. But there's no believable Lawrence under Matthew Edison's rattled-off dialogue and overly broad, macho physicality.
When a series of increasingly outrageous accidents befalls Lawrence, we realize that Holloman's fantasy is to see his friend destroyed -- financially, romantically and physically. But what could frustrate that desire more than having the victim keep cheerfully bouncing back, always with a belief in himself and a brighter tomorrow?
In Act II, circumstances go so far over the top that we're almost in Monty Python territory. Edison's performance greatly improves when the comedy gets physical, and the show delivers some truly hilarious moments. With each blow, Lawrence's spirit shines brighter. He becomes ridiculously noble and something of a wise idiot -- a blind man with vision. And playwright Panych becomes more philosopher than smart show-off.
Audience members may disagree as to where director Robert Metcalfe has pitched the comedy -- a tricky challenge with this work-- but there's no question they'll leave the theatre talking. Panych raises provocative questions about how we motivate ourselves, how we secretly resent our friends' success, and how our cyncical resentment of pushy people who are "doers" may just be a form of cowardice.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 13, 2010 C8
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