Surrey Arts Centre’s Artsclub comedy enjoyable, aimed at middle-aged crowd
By Lev Jackson
Andrew Wheeler and Susinn McFarlen in the Surrey Arts Centre 2012 production of Henry and Alice: Into the Wild. Photo by Emily Cooper.
The Artsclub Theatre Company’s on-tour show, Henry and Alice: Into The Wild is currently playing for another weekend at the Surrey Arts Centre.
The three-person show depicts a married couple on a camping trip, dealing with the issues of financial instability and a wife’s uninvited crazy sister.
The stage was covered with large trees and a background that looked not unlike a provincial campground, while the set and lighting put the crowd in a believable camping environment for the duration of the show.
Andrew Wheeler, the lone male cast member, exhibited good use of physical comedy in his role as Henry Lane. He wrestled with a tent, an air mattress and yes, a cooler in efforts to construct their campsite before the audience.
Wheeler is a constant in the Vancouver acting community. He has done an extensive amount of work with the Artsclub including A Comedy of Errors, Burn This, Make Up Your Mind, Gypsy, The Foursome, Cyrano and others.
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The two women, Beatrice Zeilinger as Alice Lane and Deborah Williams as Diana Pearson, played off each other well, showing good on-stage chemistry as sisters in the show.
This show may be humorous for older audiences but perhaps not for all. The script deals with issues of middle-age life. Arguments over pension, happiness and who is paying for their teenage son’s munchies are recurring throughout the show.
One scene that is not for all would be in the second act as Williams, playing Diana, the sister, prepared herself for late night skinny-dipping.
Much of the crowd enjoyed it and the scene got laughs, but many in attendance may have felt the show did not call for that much shock value.
Director Andrew McIlroy has also directed Sexy Laundry and Poster Boys for the Artsclub.
Following their last show at the Surrey Arts Centre on Jan. 26, Henry and Alice: Into The Wild will travel to Burnaby, Coquitlam and Maple Ridge.