Adult children can get in way of true love

Pat Donnelly
Montreal Gazette

REVIEW

HALF LIFE

Love in a time of dementia. It happens

Senior citizens, like the rest of us, are susceptible to falling in love. Perhaps more so, as body and brain deteriorate, defences fall away, and loneliness becomes unbearable after the death of a long-time spouse.

But golden agers "blessed" with adult children may find that the path to true love does not run smooth. Especially if they are already living in an assisted-living facility and their son or daughter has power of attorney.

In John Mighton's GG-award-winning play Half Life, now playing at Centaur Theatre, the complex emotional implications of last-call romance are studied with rigorous intensity, leading to no easy conclusions.

Crusty Second World War veteran Patrick (Eric Peterson) and wheelchair-bound Clara (Carolyn Hetherington), fellow-inmates of a retirement home, embark on a sentimental journey over a card game (shades of D.L. Coburn's The Gin Game, immortalized by Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy). Clara connects her card partner with a Patrick she knew during the war, who may or may not be the same person. But, like Patrick, he was a mathematician, who explained the same geometric principle that this Patrick is explaining to her now, illustrating it with the same gestures. Later in the play, counter-evidence surfaces to suggest that Clara and Patrick (who later accepts her recognition) may be mistaken. This raises questions like "Who knows?" and "Does it really matter now?"

What does matter now is that Clara's doting, recently divorced son, Donald (Richard Clarkin), has control over her life. And as a scientist, who coincidentally studies the brain, he's a master of rationalizing his own possessiveness.

The way he builds up a case against Tammy (Maggie Huculak), his mother's favourite nurse, reveals his mixed motives.

Patrick's daughter, Anna (Laura de Carteret), a recently divorced artist, takes a more laissez-faire attitude toward the budding Patrick-Clara romance. For a while, it even looks like love may strike the younger generation along parallel lines. Meanwhile, the buffonish Rev. Hill (Robert Persichini) moves in and out of the action, always ready to blather on or shed a tear. And outspoken inmate Agnes (played by Barbara Gordon, who also carries two other roles), complains non-stop about everything, to tragi-comic effect.

Within this Necessary Angel production, booked in from Toronto, the austere, finely tuned direction of Daniel Brook illuminates Mighton's eloquent balancing act of mind and heart,emphasizing the metaphysical while nailing the mundane. He uses spare, tightly focused lighting, the subtlest of soundscapes and a few pieces of institutional furniture to arresting effect. The casting is perfect, as is the pitch. Peterson (a.k.a. Oscar in Corner Gas) and Hetherington are seasoned, charismatic performers at the top of their game. Scene by scene, each actor thoroughly proves his/her mettle. Rarely do we see polished, road-tested English-language theatre like this in Montreal. This is the best thing I've seen since catching a preview of August: Osage County, performed by Chicago's famed Steppenwolf Theatre on Broadway last fall. Necessary Angel is Canada's Steppenwolf: a world-class company grounded in respect for word and actor alike.

If you only have time to see one play this year, this is it. Half Life pairs beautifully with the Sarah Polley film, Away from Her.

A second Mighton play, Les mondes possibles (Possible Worlds), ends its Montreal run tonight at Théâtre Prospero.

Half Life, by John Mighton, continues at Centaur Theatre, 453 St. François Xavier St., until Feb. 24. Tickets range from $20 (student) to $31.

John Mighton reads at Centaur on Wednesday. For details, call (514) 288-3161 or www.centaurtheatre.com

© The Gazette 2008