Please excuse me while I gush, but the King’s Theatrical Society production of Hannah Moscovitch’s The Russian Play was such a pleasant surprise, I really feel I must. Since I’d never attended any theatre at The Pit, (an inauspicious but accurate name, as you must descend into the bowels of the Arts and Academic Building) I didn’t know how professional the production would be. Let me just say, that this was one of the loveliest and most beautifully produced pieces of theatre I have seen this year, and I’ve seen a lot of great stuff. The set is spare but breathtaking, with a glittering tree commanding centre stage. Natascia Lypny as Sonja, the self-professed stupid Russian girl, is marvelous. Her accent never waivers and she imbues the character with the perfect amounts of innocence and cynicism. Colin Latchford as her feckless lover Piotr is equally as good. Brendan Sangster as Sonja’s cruel and wealthy “patron” Kostya was an audience favourite, though his accent is not quite believable. Dave Lewis’s mournful cello is the perfect accompaniment to this comic tragedy. Although the moral of the story is “love is shit” this production most definitely isn’t.
October 28 to 31 at 8PM The Pit, King’s College. Tickets $5 for students and $7 for adults.
This article appears in Oct 29 – Nov 4, 2009.
