The audience in the tiny Theatre NS Space on Agricola is packed cheek to jowl. The room is hot. The chairs are hard. Yet, the discomfort ceases to matter when a Dutch librarian (Christian Murray) steps onto the stage and begins his 90-minute monologue about a quest that starts with a library book returned 113 years overdue. Glen Berger’s Underneath the Lintel is a wild ride through place and time, a kind of metaphysical detective story. It is an exploration of the meaning of life and an attempt to prove nothing less than the existence of God. But don’t let the seemingly heavy subject matter deter you. It is also an amusing and thought-provoking play, as well as a tour-de-force performance by Murray. He brings the fastidious and obsessive librarian to life, making his passionate pursuit seem more heroic than pitiable. The Space, 2353 Agricola, 8pm, $12/$15, 420-0003, liveartproductions.ca
This article appears in Oct 25-31, 2007.