The Best Brothers has received a lot of great reviews, but one that really stands out for director Dean Gabourie came from a woman in a coffee shop in Stratford, Ontario where the show had its debut in 2012. "She said that anyone who has a brother, a sister, a mother or a pet will love the play," he recalls with a laugh. "So I think that covers just about everyone."
The Best Brothers is a two-man comedy about polar-opposite siblings who lose their mother in a bizarre accident. Despite their differences, they must come together to pay tribute to her and decide the fate of her high-maintenance Italian greyhound.
The Kazan Co-op production marks the third time Gabourie has directed the play. He says working with its two stars, John Beale and Daniel MacIvor (who also wrote it), is like working with some sort of acting "dream team." "Honestly, I don't think I ever had more laughs in rehearsal. They're like a vaudeville team," he says. "Like Laurel and Hardy or the Smothers Brothers. Listening to them and their ceaseless banter is kind of like seeing two great jazz musicians perform."
Gabourie says that while the play is definitely a comedy, the humour serves to open the audience up for something more: "What Daniel has done is created something that people can identify with. There's a gravitas to it that serves as kind of bass note. He's found the absurdity in a heavy situation."
The Best Brothers
To June 7, 7:30pm
The Waiting Room, 6040 Almon Street