Local theatre tackles play by one of Canada's best

SUSAN MONAGHAN
KANATA THEATRE

A Globe and Mail article once listed Norm Foster beside England's Alan Ayckbourn and American Neil Simon, as the "three most talked-about playwrights of their respective countries."

The world-wide Literary Encyclopedia adds that "doing a Norm Foster" has replaced "doing a Neil Simon" for community theatres across Canada, parts of the United States, Australia and beyond when the season calls for a heartwarming comedy to please the audience and fill the treasury.

With Foster's Kiss the Moon, Kiss the Sun opening Feb. 3 at Kanata Theatre, there's no doubt the actors, director Tom Kobolak and the audience will get even more bang for their entertainment bucks.

The play tells the story of Robert, a mentally challenged 35-year-old man (played by Dale MacEachern, last seen in another Foster triumph at Kanata Theatre The Long Weekend), his over-protective, terminally-ill mother Clare; and Holly, Robert's free-spirited new friend (played by newcomers Arlene Watson and Sarah Argue respectively).

Rounding out the cast are Gerry Thompson as Dr. Andrews, who believes that a viable option would be to send Robert to an institution; and Simon, Holly's self-absorbed on-again, off-again lover, played by Dwayne Aylward.

In this play Foster tackles meatier themes than usual (past scripts focused on such weighty topics as the tribulations of a single guy on the make, or a weekend spent with back-stabbing, upwardly mobile, type-A personalities), as he confronts the problems facing people like Robert who are just trying to work, to love, have friendships and survive like the rest of us.

Oh, don't worry, Foster's scripts always deliver the laughs audiences have come to expect, and this delicate story provides many.

Robert's unfiltered observations of life in our fast-paced society are sure to tickle even the stiffest, winter-weary funny bone.

That being said, you may want to pocket a few hankies as well before you enter the playhouse on Ron Maslin Drive.

Kiss the Moon, Kiss the Sun runs Feb. 3 to 14 with blackout days on Sundays and Monday. Tickets will be $15 apiece and curtain is at 8 p.m. sharp.

Tickets can be purchased from the box office, located at 1 Ron Maslin Way just off Terry Fox Dr.

For more information; please call the box office at 613-831-4435 or visit our website at www.kanatatheatre.com.

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Sarah Argue plays the friend of a mentally challenged 35-year-old man, the role Dale MacEachern has taken on in Kiss the Moon, Kiss the Sun at Kanata Theatre.