It’s challenging enough going on a real blind date, but imaging doing it with an entire audience watching the whole thing? I did not expect Blind Date at the Centaur Theatre to be so funny. I don’t laugh easily, however while watching this “Spontaneous Theatre” (as author Rebecca Northan calls it), I was roaring hysterically. What a fabulous writing/acting job she has created.
The show begins in the theatre’s bar room before the curtain goes up, because that’s when Mimi (Rebecca Northan) and her scenographers (David Benjamin Tomlinson and Lili Beaudoin) mingle with potential audience members to find, as Northan describes it, “someone who is reluctantly willing” to be her date on stage for the entire show. Don’t get nervous if you are a ticket holder, as you should know that she will only pick someone who is willing to go on stage. I really applaud the bravery, calmness, politeness and wit of “Alex” who was our “victim”, er, date.
Mimi wears a red clown nose throughout, which she says is “to remind the audience and the gentleman I’m sitting across from that this is all just about play and theatre. If it was just two people sitting across from each other, sharing their real lives, the boundaries could start to blur.” Her wit is quick, her prepared concept lines are cleverly written and acted, like when she grins and says, “the reason she thinks she is asked her age on dates is to find out how old her eggs are”.
The date starts out in a cafe where they chat and get to know each other over a glass of (real!) wine. That surely helps loosen up the tongues of all of her targets. It follows the script of any blind date. Where do you work? What are your likes? your dreams? or perhaps former relationships?
The show is a real challenge for the backstage crew, as the stage manager and sound improviser Emma Brager has to follow the scene and improvise lighting and noises for the words, perhaps music and sound effects and react to changes that are happening on stage.
Blind Date has been staged in New York City, London’s West End and Toronto, while the 800th!!! performance will be celebrated right here in Montreal. This play “isn’t just about comedy; it’s also about the connections people make and the ways in which we communicate with one another”, opines Northan.
An interesting twist on this concept will be David Benjamin Tomlinson himself performing on 2 Thursday evenings with a male audience member for a queer blind date.
If you want to follow more of the story, you can follow the run on Facebook, where there are notes on each guy who is brave enough to date Northan. She also created a Ted Talk where she reveals that her traits are not only the secret to good acting, they are the secret to having a good relationship.
It’s time for you take a break from reality and laugh yourself silly watching two strangers attempt to connect. Go buy tickets now!
Phone: 514-288-3161 or 514-288-3161
Dates: til Apr 28
Queer Performances: April 18 and 25
www.centaurtheatre.com
(photo credit: Vanessa Rigaux)
