True Love Lies
I went to see the play True Love Lies, recently; a comedy about a husband, wife, son and daughter—and a former lover whose surprise return heralds chaos for all.
Canadian playwright and director Brad Fraser manages to weave a fast-paced plot in this Toronto production, now playing at the Factory Theatre at Bathurst and Adelaide.
On the surface, nothing seems out of place with this nuclear family. They’re content to live their lives cooking, working, laughing and loving, arguing every now and then or just spending time on the computer. Sounds normal, doesn’t it? Like lots of other families in most neighbourhoods in almost every North American city.
But the recipe for this marriage’s success is spoiled by the addition of an extra ingredient; enter into the mix the father’s former gay lover, back on the scene after living in New York. His return to former haunts has repercussions that turn the family’s comfortable world upside down as confessions are made and past lives revealed. Each family member has to come to terms with a sudden change in the dynamics and their relationship to one another.
That’s what this play is all about; the interaction on a personal level between individual family members, and an acceptance of the past as each moves forward into the future.
There are moments in the production when the acting can be a bit wooden. The deadpan delivery of some of the one-liners is a bit forced. On the other hand, those one-liners are witty enough to catch the audience off guard, so the occasional hamming it up is easy to forgive.
Overall, the play is a lot of fun; the dialogue and familial shenanigans make for a quick, cheeky and tragically funny experience.
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