Martin Millerchip
THEATRE REVIEW

Slaying Dragons by Michael St.
John: Smith. A  Spegway
Theatreworks production,
directed by Scott Swan. Secret
Space Theatre, 4603 Main St.,
Vancouver to March 19.

ENS’ GROUPS are.
fun.

You, liberal and literate read-
er, doubt me?
~. I mean funvas in a coconut-
shy, a target.. Murphy Brown,
Designing Women, David
‘Letterman have all had fun at the
expense of men’s groups.
But you don’t have to travel -
' further than the office water-
: cooler to find hilarity at the
‘thought of any man willing to.
meet with others of his sex to'dis-
cuss masculinity and drumming.
» It is as if there is some tribal
fear that emotional sensitivity in
potential pack leaders (men) is a
weakness that could destroy tra-
“ditional hierarchy within the
group. an
"Laughter, even ridicule, is a
potent weapon to keep at bay
“that which we fear;
‘West Vancouver playwright
Michael St. John Smith under-
stands and exploits that syn-
drome quite brilliantly in his first
* full-length stage play Slaying
Dragons, an amalgamation of
two earlier one-acts.
The action centres on two
“meetings of a new men’s group -
‘facilitated by Julian (St. John

SARREL ANTIQUES

85 Main St; -:
876-5234.

Smith), an intellectual husband
and fatier rendered dysfunction-
al by grief and guilt.

The other misfits are: a self
obsessed, bisexual actor, an
aggressively acerbic advertising
executive, a politely chauvinistic
husband of 40 years whose wife
has just left, a violent misogynist
and a born-again, teenage coke
addict.

Just your average cocktail
party | suppose, but | found +
myself resisting the number of
stereotypes. :

There is one other invisible
member of the group: Raymond
Wu, the mute cellist who just
wants to watch.

| couldn’t decide if this was a
challenge to the play’s audience

_ to speak up on issues they may

be repressing or a device that
enables all the chairs on stage to
face the fourth wall.

julian’s group members are
there either out of curiosity or
because they have been told to
attend by authority.

There is no commitment and
certainly no agreement as to the
why and how of conducting
meetings.

As the evenings progress the
characters use ridicule, profanity
and wise-cracks to undercut each
other in moments of stress and
crisis, thus keeping real emotion
at bay. .

And since St. John Smith has a
good ear many of the put-downs
are very funny indeed. ;

As a structural device the
comedy works well, keeping the
action brisk and lively.

' Even more effectively it even-
tually raises the question of why
we are laughing at all.

| discovered that characters
were voicing jokes that had
occurred to me split-seconds ear-
lier and as this sunk in { realized
with dismay the occasional shal-
lowness of my primal instincts.

(To my few friends this will not

be news.)

‘SECOND TIME AROUND ANTIQUES

z 4428 Main St:

It is, likewise, old news in
1994 to say that many men avoid
open displays of emotion that are
not related to socially acceptable
values like anger and lust.

\t was disconcerting to discov-
er that, as a man, | could jfind
this funny.

Not all is faughter in.the play,
however.

St. John Smith dishes out huge
dollops of anguish and angst
along with the humor.

Some of it is extremely affect-
ing but there are too many events
from history to absorb or care
about on the characters’ terms.

Slaying Dragons is about the
opportunity to change and the
suspense should centre on
whether each of the characters
will seize the day or not.

tt is not that each character
shauld conclude a journey by
play’s end, and St. John Smith is
to be congratulated for resisting
any pat answers, but we learn
comparatively little about three
of the group when all is said and
done.

This is a solid and well-paced
preduction of a fascinating new
play. ' .

If you give it a chance, you
too may wonder why you are
laughing.

| hope so.

Every Sunday
ALL YOU
CAN EAT

FOR a | 3.95

Sushi, Tempura,
Chicken Teriyaki,
- Yakisoba,
Soup & Salad

50% °F

SUSHI HAPPY
HOUR

» 8:00-10pm ©
tH

Arie
eed eee

LUST ATLA te Z

ASEM TGnE

GRUSHED | LINEN —

PANE
great
colours!

199m

, COTTON
| JAGQUARDS
this look is
hot!

12.99 m

it’s

SEE OUR
FLYER

LOOK
CUTTINGS.

sew easy!

LIFESTYLE.

PRINTED | KETTLE CLOTH

COTTON »
ere | Seoul

for JOGGING

Spring FLEECE
. 150cm solids

os

Wi

COTTONS

from

1to5m
Cuts

MESTYLE
VALANGE RODS|. HERCULONS &

Greater

Vancouver

Regional
istrict