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Theatre by FFWD Staff Problem Child by George F. Walker Alberta Theatre Projects In The Martha Cohen Theatre October 24 - November 11, 2000 Alberta Theatre Project's comedy Problem Child is a lot like Waiting for Godot.. Instead of two tramps under a tree, we have Denise and R.J. waiting in a grotty motel room. Instead of waiting for Godot, this couple is waiting for their baby. As in Godot, the wait is in vain, but the action that takes place in the meantime carries us along. In Problem Child, Denise (Karen Robinson), a recovering drug addict, and R.J. (Jarvis Hall), an ex-con obsessed with trash TV talk shows, have been waiting for a whole week. After trouble with the law and social services, they have been branded unfit parents and lost custody of their baby. Now, after much sacrifice and "personal improvement," they are holed up in a dingy motel room waiting to hear if they can get their child back. It's a situation tailor-made for dramatic conflict, and when Helen the social worker, played by Val Pearson as a judgmental control freak, shows up, things get stormy. Added to this mix is Dennis Fitzgerald as Phillie, the alcoholic motel clerk – a sort of rummy philosopher with the shakes. While this sounds like a desperate setting, it is actually funny. There is an honesty to this quirky bunch that makes their struggles amusing. The only real problem with this production is the fault of well-known Toronto playwright George F. Walker – while Beckett's Godot makes an existentialist statement about life by offering no clear resolution, Walker is no Beckett. Problem Child has a tremendously unsatisfying ending. After 90 minutes of getting to know these four characters thanks to four strong performances, the play ends with a monologue by Denise explaining "what happened next." It's as if Walker couldn't think of anything clever for the second act so he simply left the play unfinished. While he has one of the longest careers in Canadian theatre and a body of work equaled by only a handful of playwrights, Problem Child does nothing to further Walker's reputation.

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