REVIEW
FOR LOVE AND MONEY
Alberta Theatre Projects
playRites ’02
Runs until March 3
Martha Cohen Theatre
After 30 years of marriage, Jane and Howard finally break up. This is not a new story, but set against the backdrop of Calgary’s oilpatch and infused with a structure drawn from Jane’s memories of their relationship, For Love and Money is a revelation.
Rachel Wyatt’s new play has a nostalgic appeal for those who lived through the last few decades of boom and bust in Calgary. Howard is an executive at a generic oil company, enduring the pressures and demands of the industry. With Jane at his side, he does well and enjoys a life of luxury. Unfortunately, though, affluence doesn’t equal happiness. "Making the deal" and "staying on top" take their toll, and the happy, romantic couple of the 1970s are gradually transformed.
As the play begins, Jane (Donna Belleville) is preparing to host a birthday party for Howard (John Wright). She remembers various moments from their years together, and in her reveries Lindsay Burns and Trevor Leigh appear onstage as young Jane and Howard. Director Martin Fishman effortlessly moves us back and forth from present to past, overlapping action and dialogue as Jane drifts through her memories, which provide valuable subtext for the present day interactions. At times she even repeats a memory, rewriting it as she wishes it had happened.
Gradually problems arise and arguments become more frequent, but we are very shocked when Howard hits Jane. Told from Jane’s perspective, the abuse in the relationship is arbitrary and unexpected. When Jane finally fights back, she winds up in a treatment centre where she is forced to agree to separation.
Belleville gives Jane the polished charm of a lifelong socialite who maintains appearances in the face of the most difficult circumstances. Confronted with problems she hides by preparing for a party, planning a trip or organizing a fund-raiser. Belleville creates a romantic who sees parallels for her life in the over-blown sentimentality of Wagnerian opera.
For Love and Money explores a familiar subject, but through its novel structure, memory sharing the stage with the present, the play finds a new and interesting perspective. |
