Barry Coulter
Newspaper columnist John Cummings — in his late 40s, divorced and, apparently, estranged from his wife and children — spends a lot of time on his balcony, looking at the street, the world, and Life below. Carefree he may claim to be, with that novel he’s planning already written in his head — pretty much.
The apartment where John has landed is in an industrial section of Toronto, near the airport. Aircraft roar overhead, representing the movement of the world. John himself is motionless.
But the world can still come to John. Over the course of the three acts in “Here on the Flight Path,” the latest play by Cranbrook Community Theatre at the Studio Stage Door, John finds himself with three different neighbours, each women in different stages of life’s journey.
“Here On The Flight Path,” a wonderful insightful comedy by renowned Canadian playwright Norm Foster, opens at the Studio Stage Door Friday, Feb. 2.
The first of John’s neighbours we meet is Faye, a professional escort in her early 30s, who is very together herself, and simpatico, but still always living on the edge.
Then there is Angel, an enthusiastic, naive and “plucky” young woman whose father is bankrolling her entry into a career in musical theatre.
Gwen, closer in age to John, has just left her husband, and is trying to deal with all the tumult of her situation and move into a new life too.
To each of these neighbours, John becomes friend and confidante — always with an undercurrent of romantic interest. He draws them out, and they end up willingly revealing much to him. But at the same time, much as he’d rather keep it hidden, John’s own predicament becomes clear — why his life has ended up where it is, why his relationships have floundered, why his motives, perhaps, are not as sound as he would like to think.
In spite of his hubris, John offers a wry and self-aware take on men’s perspectives, motivations and needs in a relationship.
— what makes men tick — and has an opportunity to come to better understand a woman’s perspective from his neighbours.
The three women are each moving their lives forward, learning and working their ways through experience, acquiring wisdom. In turn, they influence John, offering themselves as an example of how he can move forward with his own life. But John remains in stasis, aware of his hubris but unable to move out of it, the novel in his head still waiting to be written. But it’s never too late, is it? There’s always a new neighbour to move in.
Peter Schalk, who directs this latest offering from CCT, also plays John — loquacious, humorous, friendly on the surface, but lonesome and uncertain inside. The insightful, witty repartee with his neighbours makes for great comedy — all the funnier for the melancholy underneath.
Elena Hark plays all three female roles — Faye, Angel and Gwen — and brings each to life with unique, colourful individuality. For a two-actor play, “Here On The Flight Path” seems with personalities and characters.
“Here On The Flight,” by Norm Foster, opens Friday, Feb. 2, and runs Saturday, Feb. 3, Feb. 8-11, and Feb. 14-17. Showtimes are 7:30 pm, except for a 2 pm matinee Sunday, Feb. 11.
The play, with Peter Schalk and Elena Hark, is produced and directed by Peter Schalk. Set design is by Peter Schalk and Mark Peron.
Tickets are available at www.cranbrookcommunitytheatre.com.
