Living for Tomorrow

Living for Tomorrow ***1/2
Walker’s odd script turns out to be the surprise gem of the Festival due to the grounded and sincere performances by Casey, Daniel, Alison, and especially Adrianna – whose role as the supreme bitch enhanced more than one scene. Support by Caitlin, Keenan, Andy and Katharine rounded out the bizarre quirkiness of this script. I’m guessing the intention was to write a drama, but there is nothing to be ashamed of if it turns into a successful comedy – and that is exactly what happened here. Except for Morgan and Jason, all of the characters are two-dimensional or send-ups of “types” – even the plot device of the “virus” is something we cannot take seriously. But that’s okay, because it was all delightful filler for the romantic centre: a young girl who is forced to reflect on her own “type” and discover she is not a nice person. And in the end, the boy she used is the one who helps her to redeem herself. Sappy?...sure, but who doesn’t like a nice sappy story if it is re-told with fun and frolic? Justine’s direction was acceptable – she balanced the stage well enough, she just seemed to rely on two seated locations a bit too much. And again, there were too many silent scene transitions, although Justine does get credit for having a couple of nice sound cues. Adrianna provided an effective set for the various locations that did not require a lot of time to set up and Casey’s costumes were appropriate enough, although she could have given herself some shoes as well as pants with pockets because…the prop award that most consistently upstaged a performance goes to Casey’s cell phone as she continually stored it in her bra. I don’t know if that is a “thing” that women do, but trust me, on stage it was totally distracting. For me, it would have been the equivalent of seeing a man store a cell phone in his crotch.