Review: 'goldfish' Premiere at Stratford Ontario's HERE FOR NOW NEW WORKS FESTIVAL

The themes of connection and togetherness as part of this year’s HERE FOR NOW NEW WORKS FESTIVAL become that important lifeline especially as we live in community with our senior population.

Written and directed by Stratford Festival artist Steve Ross, this world premiere of ‘goldfish’ is a serio-comic look at the lives of two individuals who happen to meet by chance and become forever changed as a result. There are two simple outdoor chairs centre stage with a grey tub up right of props and another tub of props just off the left side of the stage.

We meet aging senior and widower Walter (John Dolan) who is content to sit in his lawn chair on his porch and watch the children across the street in a daycare run by busy mother Shannon (Laura Condlln) who operates her business from her home. This happenstance encounter marks a pivotal moment where Walter and Shannon slowly begin to build a friendship and strong relationship of trust, honesty, compassion, and respect throughout the course of one year.

And at the curtain call, it was evident to me that both Mr. Dolan and Ms. Condlln hold a great deal of respect for each other.

For anyone who may have relatives and friends who are seniors and are experiencing many of the challenges in caring for them, ‘goldfish’ hits squarely at the heartstrings because this is a difficult subject to discuss as it can become emotionally draining. Without spoiling anything for future audiences, there was one point where this story could have turned profoundly serious as a plot element brought a welling tear to the corner of my eye; however, writer and director Ross crafts necessary moments of humour and laughter in his play which steer clear of syrupy and wallowing pathos. His compassionate direction of this important subject material obviously affected my emotions several times throughout the script from poignancy to laughter to sadness.

‘goldfish’ is a dialogue driven and crisply worded script which requires direct concentration and focus of both actors to propel the story action forward. Earlier today, I saw the first production ‘The Tracks’ which introduced some likeable characters. The same occurred here as I did like both Walter and Shannon and naturally believed they would be two people whom I would like to get to know further.

Nevertheless, heavily dialogue driven scripts remain a challenge depending on the number of actors involved. If someone in the script either dries on stage or can’t remember a line, the other actor or actors must do their best to bring the focus immediately back to the story. For the most part at this opening premiere, both Ms. Condlln and Mr. Dolan handled the demands of the dialogue extremely well. A few line calls from Mr. Dolan brought me out of the moment temporarily, but I was quickly able to return to the world of these two characters for whom I had grown a real fondness.

Final Comments: ‘goldfish’ becomes that gentle reminder to me of how our lives can change course when we meet people who leave indelible marks on our very being. Walter and Shannon’s courage and kindness did just that.

‘goldfish’ written and directed by Steve Ross

Technical Director: Wendy Ewert

Cast: Laura Condlln and John Dolan

Production runs to July 25 on the grounds of Stratford Ontario’s Bruce Hotel.  For tickets, visit www.herefornowtheatre.com.

Photo courtesy of Here for Now website.