The Globe Theatre’s lobby overflows with people. Some sip alcoholic beverages from the cash-only bar. The old patrons and eager newcomers mingle together as they wait for Becky’s New Car and Conrad-Roy: Daffily Ever After to start. The line to the theatre grows longer. The guests are finally shuffled in to the smaller, intimate stage.
The rows of black chairs fill up quickly. Front row guests are only a few steps away from the ground floor stage while those more comfortable in the back sit precariously close to the lighting designer. Conrad-Roy viewers eagerly await the play’s beginning.
Written and performed by Rebecca Lascue and Dakota Herbert, Conrad-Roy tells the story of a young country boy with the dream of becoming an actor. His life on the farm makes him a quirky sort, with hilarious sayings that you don’t often hear in the big city. Ruth Smilie directed with Kenilee Kehler as the stage manager.
Conrad is played by Herbert and her talent is obvious. As if it wasn’t hard enough to speak as a male during the hour long performance, she also sings on various occasions. Herbert truly embodies her character, knowing exactly what to do to make him come off as a believable, genuine character. The audience falls in love with him in the first few seconds of seeing him on stage.
Herbert is the only actress in the play to remain as one character throughout the entire performance. Her co-playwright and fellow actress Lascue has three main roles which she switches to fluidly. Her francophone accent for Conrad’s father sounds exactly as you would imagine and her exuberance as talk show host Mona Noma is engaging. Lascue also plays Conrad’s love interest Abigail. At one point, Abigail confesses her stage fright to Conrad and Lascue makes the audience truly feel sorry for her.
Christina Persson rounded off the duo with her performance as Jenny and Sonja in Conrad-Roy. She too is a wonderful actress who went from snarky city girl Jenny to limping director Sonja with ease. Together, these three ladies put on quite a show.
The audience was like another character in the play. Lascue, acting as Mona Noma, shook the front row’s hands when she came on to do her “show.” Throughout the play, Conrad was speaking to the audience as he told his story of how he accomplished his dream.
One of the best parts of Conrad-Roy was the live music. Lascue, who is also a musician, had a few of her songs put in to the play. After hearing her sing, I may have to go out and grab her CD when it comes out this spring.
The audience, including myself, was constantly laughing throughout the play. Conrad-Roy had a slew of one-liners that fit the play, and his character, perfectly. One of my favourites was “Maybe [Santa’s] reindeer will [poop] on your lawn!” Out of context that may seem like an odd phrase, but it was pretty fantastic in the moment.
The jabs at Starbucks, saying “tofu is a lie,” all of it added up to a hilarious play that also had its touching moments. I felt my heart sink when Conrad wasn’t asked to – oh wait, that would spoil the story! Since Lascue and Herbert may one day take this play on the road, I don’t want to give away too much.
Overall, I’d say this play is another one of the Globe’s “best of the best.” Here’s hoping Lascue and Herbert have many more performances in the future.
