Tag Archives: andrew macdonald-smith

Pam, cocktails, and other amusements

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Mathew Hulshof, Rachel Bowron, Belinda Cornish, Bella King, Oscar Derkx, Cathy Derkach, Kristen Padayas, Shannon Blanchet, Kendra Connor, Andrew MacDonald-Smith, Troy O’Donnell, in Cocktails at Pam’s. Set design Chantel Fortin, lighting design Victor Snaith Hernandez, costume design Leona Brausen. Photography Marc J Chalifoux.

The production of Stewart Lemoine’s Cocktails at Pam’s currently on stage at the Varscona Theatre is the sixth Teatro production of the comedy since its premiere at Fringe 1986.

I’d never seen it before – and it was one of the funniest plays I’d ever seen from that company. Pam (Shannon Blanchet) frequently hosts cocktail parties in her 1967-stylish home, with the support of her husband Julius (Andrew MacDonald-Smith, genial bartender in cream jacket with a great line in quiet snark). Before the guests arrive, we learn that Pam is nervous about the party going well “I hope our little soiree will be a success. Just think of it darling – people drinking, talking to one another” and that she has absolutely no self-awareness.

Their guests include a Stratford-festival actress (Bella King), Pam’s overly-casual younger brother (Oscar Derkx), two couples who are longtime friends (Mathew Hulshof and Rachel Bowron, Troy O’Donnell and Kendra Connor), and another friend (Kristen Padayas) who brings along her own guest, a Divorcee with Issues, Belinda Cornish. Cathy Derkach plays a willing but not very competent maid.

Before the show started, my companion and I enjoyed identifying all the elements in the set design (Chantal Fortin) that reminded us of the heights of sophistication aspired to in our childhood. The curved nesting tables, the ashtray and table lighter, the objets d’art, the sunken living room and decorative glass screen … And when Pam first sweeps into her living room with an extra vase of flowers, she exclaims over the furniture she selected and how pleased she is with it.

In Leona Brausen’s delightful costume design, all the guests arrive dressed in their own version of cocktail-party clothes – except for Pam’s brother, in sweater, chinos, and loafers that he removes to put his feet on the couch. All the women guests wear gloves and carry handbags, impeccably matched to their outfits and shoes. Max and Denise (O’Donnell and Connor) are particularly formal, in tailcoat and fur stole respectively, which they explain by planning to go bowling afterwards. Virgil and Sara (Hulshof and Bowron) are severe and striking in black, he resembling a Vulcan in mufti and she a chess piece. And Padayas’ Lily is completely in orange, from levitating hat to bright-orange pumps.

Mathew Hulshof and Rachel Bowron in Cocktails at Pam’s. Set design Chantel Fortin, lighting design Victor Snaith Hernandez, costume design Leona Brausen. Photography Marc J Chalifoux.

The ill-assorted group argue, complain, break Pam’s rule against party games, flirt, make out on the sofa, and drink a lot of drinks provided by Julius. Other incidents and consequences less predictable also ensue, but spoilers are omitted.

The character portraits reminded me of descriptions in Robertson Davies’ books, particularly the Salterton trilogy. I was especially impressed by the character of Julius and his refreshing lack of misogyny or resentment towards his wife – it would have been easy for the playwright to make that character bitter, and he didn’t. And this fit the general tone of the play. The characters chafed against each other and prodded and complained, but the hostilities were superficial or temporary and the whole thing was just fun to watch, with enough left unresolved at the end to be intriguing.

Program notes point out that all the characters are new to their roles for the 2026 production. I was surprised to learn that Troy O’Donnell, coming straight from playing Leonato in Freewill Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, was a Teatro newbie, since his version of pompous bewilderment was ideal in this role.

Mathew Hulshof, Rachel Bowron, Belinda Cornish, Bella King, Kendra Connor and Troy O’Donnell, in Cocktails at Pam’s. Set design Chantel Fortin, lighting design Victor Snaith Hernandez, costume design Leona Brausen. Photography Marc J Chalifoux.

Before the opening-night performance on Friday, I’d been reminiscing to my companions about the rainy summer of 2016, when my two nieces came to visit me. After they spent their shopping budgets at the West Edmonton Mall, the next day we went to Taste of Edmonton (ate fried pickles and cheesecake, took refuge in the Citadel Lee Pavilion to eat when the skies opened), and then had arranged to meet some of my friends at the then-brand-new Varscona Theatre for Teatro la Quindicina’s Cocktails at Pam’s. We arrived in the lobby and found out that the power was out in the neighbourhood due to the heavy rain. We waited around for a while, and eventually they told us the play wouldn’t go on that night. So my nieces flew back home to Ontario, and I never did see that production.

And then — on Friday the performance start was delayed while the show team took safety precautions against a rapidly-moving storm, the show started, and about fifteen minutes in, the lights went out and the emergency lighting came on. We waited, telling stories of flooding at the Fringe and other weather issues. Someone in the audience shouted “Keep acting!” Andrew MacDonald-Smith called back, “We are! You just can’t see us!” After a short wait, company general manager Cassandra Duval told us that the power wouldn’t come back on until too late to have a performance that night. She said that the reception-food had already arrived, so we should eat some or take some home, and they’d email us to rebook. It was all handled very smoothly, and I was able to attend last night’s performance.

Unless anything else unexpected happens, Cocktails at Pam’s will continue its run until July 26th, with tickets here.

Other entertainment possibilities this week include

  • The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at the Citadel til August 2.
  • The Magpie Collection: A Dance Festival at Mile Zero Dance, includes performances from local and touring artists in a variety of dance/movement genres July 17, 18, 19 and July 24, 25, and 26, as well as drop-in dance classes weekdays and weeknights from 17 different instructors, Jul 13-24. ASL interpretation for all performances and classes. Tickets and schedules here.
  • Edmonton Elks host BC Lions at Commonwealth Stadium on Friday in CFL football. And because it’s the Dog Days of Summer promotion, there’s one seating section where people can bring their dogs (dog tickets are cheaper than people tickets).

Andrew MacDonald-Smith Fully Commits!

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Andrew MacDonald-Smith on the phone in Fully Committed. Set Chantel Fortin, Lighting Skye Grinde.
Photography Mark J Chalifoux.

Fully Committed is the solo comedy by Becky Mode currently playing in a Teatro Live! production at the Varscona Theatre, directed by Farren Timoteo.

Andrew MacDonald-Smith plays Sam, the overworked reservation-booker at an exclusive Manhattan restaurant. The 90-minute performance covers one long December shift. Sam arrives late morning to ringing phones and crises in progress. His colleague hasn’t shown up for work, he pesters the kitchen for a staff meal, the chef and the maître d’ are refusing to take calls, he’s hoping for a callback on a theatre audition, his recently-widowed father is pressuring him to come home to Indiana for Christmas … and patrons keep calling and calling and calling, hoping for bookings, asking for changes, and complaining. The whole play is Sam on the phones – but Andrew MacDonald-Smith also plays everyone he talks to on the phone. With shifts in body and voice and accent, he creates the other side of every conversation, dozens of different characters.

Fully Committed is like an epistolary novel, or a media-fic told in text messages and Facebook chats. At first each little conversation just seems like an illustration of how Sam can’t get a moment to breathe, between the intercom with the host stand and kitchen, the hotline to the chef’s office, the headset he takes reservation calls on, and his personal cell. But like the best epistolary novels, the plot builds up from the individual calls, and many of the individuals call back. On opening night, the Varscona audience started out quiet, but then began to laugh more as they recognized some of the frequent callers.

Andrew MacDonald-Smith in Fully Committed. Set Chantel Fortin, Lighting Skye Grinde.
Photography Mark J Chalifoux.

The set design, by Chantel Fortin, was brilliant. She took advantage of the high ceilings in the Varscona to create the impression of a crowded low-ceilinged basement room, with a staircase ascending at upstage centre, heating ducts over the main workspace, and ceiling beams off to the side reminiscent of those used in Autumn, as well as lots of appropriate clutter on shelving and desks. Sam uses the whole playing space energetically, with help from a wheeled office chair, even running up the stairs with a mop bucket to deal with an issue nobody else will tackle. Lighting design by Skye Grinde ensures that the office feels like a too-small too-full basement, but it is never too dark for the audience to get a sense of Sam’s environment and to see all the characters he talks to on the phone.

I saw a production of Fully Committed at Central Alberta Theatre (Red Deer) in 2022, with Ash Mercia playing the title role. So I wasn’t surprised by the character or the storyline. But Andrew MacDonald-Smith is a great fit as Sam, competent but underappreciated at this job while struggling with the rest of his life, and hilarious when he shifts to the other larger-than-life characters, from Chef and Jean-Claude the maître d’ to patrons like Carol Ann Rosenstein-Fishburn, Bryce the assistant to Gwynyth Paltrow, and the one who keeps reminding him that she’s a Senior Citizen. Interestingly, while I was engaged with watching Sam struggle to satisfy any of the people ringing him on multiple lines spread out around the stage, I forgot that the actor is tall, because Sam is so weighed down all day.

The performance runs just under 90 minutes. Resolution of many of the plot threads happens in satisfying ways that aren’t telegraphed ahead of time, but it’s still a slice-of-life reminder of the back-of-house lives unseen behind a pretentious and successful establishment. It’s very funny and it’s charming, a portfolio of ridiculousness for MacDonald-Smith and a tongue-in-cheek skewering of foodie culture, a good fit for the Teatro Live! season.

Fully Committed runs until June 21st, and it’s not fully committed (not sold out)! You can get tickets here.

Inspired silliness and spontaneous hilarity all over the Citadel.

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Ronnie Burkett’s The Daisy Theatre is in the Club downstairs.

One Man, Two Guvnors is upstairs in the Shoctor.

And in between, Rapid Fire Theatre is at Ziedler Hall with two Theatresports shows every Friday, a Chimprov long-form improv show every Saturday at 10 pm, and next weekend also a public-workshops student show Thursday at 7:30 (I am going to be in this one, probably singing) and a Maestro elimination game Saturday night at 7:30.   Tickets for all Rapid Fire shows are available through EventBrite and at the door.

Ronnie Burkett’s Daisy Theatre  is returning after a long Citadel booking last year.  Some of the same puppet characters are in the show this year, but there are some new ones, and all new stories with the old ones, and apparently different things happen every night.  I saw it once last year and enjoyed it, but I thought this year’s show was even better.   Mrs. Edna Rural is still one of my favourites.  This year’s bits with Schnitzel, the poignant little creature who wishes for wings, were not as disturbing to me as last year’s (which reminded me of Robertson Davies’ World of Wonders), and they were still charming, especially watching Schnitzel climb the curtains.  As last year, Ronnie Burkett includes various audience members or takes amusing liberties with them, and he also makes lots of jokes about local establishments and politics.  I wish I had time to see it again.

One Man, Two Guvnors had its first preview tonight.  It had a long cast list with many familiar names and faces, John Ullyatt, Lisa Norton, Julien Arnold, Jesse Gervais, Cole Humeny, Louise Lambert, Orville Charles Cameron, Mat Busby, Andrew Macdonald-Smith, and all of the Be Arthurs.  Performers I hadn’t seen before were Jill Agopsowicz as the young romantic lead Pauline and Glenn Nelson as Harry Dangle the lawyer (of the firm Dangle, Berry, and Bush).  Bob Baker was the director, and the script was written by Richard Bean based on Carlo Goldoni’s 18th century comedy The Servant of Two Masters.  John Ullyatt is the main character Francis Henshall, the quick-talking easily-confused small-time crook who starts the show so broke that he hasn’t eaten, and desperate for money he hires himself out to two different people, the gangster Roscoe  – who turns out to be Roscoe’s twin sister Rachel in disguise, Lisa Norton –  and the higher-class criminal Stanley Stubbers (Jesse Gervais).  Assorted wacky hijinks ensue, as Francis tries to get some food and then the affections of the accountant Dolly (Louise Lambert), various other romances play out, prison-trained chef Lloyd manages a “pub with food” (apparently a novelty in 1963 Brighton) with the help of servers Alfie (Andrew Macdonald-Smith who should probably have a massage therapist or physiotherapist lined up for the run of the show) and Gareth (Mat Busby), and criminal mastermind Charlie The Duck (Julien Arnold) is involved in some financial negotiations with his solicitor Harry Dangle that I never did quite follow, but it didn’t matter.  There was slapstick, physical comedy, bad puns, lots of asides to the audience, musical interludes by the Be Arthurs playing as The Craze (Ryan Parker, Scott Shpeley, Bob Rasko, Sheldon Elter), and other funny business.  The pace did not drag at all and although it was a fairly long show I wasn’t restless, I was just giggling all the way through.  It was a little tiresome that Pauline’s defining character trait was a cluelessness or stupidity, but there was good contrast with Louise Lambert’s character Dolly, a 1963 model of feminist sass and control of her sexuality reminiscent of Joan on Mad Men, and with Lisa Norton’s character Rachel, who disguises herself as her brother and tracks down her missing lover (hence leading to a priceless reunion scene with a glimpse of two characters making out in matching boxer shorts and gartered socks.)  The script also had lots of scope for ridiculousness in male characters, notably Cole Humeny as Alan (Orlando) Dangle, would-be actor in black turtleneck and leather and overdramatic anguish.   This might be the best pure comedy I have seen on the Shoctor stage.  I liked it better than Make Mine Love and possibly better than Spamalot.

 

The Daisy Theatre runs in the Club until November 2nd.  One Man, Two Guvnors runs in the Shoctor until November 16th.  Tickets to both are available through the Citadel website.