By Dessa Bayrock (The Cascade) – Email
Last Will and Testament
By Wyatt McRae
Directed by Kevin Jesuino (UBC Okanagan)
Running time: 45 minutes.
Showings: Friday at 9:00 p.m. and Sunday at 1:20 p.m.
Memorable lines: “And now, as per Dick’s last request… please punt him.”
“We request to have fries with that.”
“Ashes to ashes; dust to dust; coffee to grounds.”
Warnings: Macabre humour. Mature content.
Be warned that this is experimental theatre, and it gets weird. I doubt there’s any other show at the festival quite like this one. However, if you’re willing to sit through a roller coaster of not having the slightest idea of what’s going on, this show is for you. There is interpretive dance. There is an Asian man in parachute pants. There is Cat Stevens, a brief reference to Star Wars, and a shaman. (Tell me you’re not intrigued. Go on. Tell me. I dare you.)
The show begins with a vaguely Scottish marching song in sometimes questionable harmony, flickering candles, and the odd and creepy mimed death of each cast member while a deep church bell rings repeatedly.
The shaman drinks Jack Daniels.
The audience is kept in a constant state of tension, attempting to figure out if the show is a serious piece or if it’s okay to laugh. The five characters have gathered to grieve for a man, it seems, they barely knew – in a variety of absurd ways that make the audience question, to some degree, the conventions of both funerals and death itself. If that’s not enough to sell you, it ends with bagpipes and limited audience participation.
This kind of show is pretty much exactly why Dfest exists – to give small, intimate, and straight-up weird shows a place to play. As UBC Okanagan’s first contribution to Dfest, it’s prime example of experimentation, creativity at its finest, and what that combination can evolve into.
