REVIEW: Cans, Theatre 503 ✭✭✭

Cans by Stuart Slade. Photo: Tani Van Amse Cans by Stuart Slade

Theatre503

14 November 2014

Review by James Gregory

3 Stars

We enter Theatre503 to find a man’s garage—the kind of place where many keep their most private and possibly embarrassing moments. Except in this garage, we find a handyman-looking uncle and niece drowning the mice that have been keeping the widow of the house up late at night, whilst sipping cans of Strongbow. Thus Stuart Slade’s debut work, Cans, opens.

Cans both explores a daughter’s discovery of sins buried deep in her famous father’s past, and the gaps of knowledge between generations, as shown in the relationship with her uncle. In five snapshots, we see Jen, as masterfully portrayed by Jennifer Clement, slowly come of age through this discovery and Uncle Len, perfectly embodied by Graham O’Mara, as he fumbles to reboot his own life, now that his protective big brother has killed himself amid sex abuse charges and his estate dries up.

Though the direction, actors, design, and original incidental music are excellent, unfortunately, the play-text itself sometimes lets the air out of the balloon. Slade’s exceptionally quick wit is a double-edged sword—there are times when Uncle Len is a little too erudite and one can almost see Slade whispering into his ear. The final scene sputters when a huge reveal and ensuing stage picture create a lovely denouement, only to have the play awkwardly jolt forward a while longer, seemingly on purpose. But this is nit-picking—if anything, Cans proves that Slade shouldn’t have to try quite so hard. He’s an excellent playwright with a bright future ahead of him.

Overall, Cans, both heart-warming and heart-wrenching, is a very good evening of fringe theatre. And with his of-the-moment social commentary and ability to craft funny, likeable, three dimensional characters, it will be a great pleasure to see what Stuart Slade has to say next.