Twisted sisters

>> Darkly hilarious drama at McGill

by AMY BARRATT

With all the theatre companies launching their seasons, the fall can be overwhelming for theatregoers. The most frustrating part of it, for poor schlubs like me, is that so many shows come and go too quickly to be reviewed. The following is a fleeting look at a couple of shows you just have time to catch.

Last week, I saw several excerpts from what looks to be a fabulous play. The Baltimore Waltz, at McGill's Morrice Hall, is the first production of the year for the student-run Tuesday Night Café. A black comedy inspired by the AIDS crisis, it unfortunately only plays until this Saturday night.

"The Baltimore Waltz has been referred to by critics as a 'second-generation AIDS play,'" says director Daniel Maté, "in that it takes AIDS not as its explicit topic but as its setting."

In fact, AIDS is never once mentioned in the script. Playwright Paula Vogel instead creates a metaphorical universe where unsuspecting kindergarten teachers are stricken with a deadly virus known as Acquired Toilet Disease (ATD). Yup, they pick it up from toilet seats.

"The first thing I remember hearing about AIDS, when I was 10 years old or so, was 'you can't get it from toilet seats,'" says Maté. "It's just brilliant the way Vogel taps into that and challenges our fears. When I read the play, I couldn't believe anyone having the audacity to parody AIDS."

Actually, what the play makes fun of is not the disease but the attitudes of the medical establishment, governments, media and society in general to something like the AIDS crisis. The whole idea is so outrageous that I wanted to see it played big, broad and brassy. However, the young actors in this production are playing it a bit--you should pardon the expression--straight, for my liking. No offence to the Tuesday Night Café company, but I did find myself wishing that one of the larger companies in town would decide to produce The Baltimore Waltz, so that more Montrealers would have the opportunity to see such an original and entertaining play.

The Baltimore Waltz, at McGill's Morrice Hall until Oct. 25.