Review: APPEARING THIS EVENING at Ottawa Little Theatre

Ottawa Little Theatre’s presentation of Appearing This Evening, written by local Ottawa playwright, Anthony Keenleyside, and directed by Karen Wood, doesn’t know what it wants to be. The first act introduces the disappearance of the star of the community theatre production of Henry VIII, Wives VI, but then focuses on the ins and outs of staging a production more than delving into the mystery. The second act turns into a full-on whodunit, which would be fine, except the play hadn’t addressed the mystery component beyond the fact that the lead actor had not shown up for work. To make a mystery fair, a writer should ensure that the reader or, in this case, the audience, has the same opportunity to solve the mystery as the detective in the story. This is most assuredly not the case with Appearing This Evening. In fact, the motives and information that would be required to solve the puzzle are largely only divulged during the big reveal at the end of the show. As a result, the mystery is not “solvable” and takes much of the fun out of a play that is advertised as a “backstage comedy-mystery”.

The play is ostensibly a love letter to community theatre, and much of the first half focuses on the logistics and personalities involved in running a production. Some of the character names provide a nod to Tudor history, though the references do not build toward anything substantial. For instance:

• The stage manager, played by Dianna Renée Yorke, is named Catherine O’Faragon, echoing Catherine of Aragon.
• The play-within-a-play’s female lead, played by Linda Webster, is Anne Bullen, a nod to Anne Boleyn.
• The assistant, played by Stephanie Korzeniowski, is Jane Seamore, rather than Seymour.

The pattern does not extend to the other female characters, leaving Henry’s remaining wives out of the joke (although one could argue that his first three wives are the most famous). Anne, who is dating the missing actor playing Henry VIII, has an ex-boyfriend, played by Felipe Moura, who steps in as a substitute. His character’s name, Henry Sevensson, is mildly amusing but feels like an inside joke that never develops.

There are the traditional gruff no-nonsense inspector (Robert Hicks) and his bumbling sidekick (Garret Lee), which is standard fare for many murder mystery stories. In general, the characters have little substance and Keenleysides's script lacks character development, which makes it difficult to even care about the outcome. The resolution introduces plot points that may resonate with Ottawa’s largely public-service audience, but they arrive only in the final reveal rather than functioning as clues the audience could use to solve the mystery.

One scene that stood out to me was a simultaneous interview scene, where each police officer interviewed a different suspect in a different area of the stage; the scene cleverly cut back and forth, with excellent pacing and effective lighting. The opening scene of Henry VIII, Wives VI, the play within a play, was also well directed and had good entertainment value, especially from Moura and Korzeniowski.

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