Review: Norm Foster's HILDA'S YARD at Ottawa Little Theatre

Ottawa Little Theatre’s production of Hilda’s Yard, a comedy from Canadian playwright Norm Foster, is a shining example of acting, directing, and staging working exceptionally well together.

The Flucks are a loving family, but Hilda and Sam (Teal Cochrane and Allan MacLeod, respectively) are looking forward to spending their golden years stress-free and with some added creature comforts that are affordable now that their kids have finally moved out. Just as they get ready to celebrate their future as empty nesters, their children show up - with luggage. Sam and Hilda find themselves unwittingly hiding Gary (Adam Pelletier) from the mob, while consoling Janey (Kate Moir), who has unexpectedly walked out on her husband. They are soon after joined by two additional uninvited guests, Beverley (Lawrence Evenchick) and Bobbi (Lindsey Keene), adding to the mayhem.

Although it is set at the end of September 1956, the set feels like it could be the middle of a hot, Southern Ontario summer. The rear exterior of Hilda and Sam’s quaint cottage opens out onto a typical suburban middle-class back yard: a small porch, with stairs leading to a patch of green grass with lawn chairs, flanked on either side by a tall, wooden fence and a clothesline running across one side.

The set does not rotate, as all of the play’s action takes place in the Flucks' backyard. Although we never get to see the inside of Hilda and Sam’s house, we imagine it is modestly furnished, but homey and comfortable, an assumption largely based on the family dynamic and the interactions we see between Hilda, Sam, and their children.

This show is witty and well-paced; watching the events unfold is entertaining and never feels drawn out, not even for a moment. The acting is first rate, with the entire cast giving strong performances that invest the audience in their characters' individual outcomes, and makes them root for even the most unlikely of pairings. Evenchick and Keene gave especially endearing performances. The Flucks are an all-around average Canadian family, and it is impossible not to like them, despite (or perhaps because of) their many flaws. Each character is well developed, with underlying complexities becoming more apparent as the play unfolds. The show’s director (Val Bogan) wisely ensures that the actors move fluidly about the stage, maximizing the use of the space and making sure it never feels crowded or cluttered.

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