WEDGIE
	A Theatre Boom Production
Plays until:	June 16, 2007
Reviewed by:	Louis B.
Official website:	www.theatreboom.com
	FULL REVIEW
User ratings:	(7 votes, average: 3.57 out of 5)  Loading …

Theatre Boom’s Wedgie is the Calgary theatre scene’s version of Ocean’s 13.

For his Ocean movies, George Clooney called upon favours from a host of talented friends.

That’s precisely what Calgary playwrite Jason Rothery has done for Wedgie.

He has peopled his hilarious comic allegory with some of the finest young talent in the city, himself included.

Up there on stage with him are people like Tyrell Crews, Braden Griffiths, Chris Austman, Evan Rothery, Fraser Andrews and Joel Smith who have distinguished themselves in productions for Theatre Calgary, Alberta Theatre Projects, Lunchbox Theatre, Stage West, Shakespeare in the Park and Sage Theatre.

They are joined by equally talent actors who are studying at or recently graduated from the acting programs at Mount Royal and the University.

They are undestandably excited by the roles Rothery has written in Wedgie, a kind of marriage between Peanuts and Lord of the Flies with a bit of Star Wars thrown in for good measure.

This is not to suggest Wedgie is a play for children eventhough it is a play about children.

On the playground of Anderson Elementary it is that time of year when the grade six students must wage an attack on the grade sevens at the near-by Junior High.

It is a tradition as feared and revered as initiations or hazings.

Lloyd (J. Rothery) has made it his mission to stop this tradition but he has to face considerable opposition from his long-time rival Calvin (Andrews).

This is the big picture but there are numerous small pictures which also unfold with hilarious results because Rothery is so astute in his observations and memory.

He has written dialogue for adult actor that rings true as children.

Because the performances are equally astute, less than 20 minutes into the play and you can accept these actors as children.

It’s a stellar ensemble with stand out performances from Leda Davies as Cindy, the self-appointed leader of the privileged girls, Crews as Stan, the befuddled newcomer to the school and Patrick J. MacEachern as Sam the gung-ho avenger of an injustice perpetrated on his older brother.

Juli Elkiw’s costumes are something straight out of a Peanut’s cartoon and Jed Tomlinson’s set design with its giant treehouse and monkey bars does for these little kids what that monster dump in Cats did for that show’s felines.

The first act of Wedgie is intoxicatingly charming.

The second act occassionally gets away from Rothery but that may be because the novelty has worn off and not because the playwrite has run out of ideas and observations.

Wedgie runs at Dancer’s Studio West until June 16.

If you have never been to this performance space it’s tricky to find.

The entrance is in the back alley so give yourself 10 or so extra minutes to find the theatre and a parking spot but by all means make a visit to Anderson Elementary School to join in their revelry and to relive some of your own memories courtest of Jason Rothery and Theatre Boom.

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