Bingo!
Presented by (PTE) Prairie Theatre Exchange

Reviewed: 2011-10-18 22:58:32
Rated: 8 out of 10 []
By: Justin Dea (justin@justindea.com)

Thirty years, a few pounds lost and gained and a few ex husbands and wives later a group of friends come face to face at their thirty-year high school reunion. “Bingo” presented at Prairie Theatre Exchange, which was directed by John Cooper.  “Bingo” will have you slapping your knee, holding your gut and bursting out laughing for the most part of this production.

First let’s look at the set. The stage at The Prairie Theatre Exchange is set on a thrust. The set it self is very simple. From the top of the production the set is a standard hotel room, two beds, a table with comment card and an in room-dining menu.

The beautiful thing about this set is that it could be easily transformed into many different things that include the bar and the boardwalk with very simple transformations in between scenes. The use of stage lights gave a sense of reality to the audience. An example is the men and woman’s washroom sign in the second scene that really gave the audience an illusion that the scene took place in a bar.

The acting through out the play was very honest, comical and on beat. There were of course a few line slips ups that were noticeable to the audience however; we can blame that on opening night jitters.  To the actor’s credit, the players that missed still in fact did not break character. They were able to fix the line, and as they say in the theatre world “the show must go on”.

The first act of the play introduced us to the players in the cast. Dook (played by Ted Atherton) the character who has it all, a good job and a loving yet over protective wife.  Dook’s character was that of a bully.  No one had enough guts to stand up to him until the end.

We were also introduced to Heffer (played by Robert Moloney) the typical dead end guy who did nothing with his life after high school, never left town, got married and held onto many silent dreams and envious of his fellow class mates.

Then we met Nurk (played by Jeffrey Renn) the typical guy at a high school reunion who “made it,” still a geek but has a good job and is the envy of many.

The second scene introduced us to the girls. We first met Bitsy (played by Miriam Smith) the chick, who never graduated, but still sticks around. Finally, were introduced to Boots (played by Marina Stephenson-Kerr) who was your typical small town girl, very loud, outspoken and often mistaken for a lesbian. This character is the most memorable through out the whole play.

Pre show music really put the audience in the mood for a high school reunion, very eighties and upbeat. Music through out the whole show really helped the audience feel the mood of the scene, very good choice in music.

The acting of the play was very, very well done. The acting style of the play was very comical, had its serious moments and every line was executed with perfection.  In every act the players were on queue, very fast passed comic lines that did not miss a beat even when the lines were missed or changed.

The first half of the play, every character had a common goal, to hide the people they had become.

There was a scene in the second half of the play that was breath taking and it developed into a mood change. The players were in their hotel rooms. They were drinking and having a good time when all of a sudden Heffer put on a mixed tape of music of years passed. A song came on that all the players sang together, it was perfect. The number started out happy but ended with the realization that thirty years had passed, and none of them were the same people.    At that point I think everyone in the audience felt a bit of sympathy for each of the characters.  The last two scenes of the play were very slow, but necessary to complete the story.

Now, you maybe wondering where the play got its name from, not to spoil anything for you the reader, lets just say it is a drinking game played by all the players in a different way.

Daniel MacIvor’s play of “Bingo” was extremely well written, had many excellent acting moments and each of the characters were casted in a perfect role for their acting ability. Take two hours of your day, sit down and watch this production and you will not be disappointed!

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