‘Drinking Alone’ at the OLT

Meeting your significant other's family for the first time is always a daunting experience. You want to appear preened and poised, tasteful, but not too overdone. You must be friendly and intellectual, but not too talkative. And you must uphold this façade for at least the period of a formal lunch date or dinner party if you are to prove you're worthy of their child's affections.

In most cases, the occasion passes without a glitch, and you're left feeling satisfied and accepted. For a small percentage of unlucky lovers, however, the family is neurotic, perhaps a little crazy, and you find yourself unwittingly acting as the calm eye in their family storm.

The latter scenario forms the plot of Norm Foster's Drinking Alone -- a warm-hearted comedy about meeting the soon-to-be in-laws for the first time, albeit when you're a hired escort, and have only known your 'fiancé' for 30 minutes before the big occasion.

The play takes place the evening of an unlikely family reunion in Joe Todd's living room. The 37-year-old is uninspired and complacent. He runs his father's dry cleaning business and admittedly has no friends. To garner the affections of his gruff father -- visiting on his birthday -- and prove he is not a complete social failure, he hires Renée, a bubbly but bummed-out escort to act as his fiancé. Throw in the unexpected arrival of Carrie O'Neil, Joe's foul-mouthed, borderline alcoholic sister and Phyllis Todd, the resented step-mother, and the tale tells a humorous and painfully human story to which most can relate.

Like the Todd family, our own families have hidden secrets and excess baggage that, as hard as we try to hide it, spews out in moments of emotion.

In Act I, we get to know the characters and their circumstances. Renée, a curvaceous and talkative woman, towers over her faux beau to make for an unlikely pair. Carrie is a cynical and aggressive newsreader (she catches the pair in the lie almost immediately). The father, Ivan Todd, epitomizes the detached father who speaks his mind. And Phyllis Todd is Ivan's sweet and petit second wife who complements her husband's brusqueness with good humour. The combination of personalities clash and make for a humorous and awkward meet-and-greet.

In Act II, the heartbreaking family history reveals itself, and we come to see the reasons behind their dysfunction. Without giving too much away, the moral of the story is that, as much as our pride may suffer, it pays to speak your mind and show your emotions. In the Todd family's instance, much heartache and loneliness could have been avoided if they had done just this. Drinking Alone debuted to a packed theatre and had the audience in fits of laughter on opening night.

The cast of five each deliver convincing performances; particularly commendable is Michele Snyder, who acts in her first ever theatre role as Phyllis Todd.

Drinking Alone debuted to a packed theatre and had the audience in fits of laughter on opening night, presumably because many of the awkward scenarios were a case of art imitating their own life. The play creates a warm and fuzzy in the pit of your stomach, an ever-so-slight feeling of nostalgia for family reunions and their alcohol-induced awkward conversations and arguments.

Why? Because drinking with family is better than drinking alone.

Drinking Alone plays at the Ottawa Little Theatre from Jan. 12 to Jan. 30. Click here for more info.

Innika La Fontaine is a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Australian expat, serving the final term of her Bachelor of Journalism Degree at Carleton University.

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