Guy & Man, Helping Hands

Rating:

Company: Burning Meatloaf

Genre: Unclassifiable

Venue: 12- Asper Centre for Theatre & Film (U of W)

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Pity poor Guy and Man. The aging gents are stuck working together at a funeral business that is itself pretty much dead.

That's the premise for this darkly comic and absurddrama from Burning Meatloaf (Paul Madziak and Josh Penner, who go by the stage names Barbara Santiago and Peabody Finkelstein). It's an often plodding hour, but as Guy and Man try to fill the long hours of their day, it also explores the utter sadness of lives in search of meaning. Think Death of a Salesman by way of Harold Pinter.

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What really recommendsGuy & Manis the touching and thoughful conclusion it reaches.- Joff Schmidt

It's meandering plotlessness may test the audience's patience at points, but tedium is very much what Guy and Man's lives have become.

Both actors turn in solid performances, but what really recommends Guy & Man is the touching and poignant conclusion it reaches, and the heartbreaking moments Penner in particular (or Peabody Finkelstein, if you prefer) delivers as Guy and Man's day ends.

"This day has become too long," Man says. The play is too long too, but there's payoff for those who stick with it.