Ricki a hit at Centaur
Wildside Festival

Fantasy absurdist play features excellent acting and introduces “The Thing”

By Byron Toben

February 8, 2024

Colleague Irwin Rapaport reviewed Ricki at its opening and I viewed it at its penultimate performance on February 2, so I have little to add to his excellent article. All I can add is a few words about the three actors therein.

I have witnessed the growth in Julie Tamiko Manning, who plays the mother since she first appeared at the Montreal Fringe in the 1990 play Girls, Girls, Girls. That show also introduced actors Laura Teasdale, Stephanie Buxton and Alison Darcy (who co-directed Ricki), all of whom have gone on to have notable careers, so it was a seminal event. Ms. Manning’s range has expanded over the years to include not only, as here, absurd and funny but also serious and heavy, as in Seeds (2003) and Butcher (2015).

Jon Lachlan Stewart, who doubles as a drug dealer and, hidden under an enormous costume, a monster called “The Thing,” is remembered for being selected by Keir Cutler to direct a futuristic play 2056 written by Keir in 2015, as well as Jon’s writing the 2023 play The King Stinks.

Gabe Maharjan, who plays the Son, is a good find for that role. I hadn’t heard of or seen him before, but I noted that he has some impressive Fringe credits.

I have witnessed the growth in Julie Tamiko Manning, who plays the mother since she first appeared at the Montreal Fringe in the 1990 play Girls, Girls, Girls… [her] range has expanded over the years to include not only, as here, absurd and funny but also serious and heavy, as in Seeds (2003) and Butcher (2015).

A word about the design of the beer-guzzling monster called The Thing. Large and black, it evoked both a bear and a seal but with an elephant-like trunk to snake-like eat and drink. Its very name reminded me of the 1951 horror film The Thing From Another World, and at a post-show reception, I asked playwright Joseph Shragge if he had that film in mind when writing this character, which he answered in the affirmative.

The reception included lively music by Sarah Segal-Lazar and the Lasers, with her singing Montreal-related songs (including Leonard Cohen’s classic Suzanne.) She was backed by two guitarists and a drummer.

Images: Helena Vallès

Other articles from Byron Toben
Other recent articles

Byron Toben, a past president of The Montreal Press Club, has been WestmountMag.ca’s theatre reviewer since July 2015. Previously, he wrote for since terminated websites Rover Arts and Charlebois Post, print weekly The Downtowner, and print monthly The Senior Times. He also is an expert consultant on U.S. work permits for Canadians.