Want to have your spirits lifted and your funny bone tickled?
I'm tired of those snobby theatre folks who downgrade the work of Canadian playwright Norm Foster.
With 67 plays and musicals to his credit, Foster has a show playing somewhere just about every night of the year.
Oh yes, I know he's largely ignored by theatres in Toronto.
What's wrong with those big city folks? Don't they like to laugh?
And yes, I know, not one of Foster's plays has been performed at the Stratford Festival.
Never mind, Norm has his own Foster Festival, in St. Catharine's every summer. And it pretty much sells out. So there.
This preamble, you understand, is by way of telling you, if you like to laugh, are willing to shed a tear or two, and aren't afraid to be thought of as a bit of a plebeian theatregoer, this one's for you. And if you are someone who enjoys plays that are entertaining, rather than instructive, Theatre Ancaster's Here on the Flight Path" is the real thing.
In the hands of inventive director Matthew Willson, this heartwarming comedy takes right off.
Are there cavils? All right, yes, but nothing to seriously trample your enjoyment.
At times the pacing is too slow and the energy level too low, mainly from Tim Hevesi, the play's central character. As John Cummings, a nice guy on the make, Hevesi doesn't always look comfortable in this role. He also misses some of the comedy, failing to land a number of Foster's funny lines.
He's a little low key as Foster's lovable loser, adopting too soft a tone, even for the tiny new Voortman Theatre, but in the end, Hevesi does make you feel for Cummings' loneliness.
Still, in this production, it has to be said it's the women who come out on top. For one thing, they have Hevesi outnumbered. For another, they give the play the earthy quality it desperately needs.
Now, I prefer seeing Flight Path the way it was written, with one woman playing all three female roles. But when you have three terrific actresses sharing the stage, as director Willson has here, three is definitely company and never a crowd.
Stephanie Christiaens is terrific as sly and sexy Fay, the hooker who works out on her balcony, next door to John Cummings' apartment. She's sassy and sweet and always delightfully real every moment she's on stage.
When she moves out, kooky little Angel, played by Stevie Pike in mercurial fashion, moves in. In her cowboy boots and too-short skirt, she fancies herself a singer and Barbra Streisand style star. Like Christiaens, Pike fills the stage with an outsized personality that sparkles like the glint in her eyes.
Her Angel may seem a tad goofy, but ultimately this girl's got moxie.
Finally, dear troubled Gwen appears on the balcony, divorced and down in the dumps. She's all tears and anxiety, and, oh yes, she's Cumming's next hopeful conquest.
Foster's play has plenty of insights into male-female relationships. It's funny yes, but always with an undertow of truth, maybe even sadness.
Production values for this Flight Path" are mostly good. The uncredited costumes are excellent, defining each character perfectly.
The set by Dan Koehler? Well, it's a little too cartoon-like for my taste. Every time a character went offstage I had difficulty picturing what was out there. And didn't the designer notice that the railings along the front of the apartment balconies hid the actors' faces when they sat down?
Comfortable viewing, alas, is not on the whole a fact of the Voortman Theatre space. Tables and chairs on a flat floor make it difficult to see over people in front of you. Then too, tables are crowded too close together in this space that is rather small, even for a black box style theatre.
When it became obvious the Ancaster Memorial Arts Centre, Main Stage Peller Theatre, and its production of British Invasion," would not be able to open on time, due to strikes and COVID-19 issues, Theatre Ancaster's attention shifted to The Voortman and Here on the Flight Path."
The Foster play is a good choice for the summer and Foster himself, once a resident of Ancaster, is a perfect first playwright to have a show in this space.
It's just too bad those tony Toronto theatregoers will have to trek out of town to catch this Foster play. If they do journey to Ancaster, they'll find out what they're missing. Comedy that lifts your spirits and tickles your funny bone.
Gary Smith has written about theatre and dance for The Hamilton Spectator for 40 years. gsmith1@cogeco.ca
Here on the Flight Path
Who: Theatre Ancaster
Where: Voortman Theatre, Ancaster Memorial Arts Centre, 357 Wilson St. E. Ancaster
When: July 22-23, 7.30 p.m. July 17-24 at 2 p.m. Tickets:
Tickets: $36-Seniors 66 and over $33- Youth 19 and under $15
Call 905-304-3232 or go to memorialarts.ca/events