Now onstage, The Arts Club Theatre Company presents, Bed & Breakfast by Mark Crawford at the Granville Island Stage.
The heartwarming comedy follows Brett and Drew, a 30-something couple in Toronto, struggling with typical big-city life; finding an affordable house, job prospects and progress. Their life changes when Brett inherits a family home in his small, hometown. Realizing this was their chance at home ownership, and entrepreneurship, the couple decide to stay in the small town and open the house as a Bed & Breakfast.
photo: Moonrider Productions
The play features just two actors; playwright Mark Crawford as Brett and Paul Dunn as Drew. In addition to the two lead characters, the play includes another dozen characters, all brilliantly played by Crawford and Dunn. While Brett and Drew are fully fleshed out characters, with emotions and a connection to their relationship, the other characters are more like caricatures. In Bed & Breakfast, Brett and Drew are telling their story to the audience. Just like someone telling a story at a party would, they pick up on key quirks and stereotypes of the other characters’ personalities to portray them within their story to comedic effect. Crawford and Dunn make the amazingly quick transitions between the characters look easy with a with a flip, a twirl or a change in body language.
The audience is sure to relate to at least a couple of the cavalcade of characters, whether it’s a parent, neighbour, co-working, family member or acquaintance. Bed & Breakfast isn’t all laughs and giggles, as the pair become more entrenched in their new small town home they also feel the insecurities of not being able to hide behind big city anonymity. The story also packs in a family secret and mystery, LGBT teen angst, sexual fluidity, small-town neighbours, Santa and much more.
With so much happening and so many characters, there’s so much happening in Bed & Breakfast that a whole series of plays could bring the story from the viewpoint of the other characters to create a comedy franchise to hit the stage year after year. Find out what the laughs are about when you book into Bed & Breakfast at The Arts Club Granville Island Stage until May 4, 2019. Find showtime and tickets on artsclub.com