REVIEW: Arizona road trip shows depth and heart
Think of Mesa, the new production from the Varscona Theatre Ensemble, as a road show. In fact, it is much like the current movie hit Green Book, where two widely different characters find themselves stuck together on a long auto journey. These characters learn a great deal about each other – and about themselves.
At the Varscona Theatre until March 2, Mesa was written some 20 years ago by Calgary theatre wiz Doug Curtis and has played with considerable success in many productions. I particularly remember Ron Jenkins’ 2001 local show – which starred a rising Edmonton actor named Jeff Haslam (who happens to be the producer of the current Varscona version, with Mat Busby).
Mesa tells the story of 34 year old Paul (Richard Lee Hsi), who sets out from Calgary on a road trip with Bud (Julien Arnold), his wife’s crusty 93-year-old grandfather. The emotional and geographical journey they undertake is at times warm, heartfelt and very funny.
Paul, an aspiring writer at a crossroads in his life, is persuaded to drive Bud to his winter home in Mesa, Arizona. It’s all new to Paul, but Bud and his late wife made the trip every year since 1967. Paul brings a young man’s romantic sense of traveling through the Old West. Bud, meanwhile, has seen it all many times and wants to get home to the trailer park, and to his new girlfriend Jean.
The stresses begin when Bud insists they get on the freeway, stop overnight at Motel 6’s and wolf down quick meals at Denny’s. Paul wants to stop and look at everything, reflect on how the West was won and maybe take a side trip to see the Grand Canyon and Tombstone.
Problems begin even before they cross the border. Paul’s choice of music on the radio is actively disliked by Bud. Paul, who is having marital problems, keeps phoning his wife and getting an answering service. The garrulous Bud babbles on and looks forward to his year-capping gig as emcee for the Saturday night dance when they reach Mesa. The two squabble (at times quite hilariously) as the miles go by. Paul wants to stop at Little Big Horn. Heavy traffic on the throughway slows them down. An aging bladder requires frequent stops. Bud’s road directions are a bit muddled – just vague gestures in one direction or another.
Paul likes the night. Bud wants to be in bed by eight – which leads to a demand they leave every morning at 6:30 am.
An audience member’s first thought may be, “Who’d want to spend 90 minutes with two guys arguing in a car?”
Mesa is not about that at all. There are bittersweet and poignant moments here. The two characters are interesting, sharply drawn and performed, and the friction between the two leads to much humour. Paul is looking to find himself while Bud knows his life is ending and wants to spend as much time as he can doing what he likes. The signs of mortality are never far away – at one moment he stops breathing. Later there’s blood in his urine.
As is the way of these things, the two meet a number of colourful characters along the way – all played by Cathy Derkach, who also provides a sprightly nostalgia-laden soundtrack for the evening. There’s a drunk in a bar, a security guard at the casino, and a pushy agent selling tickets to a gun-fighting show in Tombstone, staged with mannequins. “Like Value Village run by the mob,” grouses Paul. Derkach plays them all for laughs and the dependable comic actress goes hilariously over the top.
Once in the warm sunshine of Arizona, Bud finds the familiar circumstances he was looking for, and a new acceptance of the inevitable while Paul learns a lot about himself and re-evaluates his life.
The performances are faultless. Hsi, a very likeable actor, manages to keep his Paul complex and driven but allows for enough space to believably change during the experience. Arnold, an amazing shape-shifting actor, could probably play Bud in his sleep – but doesn’t. His cranky old man subverts the cliche and gives us a dimensional character determined to squeeze the best out of every moment he has left. Bud could easily become an annoying one-note geezer but this superb performer keeps finding ways to see the warm humanity behind all that cussedness.
The play is directed by long-time Edmonton actress Patricia Darbasie who shows as much dramatic flair behind the scenes as she does when on stage. Her briskly-paced production never falters and she draws a growing and genuine sense of mutual regard from her two lead actors.
An authentic and entertaining evening.
Photos by Mat Busby
