There are precious few downsides to Stewart Lemoine’s world premiere of For the Love of Cynthia that officially launched the opening of the newly built Varscona Theatre last Thursday night.
The only one I can think of is that your cheek muscles are curved in a perpetual grin and may be a bit sore by the end of the two-hour evening. Nothing a glass of wine won’t fix.
For the Love of Cynthia is Teatro La Quindicina’s season opener, a screwball comedy about an unlikely, but contented kingdom smack dab in the middle of Alberta during the ’50s.
Lemoine is a romantic sentimentalist and reserves a special affection for characters and stories that have a harmless eccentricity. And For the Love of Cynthia has it in spades.
Shrewdly crafted it brings Hutton Hayes (Ben Stevens), a well-meaning young bureaucrat collecting numbers for a provincial census, to the Kingdom of Cynthia.
The 50-acre kingdom located west of Drayton Valley and south of Lodgepole has a total population of nine and is operated by two families.
The king and his entourage live in the palace (actually a barn), and the rustics composed of the Boone family till the land, grow crops and run the general store.
The royals and the rustics have lived together in oddball harmony for three generations simply following their bliss. When Hutton crosses the border in Cynthia, his sudden appearance threatens the status quo.
Initially Hutton lacks an identity card or passport and the border crossing is considered “a breach of national security.” Yet within the flip of dime, his transgression turns into a “state visit,” and a historical occasion to dig up Cynthia’s origins.
Throughout the production there is a non-stop volley of zippy one-liners, a fencing duel and a couple of romances leading to a satisfactory conclusion.
It’s almost an incredulous stretch for the imagination. Yet Lemoine imbues the tale with a heavy dose of naÄŹvetĂ© that becomes its strongest feature.
He has created a select assortment of mixed nuts that exist in a perpetual state of silliness. The energetic and versatile Ron Pederson is delightful as the flaky King Philo who lives in a dream world that revolves exclusively around him.
Jeff Haslam as the foppish Chancellor Florestan Dupuis is irrepressible, yet more restrained than in some past productions. His grand moment comes close to the end when he delivers a touching speech that is the perfect mix of gravitas and comedy.
While the king and the chancellor share a loosey-goosey attitude, Michelle Diaz’s President Amelia Kraatz is a by-the-book minister who loses it when a situation arises she cannot control.
Mathew Hulshof as the Baron consul for the Norwegian embassy is more infatuated with writing plays than stamping official documents, and Paula Humby’s organized Jean Boone practically runs the whole place.
St. Albert’s Jenny McKillop is Rosalind Fine, a ladylike governess who is a bit slow in recognizing romance while Mat Busby’s Lyle Boone is a salt of the earth farmer with a few surprises up his sleeve.
Morgan Donald as Princess Minka pulls off the highly intellectual stuff while still managing to find romance with Adam Houston’s Hamish Boone, a blushing young man in the first throes of puppy love.
There is light and laughter in For the Love of Cynthia, a fitting play to kick-start the Varscona Theatre’s new era in its new $7.5-million finery.
Review
For the Love of Cynthia<br />Teatro La Quindicina<br />Runs until June 18<br />Varscona Theatre<br />10329 – 83 Ave.<br />Tickets: $20 to $34 and Tuesday evenings pay-what-you-can. Call 780-433-3399 or online at teatroq.com.
