It was a night at the theatre for yours truly last week when I attended Dionysus in Stony Mountain at the Rachel Browne Theatre. Usually my idea of going out and being entertained would consist of a cold beer and a hockey or football game, but I must admit I have seen some theatre in my day, including plays at Manitoba Theatre Centre, and Rainbow Stage.
This was a different kind of theatre than I am used to. Any show I have seen have had music, dancing and flashy sets and lights, so when I walked into the theatre I knew this would be something completely different.
I knew that the show was going to have to have good acting to be entertaining and luckily for me and the rest of the audience it did.
Ross McMillan gave a powerful performance in two seperate roles. It was his show in the first act as the show felt like a McMillan monolougue. The female character in act one could have been played by a pilon with similar effect.
What amazes me most about the acting profession is that there are definitely actors who are not as talented as McMillan who are making millions acting in Hollywood.
The actress Sarah Constible had a much larger role in act two and her acting is also very good. I appreciate that the lack of effects and color made the actors have to be that much better and they pulled it off.
I also noticed how much music can add emotion to a situation. There was no music in act one until the very end and it immediately made the dialogue seem more important and impactful.
The best part of the whole experience for me was having to step out of my comfort zone. There is a whole segment of people out there who are entertained in ways other than sports and reality T.V and going to see people entertained in a way that I am not used to was the biggest eye opener for me.
