60+ min | Comedy | PG
Dear David circa Wednesday,
If you want to live a happier life don’t go to Duet, or: Pas de deux. It pains me to tell you this because the predominantly female cast performs the material to the best of their abilities, and Richard Kaulbars can sell a line like no other. However, anything that opens with what appears to be a rape joke and closes with a sad caveat and forced closing is a hard sell.
Duet, or: Pas de deux is a timepiece 1960s comedy that embraces anachronisms like a child embraces a creepy street corner Hello Kitty. Phrases like “trigger warning”, “spoiler alert”, and the recurring American Idol music reveal the real reason for the 1960s setting. While masquerading as a progressive sendup of the values and sexism of yesteryear, Duet is actually presenting one of the most regressive, sexist, and at times racist productions I have ever seen in any medium. This is a play that Woodrow Wilson would love, if only he understood the anachronisms.
This is a play that uses fart noises as transitions, for almost every scene change. Now, I don’t know how the 28th President of the United States felt about fart jokes, but like all of the prerecorded audio I found it distracting. The fart noises made it difficult to really understand every sexist joke and dig at Chinese people or Mexican food.
At about the halfway mark the play takes a sharp turn for the worse. The snappy (sexist) repartee suddenly leapfrogs into a nearly 30-minute exchange of monologues. The characters all start talking at great length at one another. I have never seen a play that back ends with so much exposition, and then makes a joke about exposition.
Again, no part of this is due to a lack of acting talent. In fact, I am impressed with how well the actors sold their two-dimensional roles. A brief moment of choreography was well presented, the hollow words had real emotions behind them – I’m telling you these thespians performed a miracle.
The story centres around a woman with two heads, which brings me to maybe the Achilles heel of the production. The second head looks awful, and whenever it is puppetted it is distracting and unbelievable. It takes the audience out of the sexism, racism, and regressive plot.
The play was cut off after going long, but if I had to guess. A woman who cleans toilets and obsesses over the protagonist’s excrement gets a promotion, the protagonist’s sister becomes the dominant personality, and someone makes a Hillary Clinton Joke. Stay home David.
Sincerely,
David
Duet, or: Pas de deux, Venue 2, Academic Hall, 133 Séraphin-Marion, Thursday, June 16, 9:30 p.m.; Friday, June 17, 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, June 19, 3 p.m.; Tuesday, June 21, 7 p.m.; Friday, June 24, 5 p.m.; Saturday, June 25, 11 p.m.
Tickets are $12.
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