With Bated Breath exhales on the Centaur stage

Those who've been anxiously waiting can now finally exhale, With Bated Breath written by Bryden MacDonald opened April 23rd @ Centaur as the final production of their 40th season. The production directed by both Bryden MacDonald and Centaur's new artistic director Roy Surette, features noteworthy performances from Neil Napier, Eloi Archambaudoin, and Felicia Shulman. The production continues to May 24. The photo is of Michael Sutherland Young and Eloi ArchamBaudoin, taken by Yanick Macdonald.

The tale is centered around a troubled young gay man from a small coastal town in Cape Breton who comes to Montreal to start a new life in the big city. Not a play 'for all', but homophobes should not be dissuaded by the provocative promotional publicity that is obviously geared to appeal and to attract a gay male audience. The play isn't really all that gay. Although it does cover a lot of issues of sexuality it doesn't focus on just that one orientation. In fact there are more tits than dicks, -Which will surprise some and disappoint others in that it does try to cover some familiar and some unfamiliar territory in a very short time in the one act of 90 minutes. If it succeeds in achieving that goal really lies in the eyes of the beholder as it is very subjective material. One may be left questioning if the play tries too hard to please and what is the actual point of it all.

By staging the play in the small space the production retains it's necessary close nit flavor and intimate setting with the audience. There are moments that are deliberately uncomfortable and an abundance of sexually provocative scenes; some that include nudity, some of which were less necessary. The set’s an issue in that the actors and their action were not properly considered in it's design; They’re not completely safe and secure in some transitions and some of the on stage action. Even the audience is at some risk in how the set spills out close to the first row and the exit. The backdrop was also constantly entangled with the actors in their exits and entrances.

It isn't an obvious choice to find such a dark play selected as the end of the season as a Centaur production, -A time when one expects to find lighter fair material, of which this play most definitely is not. However it is easy to understand the hype surrounding the production, -the staging such work on a Centaur stage that would normally be seen as an independent companies selection and mounted in a smaller space. Not since Mambo Italiano has there been full frontal male nudity and the subject matter of gay sexuality all in one production at Centaur. Of course many other lesser known and unfunded local English language companies and stages have featured similar topics and even the male nudity for years, but they don't benefit from the support that is at the 'big house'. It is fascinating and a relief to see that this type of material that is normally reserved only for the independents is now finally influencing the choices of the larger companies and finding its way to their stages.