Have you ever wondered what those guys waving their clubs at the sand trap or the water hazard are really talking about? How to improve their putt? Or how to improve their lives?
The Foursome, now playing nightly and at matinees at the Stanley Theatre in Vancouver, is a likeable comic play about golf and the men who use their tee time for a little male bonding. The script is light and funny, written by Canadian author Norm Foster and directed by the Arts Club's Bill Millerd.
The casting is superb. The four characters are buddies from business college who get together for a golf game, a tad hung over, on the morning after their school reunion party.
Jackson Davies, of Beach-combers fame, plays the successful rogue, the guy who can still attract the ladies and can hit a ball straight and true up the fairway. Hrothgar Mathews plays the family man, Donnie, who can't stop talking about his wife and kids. The actor has had major and guest star roles in television movies and in such shows as DaVinci's Inquest and Stargate. Actor Tom Pickett plays the worrywart who becomes obsessed with the notion of whether his buddies had ever slept with his wife back in their college days.
Stephen Dimopoulos rounds out the cast of characters as the older man who has acquired a young wife and a drinking problem, not necessarily in that order.
The comedy duo of Davies and Mathews is perfect, a contemporary Mutt and Jeff with clever timing. The tall, lanky Davies has the funniest lines and frequently sets up the diminutive Mathews in an elaborate joke. The two actors have previously appeared together in the film comedy The Wild Guys, and they obviously have good stage rapport.
The play's talk ranges from the ridiculous: "Want to invest in a little money maker, Brazilian pepper trees?" to the sublime and personal: "You're having a vasectomy!" Along the way, the audience discovers the great attraction of golf, mostly through an amazing soliloquy on the subject delivered by Davies.
Davies is the star of this show. It's been nearly 30 years since his TV debut as Constable Constable in the famous series, and he will always be noted for it. But Beachcombers is not his entire career. He has appeared in over 300 TV shows and 35 made-for-TV movies while embracing a stellar career on stage in Arts Club productions. In 1995, he was inducted into the B.C. Entertainment Hall of Fame and is one of only two Canadians who are honourary sergeants in the RCMP.
The play runs at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage at Granville and 12th in Vancouver until Sept. 4. Ticket specials of two tickets for $59 are offered on most nights except Saturdays. There are matinees on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster, 1-604-280-3311.
