Local performer P. Adrien Dorval tore through many characters brilliantly on stage at the Heritage Playhouse in Gibsons last weekend in Eric Bogosian's vicious comedy Wake Up and Smell the Coffee.
By turns, Dorval became the irritating customer service guy, the insufferable man in the gold card line waiting to board his plane, the drunk in group therapy who is certain that he's the victim and the obsequious auditioning actor, a scene that rings true for Dorval in his professional career.
The play also questions God's poor treatment of his own son, Jesus, and Dorval becomes Satan for a few beats to see what villainy can be incited. In one clever piece the actor even becomes an audience member in which he passes snobbish pronouncement on his own show. Throughout, there's a feeling that the playwright is laughing at us for indulging this array of losers.
The character sketches are interspersed with brief, quirky videos by Marc Buzzell and starring Ryan Peters, Dorval's acting colleague from The Drawer Boy.
Is it a comic play? Not really. It's more of a rant, except for the humorously obnoxious characters involved. The play raises issues that seem outdated today because it was written prior to 9/11, global recession and digital addiction. Oddly, the final scene involving a vegan hitchhiker makes some sense for today. Perhaps that's as Bogosian intended it.
The play continues tonight, March 11, at 8 p.m. and Saturday, March 12, at 8 p.m. for its final performance. Tickets for $20 are available at Hallmark Cards and Gaia's Fair Trade in Gibsons and the Sechelt Visitors Centre.
