Magnus Theatre Presents Freedom 85!

Magnus Theatre's second offering of the 2012-2013 season is Freedom85!, light-hearted fare that examines the emotional and occasionallyhumourous trials of aging and the sometimes uncomfortable perspectivethat looking back on times past can bring. Freedom 85! features AndreaRisk and playwright Debra Hale in multiple characterizations thoughtheir performances are rooted in the elderly Sybil and the youngerKate respectively.Sybil has removed herself from a retirement home which she refers toas "The Morgue." It is a place of spiritual and emotional decay, onefor which she considers herself, at age 85, too young. A chanceencounter with the younger and lacking in confidence Kate at a diner.Sensing understanding and some common ground despite their agedifference, Sybil hires Kate to be her personal assistant. It is a jobfor which the well-meaning Kate is woefully under qualified, and Sybilhas yet to come to terms with the life of assisted independence at theretirement home that was forced upon her. Through flashbacks with aseries of quirky characters embodied by the actresses themselves theexposition of both Sybil's and Kate's origins proves the common groundboth women share.Playwright Debra Hale presents a likeable Kate, a woman whose misstepsin life have so far defined her. It is easy to empathize with her.Andrea Risk gives a touching and familiar performance as Sybil. It isfamiliar in the sense that Risk portrays her Sybil with manyaffectations one can recognize in an elderly woman he or she may know.Both Hale and Risk make believable transformations into distinctivesupporting characters who punctuate the challenges facing the two maincharacters. The set design by Steve Lucas is minimalistic, employingthe use of projections to establish background setting while requiringthe audience to use their imagination to fill in the rest. A smartlighting design by Jennifer Kasper serves the story well, bringing theaudience in closer especially in scenes of a WW2 bomb raid and, later,a wedding reception.An animated and lively theatrical experience, Freedom 85! runs atMagnus Theatre through November 3. Contact the box office at 345-5552or book online at http://www.magnus.on.ca.By Kyle PoluykoPhotos:Barry Wojciechowski