Nothing new under this sun
But that is in no way a bad thing.
Simply put, Under The Bright Sun is enjoyable, with a generous amount of laughs warmly served up and smartly staged. Having said that, there may not have been any jaw dropping moments of realizations pulled out of the audience. There are no sharp inhales of surprised thrills, or deep nuanced discussions of morals, ethics, perceptions and realities.
Well, there is a little bit of a chat about that last part.
UTBS does a good job in being honest to what it is and not forcing anything where it shouldn’t go. For a one act comedy digestible over a lunch hour, it hits it’s mark and delivers you a fun diversion from your day without bogging you down.
The cast of the show all perform slight caricatures of archetypes that are thrust together at a bus stop. The characters are all intentionally written slightly flat, while each of the performers are capable of far more, with strong acting chops. Len Harvey destroyed me one night with his work in Mob Hit’s Elizabeth Rex. But UTBS is not a challenge to the skill set of the cast at all. This is not to say it’s a poor acting show, or a poorly acted show, but the characters are driven almost mechanically by conventions and repetition.
A majority of the jokes you can see coming from halfway down the street, but you still hang out to see how they are delivered. The ensemble proves to be bright, taking their time and giving the comedic notes the punch they need. I was a particular fan of Elinor Holt’s work. She has gifted me amazing heart tugging moments with her work with Urban Curvz, and here delivers a very upbeat and lovable performance. Everyone is really huggable in this show to be honest, with the cast rounded out with Karen Johnshon-Diamond’s harder edged whip cracker and Gerald Matthews oddly off-putting chest hair trimmer.
I can’t give away much of the plot, but in the end, we’ve seen this before. Some of the jokes have a bit of a rhythm that is more planned the natural, or even come off as cheap (I like French women, and their chests are fine). The opening of the show tends to take a bit long to get where it’s going, but when it picks up it’s a good ride. It’s fun. It’s bright. It’s a great diversion from the office for an hour.
As one of the Lunchbox staff said to me about the Lunchbox in general, “It’s a perk of working downtown.”. If you need a bit of a lite escape, go use your benefits and check out this show.
Under The Bright Sun runs through November 14th at The Lunchbox Theatre.
Lunchbox Theatre
160 115 9 Avenue SE
403 265 4292
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