A Tale of Two Plays

I should have posted this ages ago, but life got too fun to blog for a while.
We went to the opening night of The Gin Game in Wolfville on Thursday July 30. It is the newest attempt to bring live theatre to Wolfville in the summer, a town that already has too much going on. A new production company named Wolfville Summer Theatre (imaginative, yes?) is presenting two plays this summer at the Al Whittle Theatre.
The Gin Game is a two act play with two actors, which in the biz is referred to as a Two Hander; but really should be called a four hander unless it is done by a couple of war amps. Two Handers are often picked by small and fledgling companies to keep the costs to a minimum because along with a small cast, they usually have only one or two sets. This explains why WST's second production, Love Letters, is also a Two Hander.
The Gin Game had very good production values. By this I mean, the set was fun to look at, the lighting adequately set the mood, and the sound didn't annoy me too much. (Which is the best praise as I can usually give to sound.)
The acting was very good, in fact Carolyn Hetherington is always very impressive although we thought perhaps Lee J Campbell was miscast for his role.
If this sounds like faint praise, remember that I, my honey and my best friend are a hard audience to impress. We usually completely deconstruct the whole performance on the car ride home and some of our nitpicking included:
The costumes were not broken down and old looking.
The sound cues were too abrupt.
The second act suffered from bad direction.
Ms Hetherington seemed to be channeling Jessica Tandy, who originated the role.
The worst of the whole, is that the Gin Game is a boring play. I actually fell asleep in the second act, and I don't think I missed anything.
Contrast all this with Two Planks and a Passion's new production of Rockbound. Only 3 nights after Gin Game put me to sleep, Rockbound made me want to stand and cheer, even after 2 1/2 hours of bum numbing bleachers at Ross Creek's Centre for the Performing Arts. Rockbound is a new two act play by Allen Cole, and is based on the 1928 novel of the same name by Frank Parker Day, which won the CBC Canada Reads contest in 2005. Funny, poignant, use all the adjectives you want, this is a great piece of theatre, if you missed it at Ross Creek, go see it at the Chester Playhouse Aug 13-16. The music is complex, but while it wasn't catchy like trite musicals tend to be, I find that I can still hum two of the themes a week later. All the actors made me believe that they were their characters, even as some doubled up roles. The precise staging and use of simple scenic elements to advance the story is what good theatre always strives for. No bells and whistles just real emotion, it was the best play I've seen for years. Go see it if you have the chance.