characters riffing on the chasm
by Christopher Douglas
Wesley J. Colford may be young but he certainly has sunk his teeth into the Toronto theatre scene this summer. As an actor in the Toronto Fringe play, Tam Lin, and writer and producer of the Best of the Fringe selection, The Wakowski Brothers, Colford did not rest on those laurels. After completing the SummerWorks Leadership Intensive Program (S.L.I.P.) last week, he stars in a fully-staged performance of his latest play, Mature Young Adults, which opens August 23 at the Tarragon Far Studio.
CHARPO: Tell us about your latest production Mature Young Adults: what brought it to Toronto now and what is it about?
COLFORD: I originally wrote the show about two years ago as a short play that was about 20 minutes long. Workshopped by Theatre New Brunswick, that version was then published in the new play anthology Out on a Limb: Short Plays by New Playwrights last year. In preparing it for publication, I began rewriting and with it in mind, I kept working on the script as a writer-in-residence with the Paprika Festival where as a full-length script, Mature Young Adults had a successful reading back in March. I see this presentation as a next step in the development process, the first time with actors on their feet, and we’ll see how what we do in the rehearsal room meets with the audience.
As for the story, it’s set in Nova Scotia and explores innocence and discovery as two ex-lovers are reunited in the park where their relationship began. Told in reverse, the audience watches these teenaged lovers struggle with societal and parental pressures, distances, repressed sexuality, misogyny and the unknown emotions of first love.
