Review: Pietà (SummerWorks)

On Losing Everything
by Beat Rice

Pietà is a play written by Danish playwright Astrid Saalbach. The play has two actors, but it might as well be a one-woman show. Tamsin Kelsey plays Maria, who wakes up in a hotel room with no memory of the previous night, or of the man she wakes up beside. The play is well written and is a creative twist on the story of someone experiencing a mid-life crisis. What happens when a career woman who seems to have it all, loses everything that is important to her?

Pieta is a dark comedy, which allows us to laugh at things such as reliance on alcohol, having sex with strangers, and divorce. It also shows us how the demise of a person has a cause and effect pattern with things such as reliance on alcohol, having sex with strangers, and divorce. Kelsey is an excellent actor who carries the play with humour and unrelenting energy. Having Maria tell her story to the silent man in the room is much more effective than having her direct her thoughts and stories directly to the audience. We witness her attempt at reconstructing her reality, and describe her fantasies. Pietà shows us a person struggling to cope with a crisis, and in turn asks us how we would cope. We may not agree with Maria’s choices in life but can we really judge her for them? 

Director Sarah Garton Stanley together with Set Designer Amy Keith make creative use of the space. Interestingly, Stanley decides not to use the stage right area at all. During the play we watch her spiral into a messy jumbled state. The stage is a reflection of her state of mind from the moment she wakes up to the end of the play. A pristine minimalist room becomes a messy room covered with spilled drinks and debris, as Maria loses her grasp on her sanity. 

Pietà is a well-written and well-acted play, but it is not an entirely challenging play. Perhaps I would feel differently if I had experienced a mid-life crisis. But until then, Pietà remains a entertaining piece about a woman who made some mistakes. 

Pietà is at SummerWorks