Review

Lunchbox Theatre presents This Could Be Love by Brock Simpson through May 8.

Tickets: Call 403-265-4292.

- – - ½ out of five

—

The cart comes charmingly before the horse in Lunchbox Theatre’s newest show, This Could Be Love.

It’s a bright, tight little musical comedy written and composed by Brock Simpson, in which two young strangers, stood up with all their baggage in tow, decide instead to hit it off with each other — and go straight into marriage, on the premise that love will surely follow.

A kind of cautionary romance on the perils of oversimplifying the overly complicated where the contemporary dating, love and marriage game is concerned, This Could Be Love — in a brand new shortened version of the made-in-Toronto show that enjoyed success during an off-Broadway performance in 2006 — proves an engaging vehicle for the obvious musical theatre talents of David Leyshon and Lynley Hall.

Leyshon portrays He, an uptight jingle writer with a penchant for making lists and straight-ahead thinking, while Hall plays She, a temp worker with thinking that runs more to the detailed but intuitive variety (when it comes time for a morning-after reckoning to give some needs-to-be-met shape to their just-consummated relationship, for example, She has a list of 10 criteria to the three of He).

Soon after their connubial bliss enters a stage where wants follow upon needs, wrinkles begin to appear — especially when She hears the notes which He conceived as the musical theme of their relationship, in a radio jingle.

Directed by Glenda Stirling, the two performers, spirited but not lacking in emotional subtlety, play off each other with a winning stage chemistry — enough at least to make the improbable scenario, with its pleasantly mood-specific tunes and clever lyrics (the last song got good mileage out of Helsinki), seem almost possible in a funny sort of way, or at least make you wish it could be (and how many times have some of us not dreamed it was).

The musical accompaniment was delivered with a light, sensitive touch by pianist Brent Rock, performing at the back of a Terry Gunvordahl-created stage design whose only props were, ingeniously enough, suitcases — lots of them — symbolizing the baggage She, He and all the rest of us carry on love’s journey.

bclark@theherald.canwest.com

It’s time for Calgarians to “take back their lunch hour” by taking in some richer noontime theatre.

That’s the word from Lunchbox Theatre artistic director Pamela Halstead, who recently unveiled the company’s 2010-11 season which aims at getting more bums in the midday seats by putting more bite in with the laughter on the Lunchbox menu.

“It’s really hard to get people away from their desks — let alone out to see a play– at lunch time,” says Halstead, who took over artistic control of the world’s longest running purveyor of one-act lunchtime fare late last summer.

Accordingly, to help remedy the situation in a big way — not to mention celebrate the one-act format as an increasingly viable form of theatrical entertainment in today’s fast-paced world — Halstead has come up with a Lunchbox lineup of plays that runs the gamut from a classic social comedy by Noel Coward and a very funny piece by popular contemporary American playwright Christopher Durang, to the premiere of a touching musical based on the life of the Canadian Army doctor who penned In Flanders Fields.

“In terms of the demographic of the audience that we have, it’s about the quality of the storytelling — and the fact they like to have a little cry as well as a little laugh,” Halstead says of her play choices.

Herewith then is the roster of Lunchbox mainstage productions slated for next season:

-Ways and Means by Noel Coward, a 1930s play about spending to keep up appearances (Sept. 20-Oct. 9)

-In Flanders Fields by Robert Gontier and Nicky Phillips, about Lt. Col. John McCrae and the Great War events leading to his famous poem’s creation (Oct. 18-Nov. 13).

-With Bells On by Darrin Hagen, a premiere about an accountant stuck on an elevator with a drag queen dressed as a Christmas tree (Nov. 22-Dec. 18).

-Lauchie, Liza and Rory by Sheldon Currie, a moving comedy about twin brothers who fall for the same girl (Feb. 7-26, 2011).

-Wanda’s Visit by Christopher Durang, the comic tale of an old flame who shows up in a married couple’s dull but happy life and turns it topsy-turvy (March 7-26, 2011).

-Tuesdays and Sundays by Daniel Arnold and Medina Hahn, based on the true story of star-crossed lovers at the turn of the 20th century. A big success at its Vertigo Playhouse premiere five seasons ago (April 4-23, 2011).

-Shopaholic Husband Hunt by Glenda Stirling, the premiere of the updated version of the Lunchbox original — with the same cast (May 2-21, 2011).

bclark@theherald.canwest.com