TA’s The Attic, the Pearls and Three Fine Girls: A Review

April 11, 2018 · 0 Comments

By Scott Johnston

Theatre Aurora takes another look at family relationships in “The Attic, the Pearls and Three Fine Girls”, now playing.
The story, by Jennifer Brewin, Leah Cherniak, Anne-Marie MacDonald, Alisa Palmer and Martha Ross is nicely summarized in the play’s title.
The three Fine sisters have grown apart as adults. Returning to their childhood home a week after their father’s funeral, they take refuge from the gathering of family and friends, each ending up in the attic, where they spent many carefree childhood days.
In this familiar haven with so many memories, they search for their mother’s long lost pearl necklace, reminisce about their lives, and look ahead to what the future holds.
This play makes liberal use of flashbacks, contrasting the girls’ lives as children versus their current situations. In some cases we see they’ve grown, and in others we learn that little has changed.
It combines elements of both drama and comedy, which is aided by the differing personalities and lifestyles of the three siblings.
Jojo, the eldest, is a professor, a bit self-centred, and not as calm and controlled as she thinks she is. Jayne, similarly self-absorbed, is an ambitious Bay Street mergers and acquisitions lead, and also a yet-to-come-out lesbian. Youngest sister Jelly is a successful artist who moved home to care for her father in his final months, and is in many ways the most mature of the three, although her older sisters can’t see that.
The cast is small, comprised only of the actresses playing the three sisters: Karen Fogleman as Jojo, Liisa Kallasmaa as Jayne, and Daniela Di Maria as Jelly.
While the performers do a good job with their roles, the characters they portray are a bit extreme, and often difficult to relate to. The story itself is less comedic than it could be, given the potential of the subject matter, but it does have a positive ending.
Evening performances of “The Attic, the Pearls and Three Fine Girls” continue at Theatre Aurora, 150 Henderson Drive, April 12, 13, 14, 19, 20 and 21, with a matinee April 15. Information and tickets are available through the box office at 905-727-3669.