{"id":35730,"date":"2025-01-23T17:42:01","date_gmt":"2025-01-23T22:42:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=35730"},"modified":"2025-01-23T17:42:04","modified_gmt":"2025-01-23T22:42:04","slug":"review-theatre-auroras-the-melville-boys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/review-theatre-auroras-the-melville-boys\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Theatre Aurora\u2019s \u201cThe Melville Boys\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>By Scott Johnston<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What can be better (and more Canadian) for two adult brothers than to head into the woods for a weekend of fishing, drinking and discussing the important things in life? &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At least, that\u2019s what responsible brother Lee had in mind in Theatre Aurora\u2019s current production of \u201cThe Melville Boys\u201d.&nbsp;Unfortunately, sibling Owen doesn\u2019t share Lee\u2019s level-headedness, and would prefer to focus on fun over the necessary family-related discussion the siblings need to have. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Things are further complicated by the unexpected arrival at the cabin of Mary and Loretta, two sisters who are equally opposite in personality who live nearby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Will they further derail the crumbling weekend plans, or will their presence help the brothers (and themselves) move forward in their lives?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Norm Foster\u2019s second play has its serious moments but overall is funny and warm-hearted, with some great comic lines. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Director and Theatre Aurora veteran Kay Valentine has a wonderful cast who really bring the four characters to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As Lee, Joey Nessumo does an outstanding job of demonstrating how well his character can handle responsibility, whether it be that of a husband and father, a foreman at work, preparing for the future or virtually anything else.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The one thing that he has a harder time with is getting his free-wheeling opposite of a brother Owen, played by Christian Tribuzio, to be serious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mr. Tribuzio nicely portrays a man who wants to enjoy life, set aside responsibility, live in the moment, and keep things light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kendall Zurowski as Mary quickly demonstrates her character\u2019s serious and responsible side, who also takes a fresh look at her past, as she spends time with the brothers.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Carly Laurenza as Loretta mirrors Owen\u2019s carefree nature, but in the end, like the rest of the characters, she also exhibits some growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The entire play takes place within a well-designed and furnished fishing cabin set, so scene changes are few and fast paced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Well written with terrific acting and lots of warmth and humour, Theatre Aurora\u2019s production of \u201cThe Melville Boys\u201d is well worth venturing out into our mid-winter cold spell to enjoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Evening performances of \u201cThe Melville Boys\u201d continue at Theatre Aurora, 150 Henderson Drive, January 24, 25, 30 &amp; 31 and February 1 with matinees January 25, 26 and February 1.&nbsp; Tickets are available through the box office at 905-727-3669.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Scott Johnston What can be better (and more Canadian) for two adult brothers than to head into the woods for a weekend of fishing, drinking and discussing the important things in life? &nbsp; At least, that\u2019s what responsible brother Lee had in mind in Theatre Aurora\u2019s current production of \u201cThe Melville Boys\u201d.&nbsp;Unfortunately, sibling Owen [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":35731,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-and-culture","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/2025-01-23-04.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35730"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35730\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35732,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35730\/revisions\/35732"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}