There’s something really touching about watching a play and feeling like the characters on stage are people you know; their quirks and cadence and conversation all pleasingly and poignantly familiar. In playwright Amy Herzog’s 4000 Miles, which made its Canadian premiere with Arts Club last night, the portrayal of a gangly wayward grandson temporarily moving in with his 91-year-old grandmother is wonderfully, relatable human.
In it, college drop-out Leo (Nathan Barrett) turns up at his Grandma Vera’s Manhattan apartment after biking from the West Coast, to stay a while and try and mend the frayed loose ends of his life. Vera, played by an awesome Nicola Cavendish, welcomes the company and the warmth, sympathy, and moments of rage nimbly exchanged between them are nuanced and beautiful to watch (such as when hippie grandson and latently communist grandma share a joint on the couch). The script explores the ways love is expressed, at once affirming, funny, and heartbreaking, never veering into cloy.
A must-see for lovers of rapid-fire banter and emotional realness, 4000 Miles will stay with you for a long time.
—Adrienne Matei
4000 Miles, playing at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage until October 12.
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