“Visiting Mr. Green” is an endearing play about an accidental friendship between an old Jewish man and a young Jewish man, each with a family secret.
Under the capable direction of Jayme Littlejohn, the artistic director of My, My How Nice Productions, audiences will unquestionably enjoy this piece of vibrant, moving theatre because this is a remount of last year’s biggest hit with the same cast.
How can it miss? This is what was said about last year’s production: “We could have been in New York at a fabulous US$200 a night off Broadway theatre. That is how it felt at the Bravo! Theatre.”
Last year our breath was taken away by the performances of Roger Larson and Ken Yakiwchuk in this acting pas de deux. Originally a vehicle for Eli Wallach, the part of Mr. Green has been a lure for many actors. A challenging Willy Loman type part or even in a way a kind of Lear. No surprise that this part was so attractive to a talent like Larson’s. Last year’s review: “From the moment he shuffled onstage to answer the front-door knock that opens the play he didn’t miss a beat. Every nuance, every tiny shake of his elderly hands were all in character.”
After a car accident, seemingly conventional, young, corporate executive Ross Gardiner (Ken Yakiwchuk) is sentenced by a judge to pay weekly visits to the recently widowed and childless Mr. Green (Larson). Technically Gardiner didn’t even touch Mr. Green – he just fell down. No real damage was done, but the judge decided that Gardiner had been driving too fast and for this he has been forced to do community service, that service being visiting Mr. Green once a week. “Yakiwchuk handles it all with aplomb and finesse. Never allowing himself to fall into ‘acting’ the part he draws the audience in to experience his innermost thoughts and feelings.”
The story starts simply and humorously. A comedy about two men who don’t want to be in the same room together evolves into a drama about how they get to know each other, opening old wounds in the process. Most of the humor in the first act comes from the varied and creative ways in which Mr. Green rejects Ross’s overtures of friendship.
An enormous success since its first performance in 1998, this play is a clever and funny exploration of intolerance and family relationships. Each new twist in the tale turns a table and the victim becomes perpetrator. The parallels between discrimination and religious intolerance are useful for uncovering hypocrisy and inconsistency in social practices that pass for virtues.
The show opens Saturday, January 21, 7:30 p.m. and performances continue Sunday, January 22, 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday, January 27 and 28, 7:30 p.m. and Sunday and Monday, January 29 and 30, 4 p.m. Tickets, 250 pesos, are available at Mia’s Boutique, Diane Pearl or by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Bravo Theatre is located at 10 Rio Bravo right across the street from La Mission restaurant.