Rosa Laborde’s comedy moves between different styles
Contents: Interior design
Location: Tarragon Theatre, 30 Bridgman Ave.
Date and time: From now until Sunday, November 10th
Highlight: Shannon Lee Doyle’s Gradually Evolving Condo Set
Rating: NNN (out of 5)
Why you should go: Cat Sandler’s hilarious production flutters with an unashamedly silly script.
Drama has been a cornerstone of Tarragon Theater’s past few seasons, so it’s notable and somewhat refreshing that the company is currently presenting two lighthearted comedies. Spontainius Theater’s Goblin: Macbeth, which deftly deconstructs theatrical conventions, and Rosa Laborde’s Interior. “Design” is a thin but spirited comedy of manners about friendship in the age of social media.
The night I attended director Cat Sandler’s Interior Design at Extra Space, a sizable portion of the audience was intrigued by the unashamedly unabashed quartet of long-time girlfriends trying to overcome their differences in personalities and worldviews. I watched the stupid 85 minute piece and walked away laughing. Unease has been brewing beneath the surface of this friendship for a while, until outspoken documentary filmmaker Olivia (Rong Hu) realizes that skincare entrepreneur Cecilia (Anita Majumdar) is using the other person as a prop for an Instagram post. That anxiety boils over when you claim that you have a tendency to. It’s insulting. Sensitive life coach Sophie (Sarah Favre) and confident copywriter Maya (Megan Swaby) protect Cecilia, but it’s not enough to save the already fragile team. Cecilia immediately blocks them all on social media.
Meanwhile, the plot of the play’s title unfolds. After a rather complicated set-up, Sophie becomes convinced that Olivia wants to be an interior designer, and invites her to redesign her chic condo (where Sandler’s sublime production takes place). However, Olivia decides to play a prank on her. Ugly cat blankets and bright colors soon litter Sophie’s pad, causing much dismay. Set designer Shannon Lee Doyle animates this arc with a few visual punchlines, such as rotating walls (Doyle is adept at suddenly changing sets mid-show). and, most recently, YPT’s “Truth”, Tarragon’s “El Terremoto”, and Soulpepper’s “The Seagull”).
Although Interior Design largely succeeds in its goal of providing unpretentious fun, Laborde sometimes finds himself satirizing his characters or offering them up as conduits for genuine sympathy. It seems like he lacks confidence. Much of the show reads as satire, from Maddie Bautista’s cinematic sound design to much of Cecilia’s behavior. But at times, like in the play’s overlong epilogue, Laborde hopes the audience will begin to become invested in where these characters’ lives are heading.
Under Sandler’s direction, the tension between these two styles remains largely unresolved. Performances are heightened throughout, with fourth-wall-breaking monologues allowing the actors to hurl sarcasm at the audience without worrying about believability, but Sandler occasionally lends this approach a firm sense of realism. It is contrasted by blocking the atmosphere. For example, it’s almost Chekhovian, but in retrospect it’s almost comical. On an individual level, the actors do clear, energetic work (it’s especially great to see Favre return to the Toronto stage). But overall the interior design can feel as inconsistent as Sophie’s redesigned mansion.
