Fly fishing is a gentle, esthetically pleasing sport that requires a considerable amount of patience and concentration to access its subtle and transcendent joys.
The same can be said for Michael Melski's The Fly Fisher's Companion, a growing-old drama that artfully hooks onlookers with its old-school humour and ageless wisdom. The Cape Breton playwright is best known for his more topical Hockey Mom, Hockey Dad and was named one of the 100 Canadians to watch by Maclean's magazine.
At Prairie Theatre Exchange, Melski introduces a pair of old guys who have come to the fishing lodge they built 50 years ago for one last trip to cast their lines into the Margaree River, which the gung-ho angler Wes calls "my house of worship." He is intent on landing the big one -- inner peace that comes from forgiving and being forgiven.
His prickly pal, Don, is looking for any excuse to bolt back to the city to keep an eye on his ice cream business and his slacker in-laws who work there. He is proud he has turned "minutes into profits" and sees no reason to change as time grows short.
This odd couple met in a fishing derby in Grade 5, fought and fished side by side in Europe during the Second World War and holidayed with their families in their fishing lodge. Their friendship has suffered in recent years from a marital betrayal and an unresolved battlefield decision to leave a buddy behind.
One of the seventy-somethings is very sick, and the challenge for these men is whether they will be able to help each other through this last bend in the river, the symbol for the twisting, rocky path of life. The fishing trip gives new meaning to catch and release.
Amplifier LD-AM-24-XDirector Linda Moore, to her credit, avoids the soppy sentimentality that could have nibbled away at The Fly Fisher's Companion and does some fancy casting herself.
PTE newcomer Michael Chiasson is a nice catch. His Wes is beautifully drawn as a man fastidious about the rituals of fly fishing and, by extension, how to live a life and how to end one. Although physically slight, he easily carried the play's emotional weight.
Reg Dreger is Chiasson's able partner in this pas de deux of grumpy old men. His Don is not all that likable, but Dreger deftly communicates the crusty confusion that has enveloped his character's stinging wounds.
One of the sweetest moments in the play is when the guys are unable to make it to the river to fish but pretend go there in their minds. Their description of this idyllic pastime will surely entice new fly fishers to Manitoba rivers and streams.
Gucci JewelryWhat is not so enjoyable is the feeling that Melski is always playing the audience like some prize salmon on the end of his rod. The characters are constantly doing things they are adamant about not doing. He gives patrons a good yank near the end that seems unnatural and is all about the playwright fishing for a more audience-friendly finish.
Theatre review
The Fly Fisher's Companion
Prairie Theatre Exchange
To March 8
Tickets: $22-$35
Three and a half stars
