THE CHILDREN AT CANADIAN STAGE

THE CHILDREN at CANADIAN STAGE starring GEORDIE JOHNSON, LAURIE PATON and FIONA REID directed by EDA HOLMES, set and costumes by EO SHARP

There is a very contemporary tale of caution and fear on at Canadian Stage until October 21/18. (To be reprised at the Centaur Theatre in Montreal from Nov 6-25/18.)

Lucy Kirkwood's The Children unfolds quietly, revealing hints of a recent nuclear catastrophe that is barely spoken of and then only in reticent terms, like news that is so devastating adults talk of it quietly amongst themselves not to upset the children.

Hazel, a retired scientist, is entertaining Rose, a colleague she hasn't seen in thirty-eight years, and who just happened to drop by. Or perhaps not. They catch up on old news until it becomes clear Rose is on her way to the accident site to help with cleanup operations.

In the midst of their conversation, Hazel's husband, Robin, returns from feeding the cows, which as it turns out are outside the safe zone. For here, everything occurs either inside or outside the safe zone, though what is really and truly safe is not entirely clear, or possibly is only a matter of the characters' willingness to suspend their belief in the immediacy of the danger.

The writing is taut and confident, the drama's reveals are subtle and quietly alarming, allowing us to absorb its true depth in bits and pieces, as though we aren't capable of confronting it all at once. The set itself contributes to the unease, a dowdy country cottage set at off-angles to the audience and surrounded by an eerie green moat in an atmosphere of poison gas.

It's a delight to see three of Canada's most accomplished actors enjoying their roles. Johnson, Paton and Reid take the stage like a three-way tennis match, the ball bouncing from one to another at a mesmerizing pace. Lines come at breakneck speed throughout, but these actors can handle it and it gives the piece a propulsion that shows just how tightly written the work is overall.

Occasionally, one may want a bit of space between the lines in order to feel the weight of things revealed or hurled by one character at another. But here it's, "No emotion, please, we're British." However, as Canadians we'd like a little more breathing room, please and thanks, to digest, feel and situate ourselves inside the drama rather than remain outsiders looking in.

As pieces of the puzzle fall in place, we see both the contempt and love the characters have for one another, followed by the realization that there is far more here than meets the eye. For of course Rose has not just dropped by and, for a very real reason, has had both Hazel and Robin in her mind for some time. For that reason, she has come to pose a profound question. Not "What would you do for your country?", as was hammered into the heads of every British citizen over the course of two world wars, but something more immediate: "What would you give for an as yet unrealized future and the children who will grow up to inherit it?"

Both Rose and Robin find it relatively easy to make up their minds, while Hazel resists to the end. But beyond the fear and the caution, this is a play about personal responsibility and commitment. For ultimately, we all sit in Hazel's seat trying to decide.