THE MERCY SEAT
By Neil Labute
Produced May, 2006
Directed by Heather Inglis
Set Designed by Brian Bast
Sound Designed by Dale Ladouceur
Stage Managed by Susannah Murphy
Starring Matt Kloster, Julie Golosky
The horrors of 9-11 framed the “after shock” of this drama that takes an intimate look at two profoundly self-involved New Yorkers. Ben Harcourt was supposed to have been at a meeting at the World Trade Centre but stopped for a tryst with Abby, his mistress and boss.
Now Ben’s cell phone won’t stop ringing, as his wife and family is desperate to know he’s alive. Ben sees this as an “opportunity” to “play dead” and run off with Abby to a new life, leaving his family to believe he died a hero.
But Abby has other ideas and audiences were invited to play voyeurs to the domestic terror that was unleashed in the battle for ultimate domination by the sexes— hot venom spewed from the caustic pen of America’s most famously controversial writer who calls theatre a “contact sport”.
9-11 Aftershock… Very Compelling.
— Colin Maclean, Edmonton Sun
Must-See Mercy… Theatre Yes Stokes Blistering 90 Minutes… one of the season’s must see productions.
— Eva Marie Clarke, See Magazine
This was a superior production. One of the most rewarding nights of theatre this season.
— Canada Council for the Arts
The nastiest, most brutish, most domesticated of the post-9-11 lot comes from the pen of America’s most famously misanthropic writer and the man who has called theatre a ‘contact sport.
— Liz Nicholls, Edmonton Journal
See Magazine Review
Edmonton Sun Review
VUE Magazine Review
