The Best Brothers by Daniel MacIvor premiered in 2012 at the Stratford Festival and starred MacIvor and John Beale. Mark Delaney directs a production of the play at the Highland Arts Theatre, which closes today (November 24th, 2019).
The Best Brothers is one of MacIvor’s sweetest plays, despite the fact that it is about two brothers who spend most of the play arguing with one another. Hamilton is the elder brother, an architect in a frosty marriage who represses his feelings until they overcome his ability to remain rational. He likes order and fairness and has harboured resentments against his brother dating back to when they were children. Kyle is a gay real estate agent who is personable and sensitive, creative and more exuberant than Hamilton. He is an over-thinker because he wants to do his very best and he is generous with his warmth and care, but he also needs to have his boundaries, to protect his sensitive heart. Both Hamilton and Kyle love their mother, Ardith “Bunny” Best, very much and are devastated when she is accidentally killed during a tragic accident at a Pride Parade. This accident forces Kyle and Hamilton to come together to make all the necessary arrangements in honour of their mom, including deciding the fate of her beloved dog, Enzo; but grief also brings all their emotional baggage and repressed feelings to the surface. The Best Brothers is very funny. MacIvor is skilled at writing biting sarcasm laden with subtext that vividly captures the way people really speak to one another, especially when they have close, familial relationships. At the same time, the play has a lot of heart, we see how Enzo teaches Bunny about unconditional love, and how he becomes an unexpected bridge for her sons as well. It is a compassionate story about grief, family, love, and dogs.
The most striking aspect of this production at the Highland Arts Theatre is Andrew Gouthro’s performance as Kyle. I saw John Beale and Daniel MacIvor perform this play several years ago, but Gouthro made me completely forget that MacIvor played Hamilton in it, not Kyle. I have never seen an actor channel MacIvor so thoroughly in a performance of one of his plays! It was at times uncanny how much Gouthro sounded like MacIvor (and sometimes even looked like MacIvor), as he created this character. Of course, being the playwright, there is a lot of MacIvor himself in both the brothers, but it was a fascinating experience to see this play through this different and strange lens. Gouthro is very skilled at showing Kyle’s resilience, we see the pain he is feeling over the loss of his mother, and we see the pain that he is feeling over the way that he is being treated by his brother, but we also see someone who is able to put on a strong face for others, and who knows how to sneakily maneuver around Hamilton in order to get his own way. I don’t want to make it sound like Gouthro is simply doing a MacIvor impression, his performance is much more nuanced than that, but he does a great job of capturing a tone and intention here that really works well within this MacIvorian World, but also sets this production dramatically apart from its predecessor at Stratford.
Alex Poirier plays Hamilton as a man filled with rage, a rage to disguise his sadness and his sense of defeat. However, it was at the end of the play where Hamilton softens that I saw the most nuance from Poirier. I think there is room here to find that same nuance within Hamilton’s rage. I wanted to see more of Hamilton and Kyle’s brotherhood shining through, even if just in flashes, so it’s obvious that deep down what connects them both is love. Poirier finds a lot of comedy in Hamilton’s temper, but I think it would be more effective if director Mark Delaney had allowed the intensity of his emotions to grow throughout the play, as Poirier begins with such heightened furor that he doesn’t have anywhere left to go. Beyond that, I found Delaney’s direction to be very clear, and the ambiance with Ken Heaton’s lighting design and Ciarán MacGillivray’s sound design sets an urban and contemporary tone that compliments the story well.
The Best Brothers is a gem of a play by Daniel MacIvor, the sort that makes you laugh all evening and then hits you directly in the heart at the end. He knows the perfect balance between salty and sweet. This production is a little lopsided in its proficiency, but it is still a touching and entertaining evening of theatre.
The Best Brothers plays at the Highland Arts Theatre (40 Bentinck Street, Sydney) for just one more performance: November 24th at 8:00pm. Tickets are $27.00 (plus HST) are available at the Box Office at 40 Bentinck Street, by phone at 902.565.3637, or ONLINE HERE.
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