EDMONDS – Like the planes flying overhead, people in John Cummings’ life seem to land, taxi around and then take off. His wife left him, taking the house, the kids and the car, leaving him only what fell off the roof rack.
And now, a parade of women march through the apartment next to him. They land, tarry a while and then leave, never staying longer than a year.
Yet, as on many flights, John never knows who’s going to sit next to him in The Edge of the World Production of Norm Foster’s funny yet insightful comedy, “Here on the Flight Path.”
Foster, the Canadian Neil Simon, has a gift for painting characters who at times might seem exaggerated. More often than not, though, they remind you of someone you know – or even yourself. They’re quirky, real, slightly out of step with the masses and embrace friendship when it comes knocking at their door, or in this case, over the balcony wall.
The show takes place in Toronto on the fourth-floor balcony of John (Jack Hamblin) and the adjacent balcony. With just a short wall between them, John easily meets and becomes part of the lives of his neighbors – three very different women (Fay, Angel and Gwen) in approximately three years. As John switches between talking to the audience and interacting with the women, airplanes buzz overhead, and we enter John’s personal airport.
Fay, however, demonstrates there are no security checks here. John first sees Fay (Heidi Jean Weinrich) exercising on her balcony. Mysterious, aloof and with a tongue as quick as Cummings’, Fay dances around her occupation, describing herself as a “morale consultant” who’s willing to raise the morale of anyone who can afford her services.
For his part, Cummings believes marriage should be leased, not licensed, with an annual option to renew. A river of cynicism flows through the friends’ every conversation.
When Fay is asked to leave, Angel Plunkett (Shanna Allman) moves in. Young, enthusiastic, bursting with optimism, Angel is from Alberta ranch country and she’s come to take the musical stage by storm.
A self-described “plucky type,” Allman’s Angel is contagiously effervescent; her motto is a very bad singing rendition of “Don’t Rain on My Parade.” She and John are polar opposites. Still, a friendship develops between them that eventually changes their lives in some odd way.
Unsuccessful, Angel returns homes and Gwen (Melissa Timms) arrives. Gwen’s separated from her husband: He refused to use Kleenex instead of a cloth handkerchief and, darn it, she’s tired of washing that snotty thing. She and John have plenty to commiserate about, which they do, intimately, until, assisted by self-help tapes, Gwen finds herself and returns home to Vancouver to begin a new life.
The acting is superb, with each woman adding her own nuances, energy and charisma to their character. Hamblin is consistently sarcastic, occasionally charming and always very funny. The ensemble performance creates a wonderful show with characters that despite their differences take something away from each relationship while giving the audience something to take home as well.
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