Happiness™
Joff Schmidt | CBC News | Posted: July 8, 2016 8:36 PM | Last Updated: July 15, 2016
FOUR STARS | Duo delivers spot-on performances as the slick alpha male salesmen we all think we know
Rating: ★★★★
(Reviewed at the 2015 Winnipeg Fringe Festival)
Company: May Can Theatre, Ottawa
Genre: Play — Dramedy
Venue: 8 — Rachel Browne Theatre
Can two men who don't know happiness sell it to you?
That's what this two-hander by performers Tony Adams and Cory Thibert (co-created with director Madeleine Boyes-Manseau) asks. It's delivered as part sales pitch for "must have" products intended to guarantee happiness, and part behind-the-scenes look at the world of high-pressure sales.
That's what this two-hander by performers Tony Adams and Cory Thibert (co-created with director Madeleine Boyes-Manseau) asks. It's delivered as part sales pitch for "must have" products intended to guarantee happiness, and part behind-the-scenes look at the world of high-pressure sales.
Adams and Thibert deliver high-energy, spot-on performances as the slick alpha male salesmen we all think we know. But we see unexpected nuances in these characters as they prep for their latest sales pitch, and begin to turn on each other.
Happiness™ does have a focus problem, though. It's simultaneously trying to be a satire of a culture that tells us we can buy our way to happiness with the latest technology, and of the cutthroat business world, and also an exploration of what happiness really is.
Taking on multiple targets, it feels like it doesn't always land the sharp punches it might. But even if it's not pure Fringe bliss, strong performances and some sharp writing recommend Happiness™.
Happiness™ does have a focus problem, though. It's simultaneously trying to be a satire of a culture that tells us we can buy our way to happiness with the latest technology, and of the cutthroat business world, and also an exploration of what happiness really is.
Taking on multiple targets, it feels like it doesn't always land the sharp punches it might. But even if it's not pure Fringe bliss, strong performances and some sharp writing recommend Happiness™.