REVIEW: “DANGEROUS CORNER” - AN UNRELENTING MELODRAMA
When does the truth heal and when does it hurt? How can we resolve painful moments from our past without impacting our present and beyond? What we discover at Dundas Little Theatre’s season opener is that as good as the truth might be, too much can stir up serious trouble between friends and loved ones.
From J.B. Priestley, playwright of several compelling British mystery dramas such as An Inspector Calls (a previous production from Dundas Little Theatre), comes Dangerous Corner; a decadent 1930’s art deco melodrama full of revealed secrets, dangerous outbursts and a desperate attempt to reverse the timelines that upset the lives of the Caplan and Whitehouse couples and their companions.
The audience watches as lies and illusions comes tumbling down around the characters, falling heaviest on Robert Caplan (an intense and unrelenting performance by Daniel Garrett), brother of a ghostly presence that haunts all the guests at the once friendly gathering. As the revelations take the characters into soap opera territory (to an almost exhausting level), the audience shares in the pain of too much information until everyone’s truth is revealed. By the end, the characters’ relationships are in shambles and it turns out living with illusions is sometimes for the best. I found it very similar to watching something like the murder mystery film Clue with the constant “but wait! there’s more!” trope but it’s less funny and more tedious. However, this is an issue with Priestley’s script, not the production itself.
I am never disappointed in the incredible set design with this company and Dangerous Corner is no exception. The art deco style flourishes throughout and you can tell that a great deal of care and consideration was put in from the production team of Graham Clements, John Bello, Marie Dickie and Melanie Kivell respectively. Same goes for costuming by Elaine Sharp and Jane Snider which is exquisite and period appropriate.
The cast, likewise, is strong and capable of handling the dizzying amounts of back and forth accusatory dialogue which never lets up. Especially impressive are the performances from aforementioned Garrett and Andrea Adcock as Olwen Peel, a flustered woman who desperately seeks to reset the timeline of events before the tough questions begin to surface in the first half of the show. These two actors, supported by their equally impressive castmates, understand the melodramatic nature of the story and teeter on the edge of it being too much but just enough to keep the audience invested in the story’s conclusion.
Overall, Dangerous Corner is an enjoyable show if you can handle the intense emotions of people unraveling with rage, disbelief and desperation. It provides a powerful message about the nature of truth, lies and secrets and how to miss that “dangerous corner” if one moment in the past never happened. A solid season opener for DLT.
CONTENT WARNING: Use of intense strobe light effects and gunshots
Photos provided by: Tamara Kamermans (director)
Set photos by: Steel City Reviews
Featuring: Sara Burdulis (image one) and Dia Gupta Frid, Mike Wierenga, Daniel Garrett, Andrea Adcock, Timothy Hevesi, Candi Zell and Sara Burdulis (image two)
