Leftovers: The Minor Roles Are the Tastiest

Kris Neufeld steals this show with his quirky John Candy-like performance of the well-written characters Gill and Chermandrew. Lou Ticzon isn’t far behind as Trev, Guru, and Doug. And it’s nice to learn that for both of them its their first-time as Fringe artists. Good new talent here, both actors are from the Vancouver Film School. Credit goes to Leftovers writer Brianna Wiens and Director Maddison Popov for finding these two newbies and building this little comedy with them and Robbie Carley. 

Robbie Carley has a lovely voice, but he doesn’t have much opportunity to use it here—a pity—and the character he plays as protagonist Sonny Sawyer seemed a bit too lean. It started OK—a wandering brother summoned by his sister, Samara Sawyer, played by Wiens, to return from Nicaragua just before their mother’s death—but then the role petered out. There was lots of familiar, painful family miscommunication and affection between the siblings, but it seemed to me that neither the brother nor sister role offered enough for the two skilled performers.

But—saved by the minor characters! Oh yes, and there’s a bit of them in there, too. And yes, the universal fix for any malfunctioning wifi is to turn it off and on again, isn’t it?

It’s great to see strong performances from graduates of Capilano University and the Vancouver Film School.