One More for the Road - a warm seduction

There's something sexy about being around a person who performs a job well. A friend and I once compared notes about being impressed – and somewhat turned on – by being a passenger in a vehicle when the driver had to respond quickly and adroitly to black ice on the road (in my case) or a deer stumbling out of nowhere (in her case). Effortlessly expert performance is hot, baby.

In a theatre, in some ways, you're in the same kind of position: you hope the people on stage will take you for a good ride, and when they do, it's pretty satisfying. When they do it expertly and with humour, it's a turn-on – mentally and emotionally.

I was impressed, moved, delighted and just downright pleased by the Road Show Company's production of *One More for the Road*, a late play by George Ryga (yes, he of The Ecstasy of Rita Joe fame). According to University of Calgary Special Collections (sources! they're everywhere on the 'net!) this one-person show was written for Ryga's friend, Dick Clements, another performer. The piece is built around Dick's recollections of the spoken and sung ramblings of Chester C. Sharpe, a sort of Everyman figure but also a composite of Ryga and Clements. John R. Taylor, who has worked in production design for film and TV and also acts, and who was involved with a 1990 Fringe tour of One More for the Road, directed this 2008 Fringe performance.

Jacques Lalonde, as Dick, carries the character with a light touch, which is appropriate because the folksy humour would become schlock if it were played over-earnestly. (And as a non-fan of banjo, I'm surprised to say the banjo-picking – by Lalonde and by Kempton Dexter, of HiRise Dex and the Stellar Jays who also added original compositions to the show – was mellow and musical, not harsh.) Lalonde plays his character's physicality at the right note, too – there are moments when he has to skip around, or do a bit of a dance, and he presents a convincing combination of playfulness and world-weary wisdom.

Dick intersperses anecdotes about his friendship with Old Chester, another ramblin' man, with songs that we've all heard so many times we forgot what they were really about. One More opens those meanings again. For example, what is the point of "Home, Home on the Range" if it isn't about finding a place in the world that makes sense to you, a place where you don't have to fight. Unless you've had a few and you really want to toss a few punches, just to mix things up.

Layers of silliness and seriousness blend beautifully in One More For The Road. There are plenty of moments where Chester (never physically there) and Dick make fun of themselves, and the theme of love lost is as constant as the theme of love – and friendship – found. Ryga sweeps across emotions: there's love on summer evening; there's death on a windy night; and somehow friendship helps it all make sense.

Whether you're a playwright or an actor or an audience member, it's hard to trust simplicity. But simplicity works here, and it's safe to relax into it because you won't be disappointed.

I left feeling contented and warmed. If I'd been there with my honey, I'll bet that warmth would have eased into a bit of a turn-on, because the eve became one of opening to sensuality and laughter. So, go see One More for the Road before it wraps. It's a slow seduction and you'll come out feeling great.

Produced by: Road Show Company
Director: John R. Taylor
Actor: Jacques LaLonde
Background Banjo Player: Kempton Dexter

For more information on the show and to join the public debate drive here.