What You Want: is cynical and dirty

Playwright Andrew Templeton returned to Vancouver after a fifteen-year absence and What You Want is the almost-true story of what he got.  He has written himself into the play, and the cast takes turns playing him, themselves and their characters.  Actors Rachel Aberle, Gillian Bennett, Russell Bennett and Sean Tyson, ramp up the comedy when they bicker about whether they’re actually improvising or if their improvised rebellion is merely scripted dialogue. The pacing is brisk and precise and the delivery naturalistic.

On a bare stage, with just a few boxes to perch on, we’re introduced to Dave and Laura, Starling and Rob.  Two couples whose lives and limbs intertwine.  Laura’s a shallow, sexual predator. Starling’s cheeky.  Her breezy, careless manner mitigates her vulgarity.  Dave has a head injury that seems to be a turn-on for both women.  Rob’s a no nonsense tit man. I’m all for shock value in the service of enlightenment, like the Zen master’s stick, but here the servant doesn’t seem to have a master.

Imagine Vancouver with no mountains … no ocean … no architectural history.  Sadly, the latter takes no imagination at all.  Just the people … interchangeable, inconstant, consumable.  There’s an emptiness portrayed here that is palpable, a kind of sucking hole.  Templeton’s words are like sign posts pointing at disillusionment and disaffection along roads that have been washed out.

What You Want is unrepentantly cynical.  It mocks the confusion and conflict of city dwellers then offers as counterpoint, the image of a moth bumping into the passengers on a bus, ultimately set free by a sensitive young woman.  

The authenticity Templeton seeks – he says he does in the play - is certainly achieved. But, like lousy sex, it was kinda dirty and not very satisfying.

What You Want is on as part of this Vancouver Fringe Festival. For more information go here.