Review: Norm Foster’s Opening Night – QAC interpretation laugh out loud funny

Kudos to the director, cast and stage crew of the Quebec Art Company for putting on prolific Canadian playwright Norm Foster’s ‘Opening Night’.

This play, in director J.P. Chartier’s own words is ‘a delicious comedy filled with relatable characters, quick exchanges and relationships that come more from the heart than from the mind.’

I’d add that it’s laugh out loud funny in places and do pay attention as those laughs sure come thick and fast. From all cast members. At any time. 

The eight-strong cast, consisting of 5 males and 3 females, all have their moments in the spotlight.

There are visual gags aplenty and all of the cast deliver lines that will leave you gasping for air at times.

There is never a dull moment and we are constantly kept on our toes. Sometimes the actors are
offstage with the audience and other times the curtains don’t go down when the stage crew change
the set.

Opening Night sees Jack and Ruth Tisdale (played superbly by Hugh Corston and Sarah Blair) attend the theatre almost by accident (they happened upon some tickets destined for someone else).

They are there to see Whisper on the Wind. ‘Whisper’ is a play-within-a-play and the concept works well. It’s utter garbage. The actors in ‘Whisper’ are genuinely dreadful. So intentionally bad, they’re marvellous.

This in turn sees Richard Hyde-Finch (Mark Lepitre) Whisper’s director, in an almost permanent state of heightened anger or despair in equal measure. His long-suffering partner Cilla Fraser (Nathalie Peron) is there to console him, all the while dealing with mood-swings of her own.

Back to Jack and Ruth: So convincing are they as a long-married couple, you’ll be nodding along at some of the dialogue imagining it was you. Although they’re there celebrating their silver wedding anniversary, Jack would clearly rather be somewhere (anywhere) else whereas Ruth wants to take in some culture.

While in the VIP lounge they meet Michael Craig (Patrice Louison) – an out of work actor continually passed over for roles he thinks he’s a nailed on certainty for. Craig is on the verge of a meltdown.  Louison displays a range of emotions throughout, effortlessly switching from over the top, to upbeat, to melancholy, and back again in the blink of an eye.

Tom Delaney (Jonathan Black) plays the wannabe actor waiting on the VIP guests for the evening.
He ends up serving more than drinks and cleaning tables.

Clayton Fry (Andrew Greenfield) and Libby Husniak (Evelyn Gosselin-Mercure) round off the cast as a farming father and daughter both missing their wife and mother respectively. Both relatively new to the stage, they really get into their roles.

Greenfield milks his put on, dreadful southern US accent for all it is worth.
Teenager Gosselin-Mercure is a joy. I don’t think she realises just how good she is.

The Quebec Art Company’s interpretation of Norm Foster’s Opening Night is a gem.

They’ve knocked it off the diamond and out of the ballpark.

Go see it!



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Performances are at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 14, through Saturday, April 16, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 17, at Holland School, 940, av. Ernest-Gagnon, in Québec City.

Tickets are $15 general, $12 for students and 65+, and $40 for a family of four.

To reserve your tickets, visit the Quebec Art Company’s new website at www.quebecartcompany.com.