U of M students are staging the first Lunchbhagg production of the school year with the comedic play Irreconcilable Differences.
Written by Canadian playwright JL Allen and directed by fifth-year theatre student Nadia Holmes, the play revolves around Lynda and Steven Doyle, a couple on the verge of divorce trying to repair their marriage. They visit Dr. Arkin, a couple’s counsellor whose unorthodox methods reveal things about themselves that they did not know they had in them, according to Holmes.
“The characters have a lot of depth in them, and they have a lot of internals that we see throughout the play’s progression,” said the director, who explained she wanted to stage a comedy that is character-driven rather than slapstick.
Cameron Dueck, who plays Steven, described his character as a passive aggressive and non-confrontational man who is dissatisfied with his life and nine-to-five job.
“He vents a lot of his frustration from his work life and all that into his personal life. He sees Lynda as the encapsulation of a lot of his problems,” he told the Manitoban.
“[He] and Lynda both really care about their son, and they’re putting in a lot of effort where they haven’t previously to go to see a marriage counsellor and try to sort this out because their son means the absolute world […] to both of them.”
On the other hand, Marcus Schneider plays the eccentric and enigmatic Dr. Arkin, who seems to be “messing with” the couple by taunting them and “pitting them against each other.”
“You can see that as him trying to cause trouble, or he might have some method amid all that madness,” Schneider said. “He might be trying to bring out the root causes of their troubles, perhaps get them to recognize their own faults and what’s been going wrong between them.”
“I really enjoy [the ambiguity] in his character because on some level I don’t even know what he’s doing, but I like imagining [and] constructing behind what is written in the script my own vision of what he’s doing.”
For both Dueck and Schneider, this is their first time acting in a play since high school. This is also Holmes’s directorial debut, which she described as both fun and a lot of work. She noted that neither spouse is completely in the wrong. Apart from having a good laugh, the director wants the audience to ponder “what differences are truly irreconcilable.”
Dueck added that, on the surface, Irreconcilable Differences might seem like a cynical and pessimistic portrayal of relationships, but it is elevated by moments of softness and compassion throughout.
“There’s good that you can take out of what somebody is saying or what somebody is doing, even if there [are] some problematic aspects to it,” he said.
“It is an exploration of very human, very multifaceted characters, and a recognition of the imperfections of these people,” added Schneider.
“[It is] also recognition that you can in fact come to love and understand each other in spite of these flaws and recognizing [the] mutual responsibility in any relationship that is needed in order to live with one another.”
Showtimes are at 7 p.m. on Oct. 27, and 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Oct. 28 at the John J. Conklin Theatre. Tickets are free. For more information, visit @umanitobatheatre on Instagram.
