This is the Point
If you’re lucky enough to catch a performance of this play by Ahuri Theatre, you’ll bear witness to true stories of love that dig a little deeper than a standard rom-com. These stories are told in a visceral way that exposes audience members to the kind of pain and discomfort that the performers have experienced. Tony Diamanti has audience members spellbound: reading his own words out loud along with him. Liz MacDougall’s humour is both outrageous and subtle, sometimes all at once. Dan Watson is a deft maestro for most of the show. He switches easily from one character to another, remaining on stage while he completely immerses himself into a new role.
The point is simple enough, and you’ve probably heard it before: everyone deserves to love and be loved. It doesn’t matter what kind of abilities you have or don’t have. It doesn’t matter what you look like. It doesn’t matter what religion you practice, or refuse to practice. It doesn’t matter what gender you do, or don’t, prefer. You deserve to love and be loved.
As much as this play is about love, it’s also about absence. Jacques Derrida liked to explore our understanding of absence, and the traces that it leaves. He believed that “the language of presence or absence… is in principle inadequate.” He’s right. Simply describing the absence of something isn’t enough to convey a sense of loss. In this way, one actor’s absence from the production does more to convey the outrage she feels than any performance she could give. Both in art and in life, Christina Serra refuses to continually play out a scene in which she justifies her love for her son. As her partner says, there’s absolutely no reason she should ever have to offer such a justification. Unfortunately, there are those who remain unconvinced. The message must be repeated again and again.
