Fifth Date
by Andrew Davidson		The Gargoyle Players - Winnipeg, MB
 http://thegargoyleplayers.com		V.25 - The Gargoyle Theatre 
Ted and Julia, middle-aged and hopeful that their new relationship will work, meet for their fifth date. But here, secrets are revealed that will challenge them (and the audience) to consider questions of redemption, free will versus determinism, sexuality, the Canadian justice system, and more. By the date's end, everything will have changed, leaving the audience to consider: what comes next for this couple with their dark secrets? Fifth Date is an original one-act play written and directed by Winnipegger Andrew Davidson.

Cast:
Scott Douglas, Karen Robb

Director:
Andrew Davidson

 		Show Info:
45 minutes
Genre:
Play-Drama

Audience:
Parental Guidance

Coarse Language, Discussions of sexual abuse, references to death

Wed July 17 6:00 PM
Thu July 18 7:30 PM
Fri July 19 9:15 PM
Sat July 20 8:00 PM
Sun July 21 12:45 PM
Mon July 22 6:00 PM
Wed July 24 9:15 PM
Thu July 25 4:30 PM
Fri July 26 6:30 PM
Sat July 27 11:30 AM
Sun July 28 3:15 PM

Fifth Date

The Gargoyle Players—The Gargoyle Theatre

Deeply uncomfortable and entirely uncompromising, Fifth Date is a show where the content warning are likely not explicit enough, but still skillfully addressed. The show itself was well acted and directed, with the two leads, on a fifth date brutally derailed by the admission of past guilt and sexual crimes, playing the parts well. The male lead himself was written to clearly reject the expected reveal of clear evil and recidivism. Perhaps too reasonable, his measured responses sometimes come off as slimy and all too real, in ways that his romantic partner and the play don’t react to in ways that make me unclear how obvious they were intended. This play is difficult, and for anyone with triggers around sexual assault, not a great choice, but for all that absolutely not unworthy of a watch.

Josh Fidelak