Private Eyes

Reviewed by Paula Citron

Private Eyes
Rogue and Peasant Theatre Company
Written by Steven Dietz
Directed by Mark Ingram
Performed by Christel Bartelse, Patric Masurkevitch, Sharon McFarlane, David Rosser and Nora Sheehan
Lower Ossington Theatre,
Nov. 11 to 21, 2010

Award-winning Steven Dietz is a very popular playwright south of the border, but is little known here. Rogue and Peasant Theatre Company is giving us a chance to get to know Dietz better.

They are presenting his 1996 play Private Eyes, and it’s an intriguing script with more twists than a pretzel. The five actors give convincing performances of people in crisis.

Apparently, a central theme of Dietz’s work is betrayal and suspicion. Relationships are a key component. The title Private Eyes is a play on words – conveying both the idea of characters trying to uncover secrets, and “I’” as in a narcissistic absorption of self.

The story begins with an audition for a play, and then cleverly evolves into a play within a play within a play. Truth really takes a labyrinthine journey. Private Eyes is sophisticated theatre with a convoluted plot that keep muddying the waters.

Private Eyes continues at the Lower Ossington Theatre until Nov. 21.