More Fine Girls

Reviewed by Paula Citron

More Fine Girls
Tarragon Theatre/Theatre Columbus
Written by Jennifer Brewin, Leah Cherniak, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Alisa Palmer and Martha Ross
Directed by Alisa Palmer
Performed by Ann-Marie MacDonald, Martha Ross and Severn Thompson
Tarragon Theatre
Feb. 22 to Apr. 3, 2011

In 1995, five talented women wrote the hit comedy The Attic, the Pearls & 3 Fine Girls. More Fine Girls is the sequel.

The audience at the Tarragon seemed to be enjoying themselves. I was less enthusiastic.

The three Fine sisters each has her personal demons, not to mention group emotional baggage. The eldest Jojo (Martha Ross) is a professor. Jayne (Ann-Marie MacDonald) used to be corporate but is now on a farm, while the youngest, Jelly (Severn Thompson) is a conceptual artist.

Thompson replaced Leah Cherniak late in rehearsals, but she gives the best performance because her acting comes from the heart. MacDonald speaks too fast and loses her sentence endings, while the physical comedy of Ross is lame slapstick.

Director Alisa Palmer has not reigned in her cast, and Ross, in particular is over the top.
There are some genuinely funny lines, but not enough to cover the flaws.

More Fine Girls continues at the Tarragon Theatre until Apr. 3.