Stephen Massicotte is a playwright for whom the realities of time and place bend to do his bidding.
Both Massicotte's "Mary's Wedding," which was done at City Theatre last season, and "The Clockmaker," which opened there Friday evening, journey into an unexpected territory where time exists on multiple, simultaneous planes and is measured by a different clock.
"The Clockmaker," which is having its U.S. premiere at City Theatre, made its debut at the 2009 Enbridge playRites Festival of New Canadian Plays at Alberta Theatre Projects.
Alternately a love story, a mystery, a thriller and a jigsaw puzzle, it challenges the audience to collect and assemble the pieces that eventually form into a satisfying whole with an unanticipated outcome.
Part of the drama is grounded in stony reality as Heinrich, a lonely, reclusive clockmaker, forms an attachment to Frieda, a woman with an abusive husband.
At the same time, Heinrich finds himself being confronted in a nightmarish series of cat-and-mouse interviews in which Monsieur Pierre seems to be suggesting that Heinrich has committed some unspecified crime.
Themes of memory, love, compassion, forgiveness and redemption play out over the course of this intriguing, ultimately surprising 90-minute drama.
Director Tracy Brigden keeps the tension and mystery high throughout, presenting clues and supporting evidence without giving away too much. That allows the audience the satisfaction of unraveling the mystery and discovering the story for themselves.
She's aided by a cast of four who play the reality of the story with dedicated conviction.
Harry Bouvy sympathetically reproduces the disenchanted, solitary Heinrich, who has abandoned his dreams of creating beauty and resigned himself to his own ordinariness.
Tami Dixon brings understanding to Frieda, a woman who loathes her abusive husband and yet feels sympathy for his anguish.
As the abusive Adolphus, Joel Ripka projects multiple layers of anger, remorse, menace and denial.
Daryll Heysham's Monsieur Pierre is elusive, mysterious, detached and sinister, alternately bantering and baiting Heinrich much like the detective in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's "Crime and Punishment."
Scenic designer Jeff Cowie and lighting designer Andrew David Ostrowski create a single setting that handles the need for multiple locations and realities.
Additional Information:'The Clockmaker'
Produced by: City Theatre Company
When: Through Feb. 14 with performances at 7 p.m. Tuesdays, 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays, 5:30 and 9 p.m. Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays
Admission: $23-$48, $17 for students and those 25 or younger in advance or those 60 and older from two hours before showtime.
Where: City Theatre, 1300 Bingham St., South Side
Details: 412-431-2489
