The Woolgatherer is a play from New Jersey’s William Mastrosimone currently showing in the Junction. Starring Dayle McLeod as Rose and Mark Wiebe as Cliff, the two-act play is an intimate portrait of an uneasy one-night fling between two broken souls.
Performed Chicago-style in an empty storefront — a first for the Junction — the audience is seated with their backs to the street. There are only four rows of chairs, so you cannot help but be immersed in the action, and those in the front rows are right in the thick of it. The intimacy achieved between the audience and the actors is a huge part of the success of the play — in a traditional setting much of its potency would be lost.
The action takes place in Rose’s boarded-up apartment, where a mattress is covered by a dingy mustard-coloured blanket, a red crate acts as a secondary chair and religious knickknacks dot the room. She keeps two dead plants around just in case they spring back to life, and points out where a previous tenant committed suicide. A rather large wardrobe dwarfs Rose and seems to cause her anxiety, though its doors remain tightly shut. The two characters’ clothes betray their impoverished existence; Cliff’s trucker hat is accompanied by quick-fixes of silver tape on his jeans and boots, while Rose huddles beneath a large sweater and a long, drab skirt.
The plot revolves around the dynamic between the two characters: Rose, a five ’n’ dime salesgirl, and Cliff, a trucker. Both are incredibly neurotic, with their neuroses being manifested in different ways. Rose is a nervous wreck, clutching her clothes, breaking out with hives and proudly proclaiming that she’s never used a curse word as long as she’s lived.
Meanwhile, Cliff swears freely and continuously cracks deadpan jokes, so Rose is unable to shrug off the idea that he’s “making fun” of her. In terms of misery, Cliff’s life as a trucker is the equal of Rose’s self-imposed reclusive existence and he tries to calm his rage with booze and weed, even lighting up at one point during the show. Their peculiar dynamic makes for almost ever-present tension, slowly building and churning until it erupts, with the only relief being Cliff’s wise-guy mouth.
The acting is superb. Despite the proximity of the audience, both actors remain completely in character and in-the-moment throughout the play. Their flaws, ugliness and pain are easy to see, and the discomfort and tension leaves a powerful impression.
This is most certainly not your average one-night stand.
The Woolgatherer, empty storefront at 3087 Dundas St. W. To May 12. $20.
