I’ve been following the Praxis Theatre group for awhile mainly because of Laura Nordin’s involvement. I’ve attended their reading series in the spring and was exited when their annouced DYAD as part of Fringe Festival this year. If you’re not familar with the Fringe Festival is a collection of smaller/independent plays that take place around Toronto. The DYAD is being presented at the George Ignatieff Theatre on the University of Toronto campus. Its a combination of 2 acts that take advantage of the outdoor aspects of the theatre location.

The first act features 2 male characters who meet up rather randomly over cigarettes. The dialogue and delivery were great and both Glen McDonald and David Tomp played their roles well. The combination of the outdoor scene was great and it was easy to visualize the scene happening almost anywhere.

The second act moved the play into the theatre and set the scene between student, Laura Nordin, and teacher, Marget Evans. Again the group used the space well with Laura starting her delivery from within the crowd and then moving onto the stage. The tension between the student and teacher seemed to develop well but wasn’t well supported by the dialogue. I think a clearer dialogue would have allowed both actresses to further developer their characters. The death of the student is the climax of the scene was the best part of the act.