Familiar moments have couples snickering at Charlottetown musical

Two of the performers in the world premiere of A Misfortune at the Charlottetown Festival are promising a lot of familiar moments for couples.

"I think people will be doubled over with laughter and pain in recognition of themselves," Brendan Wall said.

We call each other out on our garbage and sing songs and drink vodka.- Brendan Wall

Melanie Phillipson, who plays Wall's wife in the play, said they have already seen these reactions in the audience. The play opened Sept. 7.

"When we say some things we just see the couples snickering," she said.

'We're a nightmare'

Wall and Phillipson's characters intrude on what is on the surface a quiet domesticity when they join three friends for drinks. Underneath the domesticity is a brewing love triangle.

While that plot element quietly boils, "we offer a completely different energy,"Phillipson told CBC's Mainstreet.

"We're a nightmare," interjects Wall.

"We call each other out on our garbage and sing songs and drink vodka."

Wall and Phillipson come to A Misfortune as close friends who have never worked together. Wall quips they have the advantage of imitating each other's spouses for the show.

A Misfortune is an original Canadian musical based on an Anton Chekhov short story. It runs at the MacKenzie Theatre, Wednesdays to Fridays, until Sept. 22.

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