2013 SummerWorks Performance Festival: Delicacy

The cast of Kat Sandler's Delicacy. Photo by Zaiden.

A wealthy Yorkville couple invite a pair of young swingers to their condo after an exciting encounter at a sex club in Kat Sandler's Delicacy, an irresistibly funny four-hander now on stage at the Lower Ossington Theatre as part of the SummerWorks Performance Festival.

The tension between writer Mark (Andy Trithardt) and his uptight interior designer wife Tanya (Tennille Read) is uncomfortably obvious in the opening scene of the play as the couple prepare to welcome relative strangers into their fragile marriage. Dressed to impress with expensive wine and charcuterie at the ready, they know very little about the people who are about to walk into their ultra-sleek home. Enter the vivacious and outspoken Colby (Kelly McCormack) and her down-to-earth husband Len (Kaleb Alexander) with a magnum-size bottle of cheap red wine and the situation quickly gets messy.

In Delicacy Sandler has created another sharp-witted and sexy story that audiences can instantly relate to. As a director she gets enthusiastic, well-timed comedic performances out of the cast, sprinkled with just the right amount of raw emotion. While not quite as dark or outrageous as some of her other plays, this piece is certainly savage in its parody of condo and foodie culture, making it a must-see at SummerWorks this year.

Delicacy runs until August 17 at the Lower Ossington Theatre. Visit SummerWorks.ca for more information and to buy tickets.