Left to Right; Gabrielle Rose as Jo, Christine Quintana as Everyone Else; Hrothgar Mathews as Rick (Photo credit: Peter Pokorny)

Last night I attended the delayed opening night of As Above, a new play by Christine Quintana. Quintana has ended up performing in her own play, as the actor cast as Everyone Else was called away with a family emergency. I enjoyed both the play and the performances very much. The play looks at the lives of two recovering alcoholics, Jo and Rick, who form a romance after meeting online. We learn that Jo is close with her sister Hazel (Quintana), but distant from her only daughter Ada (Quintana again). She is a widow whose husband died from cancer some years ago.

As her relationship with Rick develops over time, he invites her to come to his cabin at Lake Cowichan. Jo is staggered when she arrives, as it turns out that Rick has bought the family’s former cabin (although why she wouldn’t know this is a weak moment in the script). She has many happy memories of this place and the land, in particular a large cedar tree that she has an almost mystical connection with. While at the cabin, they receive a phone call from Bolivia, where Jo and her husband and daughter spent a year when Jo was an academic at UBC. We hear that she lost her job due to her alcoholism, and she is now working at the local botanical gardens in Victoria. It appears that daughter Ada has returned to Bolivia, and there is confusion around where she is at the moment, or if she is coming home.

Jo is experiencing some painful symptoms, and there are scenes where she visits a doctor who does not provide much in the way of support or caring. Later, we see these symptoms persist, leading to her having to have surgery. Her sister Hazel comes to see her, she has a falling out with Rick that really upsets her, and finally she is reunited with Ada, but is it too late?

Themes that this 90 minutes one-act play address include ecology, respect for nature and how we can live better, and more softly, on these lands. There is good dialogue amongst the various characters, particularly between Jo and Rick, who are at a stage in their lives when they need to be frank and honest with each other. Sister Hazel is a wonderful support for Jo, and she meets Rick and approves of him right away. When Ada returns there is a lovely moment of reconnection, that is thrown into relief by Jo’s illness. Does she survive? It’s up to each audience member to decide that for themselves, but by the end of the play we feel connected to the trees and how they communicate through fungal networks, to the land we are fortunate enough to live on, and to the mysteries of nature.

The effective set design is by Camellia Koo and features a greenhouse style structure centrestage, a revolve and simple costumes (Stephanie Kong) and props, with effective sound design by Alessandro Juliani, lovely lighting by John Webber, and projections by Emily Cooper. The director of the play is Meg Roe, and she does a wonderful job pulling strong performances from the three actors. Kudos to Quintana, who had to step in at the last minute, and learn her own lines! Overall, a pleasant evening at the theatre. Recommended. Runs until March 3rd with tickets at: https://www.belfry.bc.ca/as-above/#sp_copy