RMTC open the Warehouse season this year with a new play by Canadian playwright Colleen Murphy. Similar to some of Murphy's previous work (EG The December Man which was a part of PTE's season a few years back), Armstrong's War digs in at a piece of contemporary Canadian experience, this time dealing with a young soldier returned from Afghanistan due to injury. Soldier Armstrong (played with beautiful sensitivity by Justin Otto) meets young Armstrong, a 12 year old Pathfinder aiming to complete her community service badge by reading to a veteran.
The unlikely couple begin, as you would expect, at odds with one another. Otto's soldier wants simply to be left alone, however the plucky young girl, played convincingly by not 12 year old Heather Russell, shows that the elder isn't the only one with steely determination. Russell's character, portrayed from a wheelchair, eventually coaxes the elder soldier into a reluctant, but ultimately rewarding friendship.
The early scenes do come off as stilted; Murphy's play gives very little time for them to be opponents, and in only their second meeting the hardened soldier eases in to a friendship, which to be frank is unbelievable. That said, the play then jumps into the real friction between the characters, when each begins to reveal at first their stories about themselves, and then the real truth. Under Robb Patterson's direction, the pair are well matched, each bringing a strength and vulnerability to these characters.
Opening night energy meant that the piece moved a little bit too quickly, particularly in the set changes, which cleverly employed a stage hand dressed as a hospital orderly. I fully expect the pace to slow as the performers settle in, for as we saw on opening night this was the case, and the latter half sat beautifully.
An important play about the real effects of our international engagements as Canadians and the human cost.
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