Leo at the Firehall Arts Centre

Written by Rosa Laborde, and directed by Richard Rose, Léo tells the story of three young friends coming of age in seventies socialist Chilé, just prior to the violent military coup d'etat, overthrowing Salvador Allende.

At the centre of the story is Léo (Salvatore Antonio), a poet who fluctuates between impassioned declarations, beautiful imagery, and an almost nihilistic selfishness. Rodrigo (Sergio Di Zio) and Isolde (Lesley Faulkner) are the best friends who form the other sides of this complicated triangle, as love, betrayal, and growing up steer the trajectory of the trio's intertwined fate.

The cast is fantastic, the script is full of vivid imagery, and there's plenty of dark humour to help alleviate the heavy subject matter. My only issue is that the staging sometimes feels awkward, with the actors occasionally spending a bit too much time with their backs to the audience.

I urge you to make sure you get a chance to take in this wonderful show. And, for anyone who fears longer theatre pieces, Léo's running time is a sweet 70 minutes!

DATES: February 20 - March 1, 2008
TIME: Performances nightly at 7:30 pm, Tuesday through Thursday. Friday and Saturday performances are at 8:00 pm. Matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 pm. Special Pay-What-You-Can performance on Wednesday, Feb. 27 at 1pm.

Photo by Cylla von Tiedermann