Looking to spice up your love life? So were Suburban Toronto’s legal power-couple Paul and Linda when they decided to have a threesome. This last-ditch effort to save their marriage turns into quite a different evening as their guests, some expected, others not so much, begin to arrive. Written by Jane Cooper Ford and directed by Megan Watson, the world premiere of Paul and Linda Plan a Threesome is funny and heartfelt; a celebration of love in many of its forms.

Purely from the title, I knew that this play was going to be a comedy. The basis of the story we know: the couple in trouble trying to save their marriage, something unexpected happens, and now they’re happy; a play version of “Escape (The Piña Colada Song).” Yet as the doorbell keeps ringing, and more people show up at Paul and Linda’s house, I was ready for it to become a full-blown farce: multiple people in and out, drinks spilling and cheese flying across the room. What I wasn’t ready for was Sienna, the third in Paul and Linda’s threesome. Sienna comes in with this beautifully open and accepting energy, and it changes the entire tone of story. What starts out as clearly awkward and distant discussion becomes honest and deep conversations, which it feels like Paul and Linda might be having for the first time. Revelations of all kinds punctuate the text, giving us several moving moments throughout the production. While the overall genre is absolutely still comedy, and there are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments in Ford’s work, there’s also a sense that there’s been a significant change, hopefully for the better, in these characters lives.

Rebecca Chaikin’s set and costume design for Paul and Linda Plan a Threesome is elegant and refined, and perfectly befits the characters. I love sets with all white or cream furniture; it’s your clear signal that this house no longer has children or pets. It signals for us the status of the characters as well as their situation, all of which is reinforced by their straight-laced, earth-toned costumes. The jacket Sienna wears is stunning; it’s clearly a unique and original piece and is the exact thing her character would wear. Gwen’s costume is one of my favourites, as it so entirely announces who her character is the moment she walks through the door.

David Kelley and Laura De Carteret star as the titular Paul and Linda. Their top-notch performances drive the play from start to finish, and the visible progression of their characters is what leaves you with the feeling that everything is going to be okay. Shannon Taylor dazzles as Sienna, with the audience falling for her just as quickly as Paul and Linda. Her character is such a direct opposition to the others that it makes her a breath of fresh air on stage. Stacy Smith comes in with gusto as Paul’s sister Gwen. Serving butch realness from her first moment to last, Gwen is the bull that china shop needed.

Paul and Linda Plan a Threesome was my first journey to Here For Now Theatre, and I’m so excited that it won’t be my last. The venue is stunning, the talent is unparalleled, and their season is full of unique stories. Make sure you get to see this first play in their season; it runs until July 6th at the Stratford Perth Museum. And don’t worry about the weather! They’ve got plans either way. For more information and tickets, visit: https://www.herefornowtheatre.com/threesome

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Cover Photo: Laura De Carteret and David Kelley. Photo by Ann Baggley

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