Theatre Passe Muraille presents The Way Back to Thursday

Rob Kempson and Astrid Van Wieren try, but The Way back to Thursday needs more depth to make it work.

The Way Back to Thursday, on stage now at Theatre Passé Muraille’s main stage, is a story written by Rob Kempson, who also stars in the show along with Astrid Van Wieren.  The play delves into the relationship between grandmother and grandson.  It looks at their shared love of classic film, his struggles with his sexual orientation and the fracturing of his relationship with his grandmother as she slides into mental illness.

Briana Brown kept her direction and staging simple which works for the piece.  The set and lighting design by Beth Kates is striking.  The stage was fitted with long, voluminous, sheer drapes and during certain lighting changes the faces of cinema greats became visible on the back wall.  I liked the choice of having the pianist and cellist right on stage alongside the actors.  The playing space was bathed with gorgeous lighting in rich blues, yellows and reds and there was a subtle stage fog that further added to the moodiness of the lighting scheme. 

Kempson and Van Wieren have fine voices and both possess a strong stage presence.  All the elements were there, but for me The Way Back to Thursday just did not work.  The lyrics were overly dramatic and the script seemed to circle around the same topics endlessly, never delving deeply enough.  It just didn’t go anywhere.  Kempson merely skimmed the surface and did not break any new ground with topics that we have all become very familiar with in theatre and other mediums.  The audience didn’t get to know the characters in the intimate way that was necessary for this piece to flourish and we were left not caring about either of them.

It is obviously a huge undertaking to create a musical and I commend Kempson for the work he has done.  This piece longs to go deeper.  It needs many more layers and a richer texture.  He found some humour but not enough.  The piece would have been more digestible had more humour been incorporated.

It seemed that The Way Back to Thursday was a cathartic experience for Kempson, but he didn’t allow the audience to join in on that journey so it felt incomplete.  I would be interested to see what would happen if this work were further work-shopped and refined.