The opening performance of Radio :30 was sold out, the audience packed into the hot Lantern Gym Theatre. The play has gotten multiple awards and some pretty good reviews out of Toronto.
The play tells of Ron, a once struggling actor who now makes his living doing shorts on the radio. He is currently in the middle of doing one for a restaurant and between working he tells us about his job and his ex-best friend Kevin. How he is good at his job because of what he calls the ‘Ron thing’, his ability to sound friendly and warm. His story tells of how and why he and Kevin are no longer friends.
Radio :30 is a simple story, of two friends and the incident that drives them apart. And though this play has lot of good reviews and has received a lot of awards, it moves slowly. The repetition within the narrative drags the story down and Ron isn’t fleshed out enough as a character for the viewer to have empathy for him. Actually, he seems oddly detached from the story he’s telling, that when he digs deeply and expresses his loneliness, the scene lacks poignancy. Radio :30 is a decent play, but ultimately isn’t as satisfying as it could be.
Radio : 30 is part of the Calgary Fringe Festival. It plays 5 more times in the festival. More information is available online.