THEATRE: THE FLICK—YOUNG ADULTS’ NOSTALGIA

Theatre Review by Sergio Martinez 

Presented by Persephone Productions in Montreal’s Centaur Theatre, The Flick may be considered an insight into the lives of three young adults—Sam, Avery, and Rose—who, lacking other options, are caught in a job as ushers in a movie theatre—a job they don’t particularly like or dislike. For one thing, they are underpaid. However, at the same time, both Sam and Avery, while cleaning the movie theatre, seem to enjoy a sort of game in which one of them names a couple of stars and the other replies with the title of the film. Sometimes they engage in more personal conversations, especially regarding the third employee, Rose, who also happens to be the projectionist. 

Overseeing the projector operation seems to give her special status. Rose knows that since she doesn’t seem too eager to share that technical knowledge. However, she would make an exception, an episode that, in turn, will have unintended consequences. 

Andrew Cameron (Sam), Steve-Jamal Azémar (Avery) and
Caitlyn Sponheimer (Rose), in The Flick,
currently playing at the Centaur Theatre

Avery, the youngest of the trio, is also more aware of the special significance of the place: that theatre is the last one in the city still showing 35 mm. films, the ones that come in bulky cases and are rolled in large reels. When the inevitable comes: the theatre management decides to go digital, the projector and the other accessories would acquire for him a special meaning. For Avery, it seems that these otherwise common elements also have a special significance and—despite his youth—awake a kind of nostalgia. In a way, the now-dismissed projector and the meaning of their own lives seem interlocked, a sort of attention call for the three individuals as they must face a fast-changing world. 

The three main players deliver a very solid and convincing performance, keeping the interest of the audience despite the two-and-a-half-hour duration of the play.

 

Author: Annie Baker 

Director: Rebecca Gibian 

Cast: Andrew Cameron (Sam), Steve-Jamal Azémar (Avery), Caitlyn Sponheimer (Rose), David Noel (Skylar) 

Centaur Theatre: 453 St. François Xavier St. Running until June 11, 2023