Friday

Daniela Giorgi's Friday tries for too much of a good thing. Everyone likes a good bit of political satire but it only sticks when it is sharp and focused. Giorgi never quite achieves such, rather creating a mess of indistinguishable white noise. Friday is overloaded with characters, each with their own point to make and each almost talking over each to make it. Everything gets lost as both the audience struggles to lock onto something and the actors struggle to make themselves noticed in the crowd.

At the heart of the play is Bill Twomey (Peter Hayes), the transport minister of a fictional province who has made and continues to make bad decisions. Twomey is surrounded by his chief of staff, the opposition leader, the woman who gives tours of parliament, the ghost of his long dead best friend, the cleaning lady and it goes on and on like this. While the noise is overwhelming, it is worth noting that director Julie Baz has done an admirable job in staging all those voices. The play moves seamlessly despite the number of characters entering, saying what they have to say, and exiting. Hayes offers the standout performance. Twomey is the only character that the audience can grasp onto and believe in some way, owing largely to Hayes' charismatic performance.