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Tall Order |Murray Utas, Molly Flood, and Vincent Forcier are three strangers whose lives intersect inside The Tall Building.

THE TALL BUILDING
Directed by Steve Pirot. Written by Jill Connell. Starring
Molly Flood, Vincent Forcier, Murray Utas. Catalyst Theatre (8529 Gateway Blvd). To Nov 29. Tickets available through TIX on the Square (420-1757/tixonthesquare.ca).
****1/2

I live in a tall building. And as Azimuth Theatre’s The Tall Building presumes, I don’t know my neighbours. Rather, our greatest intimacy comes when I get a whiff, in the hallway, of what they’re cooking for dinner, or from overhearing the sounds of love or fighting.

Half extremely familiar and half utterly surreal, The Tall Building is an engaging and surprising work about the already well-covered theme of alienation in the modern city. It follows three strange characters — the reclusive daughter of the mayor (Molly Flood); a home-schooled, zine-publishing boy whose life revolves around the neighborhood 7-Eleven (Vincent Forcier); and a deeply mysterious assassin (Murray Utas) — whose lives become increasingly intertwined.

These characters, who almost feel as though they could come from a Murakami novel, all live in the same, yes, tall building, in a city that is implicitly Edmonton. But this Edmonton exists in a frightening and hellish parallel universe: fires rage constantly and coyotes roam freely through the city, terrorizing the populace.

One of the distinguishing aspects of this production is how complete a work of art it strives to be. The play’s concept has gone into everything from the programs (intended to be copies of the boy’s zine) to the marketing (the lobby, and even the bathrooms, are posted with stories submitted by Edmontonians about their own experiences with modern architecture). Before the show even begins, it’s already created an engrossing world. It’s also complementary to the play’s themes, acting like a sort of antidote to the alienation that the characters, and likewise the audience members, live with.

The show itself has the feel of a highly collaborative effort, but with strong thematic and character throughlines, it never feels scattered. The three characters all practically belong to entirely different genres, but the actors bridge these gaps and play off one another beautifully.

Andrew G. Smith deserves notice for creating the eerie soundscape of ambient sounds and crackling flames. The periodic interjections of CBC’s Radio One add to the sense of isolation, that feeling of being alone with nothing but a radio voice. The set is fairly bare, the skeleton of the building we are to imagine, and the actors move nimbly among its bars and scaffolding, finding outlets for connection and self-expression despite the confinement and isolation of modern life.

And if all this sounds in itself a little alienating, don’t fear, The Tall Building has plenty of laughs and surprises along the way. Utas, as a rather surreal version of the stoic and impenetrable antihero, delivers his lines with steely-eyed sarcasm and perfect comic timing. Forcier’s childlike performance is a pleasure to watch, as he adroitly captures those transformative moments between innocence and experience.

Flood has a standout monologue that involves some sheer physical bravado that I won’t spoil, and it’s simply beautiful.

The Tall Building might be the push you need to start up a conversation in the laundry room, or maybe even knock on a neighbour’s door. But if not, it will at least make you think about who might be sitting on the other side.