Brief Encounter goes on and on

In co-production with the Manitoba Theatre Centre, The Vancouver Playhouse has launched a great version of a 75-year-old British play called Brief Encounter.

Created by the brilliant dramatist Noel Coward, the original stage version was published in 1935 as Still Life; the black and white movie Brief Encounter came out in 1945. A story of impossible love, this film is considered by many to be one of the best romantic dramas ever.

In the fall of 2008 in London, I went to see the Emma Rice's Kneehigh stage adaptation of Brief Encounter at the Haymarket. I loved it. I sat in the front row and shared interval conversation and a Bath bun with a mature woman and her young niece. At the end, we asked the young woman: "Did she do the right thing?"

"Of course she did," said the girl, and when she gave her reasons, her aunt and I exchanged a satisfied glance. This evening I asked my friend and my daughter the same question, and got almost exactly the same response. It's a lovely play, something people profoundly relate to.

The Playhouse has brought equal measures of laughter, poignancy, music and humour to the stage as I enjoyed in the London production. With wonderful costumes, sets and staging, the play is exceptionally well done. In contrast to its title, the lifespan of this story is anything but brief. In this incarnation, though, it will continue only until December 23.