ACTIONABLE a play by Bob Wiseman

-about lawyers, love songs, and losers
Rating: 5 stars

No matter what antics Canadian songwriter and filmmaker Bob Wiseman gets up to in Actionable, keep in mind that he usually: one, is joking; and two, doesn’t want a lawsuit.

Dressed in a bright yellow shirt, white bow tie, black vest and houndstooth-patterned dress pants, the wacky Wiseman entered the stage and quickly let his audience know: “I like to fool around a bit.” The stage was set.

Using a variety of storytelling tools — song, powerpoint presentations, Super-8 film, video projection and pie charts, a la Dimitri Martin, a comedian known for his hilarious diagrams — moments of poetic confession meld with comic hilarity.

Wiseman appears to be making it all up as he goes along, but there is indeed a recurrent theme in Actionable as the multi-talented Wiseman reflects on his often amusing life experiences.

From accounts of trying to establish a solo career after quitting his band Blue Rodeo in 1991, to trying to “steal” Prince’s moniker, fans familiar with Wiseman’s work will enjoy hearing the background to how songs like Rock and Tree (not Rockin’ Tree) and My Cousin Dave were born.

Wiseman may not be a professional theatre guy, but you’d never know it. The high artistic value of Actionable is unlike anything you’ve seen before or could even try to imagine. — Adrian Chamberlain VICTORIA TIMES-COLONIST
may 2010

wednesday july 14@ 9:15
thursday july 15@ 5:15
friday july 16@ 10:30
saturday july 17@ 8:45
sunday july 18@ 7:00
monday july 19@ 5:15
tuesday july 20@ 10:30
wednesday july 21@ 8:45
thursday july 22@ 7:00
friday july 23@ 5:15
saturday july 24@ 10:30