Tom McCamus (2/06 The Innocent Eye Test)
Excerpt from The Globe and Mail 2/6/06: Tom McCamus
Despite the cast, Healey's farce isn't quite 20-20
KAMAL AL-SOLAYLEE Published Saturday, Feb. 11 2006, 12:00 AM EST
The Innocent Eye Test
Written by Michael Healey Directed by Christopher Newton
Starring Kevin Bundy, Tanja Jacobs, Gord Rand
At the Manitoba Theatre Centre in Winnipeg
Mere seconds into The Innocent Eye Test, playwright Michael Healey picks up a target he knows will get any audience anywhere in this big country rooting for his leading man: Air Canada. After a 10-hour flight to Tuscany, the impossibly polite and unflappable Toronto art dealer Samuel Kneck is wondering if he should sue Air Canada. The food, the service, the seats all bordered on the traumatic. As Samuel (Kevin Bundy) sits in his hotel's swimming-pool lounge, the rest of his day isn't going to get any less trying. He's in Tuscany to negotiate the sale of a painting to Darryl Plate (Tom McCamus), a Las Vegas casino magnate, but before you can say "mistaken identity," he is mixed up in a zany plot of international espionage, plutonium smuggling and capricious Vegas performers.
....
Even with such handicaps, the production boasts some delightful, fierce performances that, once again, leave me in awe of our acting talent. Every character here is something of an ethnic stereotype, but the actors fashion performances that are so much more, theatrically speaking. Bundy is the very picture of Canadian diplomacy and affability while McCamus has the go-getting zeal of American entrepreneurship.
© The Globe and Mail
Excerpt from Uniter 2/23/06: Tom McCamus
The Innocent Eye Test
ERIN MCINTYRE
Each of the actors tackled their character’s unique eccentricities with poise and excellent timing. The success of the storyline was completely dependent on the comedic ability and chemistry of the actors, and they pulled it off beautifully. The cast included Kevin Bundy, Tom McCamus, Lisa Norton, Tanja Jacobs, C. David Johnson, Gord Rand and Keith James, and was guided by veteran director and actor, Christopher Newton.
© Uniter
Excerpt from Broadway World 3/6/06: Tom McCamus
Front Row Centre Theater News: New Farce premieres in Toronto
Monday, March 6, 2006; Posted: 11:22 PM - by Mark Andrew Lawrence
Under the glare of the Tuscan sun, two transactions are about to take place: one involves a painting; the other, weapons-grade plutonium. Samuel Kneck, the ever-apologetic Canadian, finds himself in the middle. Can this polite Canadian hold his ground and keep his cool as a Ukrainian arms dealer, a clairvoyant casino performer and a pair of international spies try to stiff, swindle and seduce him? David and Ed Mirvish, in co-production with the Manitoba Theatre Centre, present the World Premiere of The Innocent Eye Test, an old-fashioned farce about contemporary anxieties by award-winning playwright Michael Healey. Healey is the author of the international hit The Drawer Boy, voted one of Time Magazine's Top 10 plays of 2001 and the winner of many awards, including the Dora Award for best new play, the Chalmers Canadian Playwriting Award and the Governor General’s Literary Award. The Innocent Eye Test stars Kevin Bundy (as Samuel Kneck), Tanja Jacobs (Colleen MacAuley), C. David Johnson (James MacAuley), Tom McCamus (Darryl Plate), Lisa Norton (Moui Lamaz), Paul O’Sullivan (Martino Kesselback) and Gord Rand (Uri). The production is directed by Christopher Newton. Set and costume design is by David Boechler, and lighting by Kevin Lamotte.
The Innocent Eye Test
March 11 - April 23, 2006 (Media night is Tuesday March 14th)
Tuesday - Saturday @ 8:00 PM, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday @ 2:00 PM
The Royal Alexandra Theatre, 260 King St West, Toronto Tickets $30.00 to $75.00.
Available at www.mirvish.com or by calling Ticketking at 416-872-1212 or 1-800-461-3333
© Broadway World
Excerpt from Broadway to Vegas 3/12/06: Tom McCamus
THE INNOCENT EYE TEST
a farce by Michael Healey. The setting is a grand hotel in Tuscany, a gathering-place for people from across the globe. Two transactions are about to take place. In one, art is for sale; in the other, weapons-grade plutonium. Sam is the quintessential Canadian - a trusting, polite consensus-builder. But nothing has prepared him for the Ukrainian arms dealer, the crooked casino owner, the clairvoyant cabaret performer and the pair of international spies who are trying to stiff, swindle and seduce him. The Innocent Eye Test is directed by Christopher Newton and stars Kevin Bundy, Susie Burnett, Tanja Jacobs, C. David Johnson, Tom McCamus, Lisa Norton, Paul O'Sullivan, Gord Rand and Peter Treadwell. Opened March 11 with performances through April 23 at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto, Canada.
© Broadway to Vegas
Excerpt from Jam Canoe 3/16/06: Tom McCamus
'Eye Test' passes farce exam
By JOHN COULBOURN -- Toronto Sun
The Innocent Eye Test had its Toronto premiere on Tuesday at the Royal Alexandra, a co-production of David and Ed Mirvish and the Manitoba Theatre Centre. It will run to April 23.
....
Meanwhile, McCamus is good enough in the crazed portion of his performance that it is almost possible to overlook the fact that this is one actor who can play anything but stupid. As for the rest of the cast, they give Eye Test a game try, but finally -- and quite wisely -- surrender the field to Bundy, Rand and McCamus.
© Canoe.ca
Excerpt from Canada.com 3/17/06: Tom McCamus
Royal Canadian Anti-Farce THE INNOCENT EYE TEST -- Royal Alexandra Theatre
By National Post March 17, 2006
He is in Tuscany at the bidding of Darryl Plate, a Las Vegas entertainment mogul who is opening a museum back home and wants to acquire a Mark Tansey painting whose title, The Innocent Eye Test, is also that of the play. The painting depicts a cow in an art gallery gazing enchanted at the picture of another cow. Darryl, who had bid for the painting sight unseen, is enchanted when he actually sees it. He, the plain man smitten, identifies with the cow. This is the best scene in the play.
....
Tom McCamus, cast against type as Daryl, does a very good job of whisking on his own account; he, like his character, seems to be doing his damndest to get the show on the road.
© Canada.com
Excerpt from Now Magazine 3/23/06: Tom McCamus
Passing the Test: Michael Healey’s The Innocent Eye Test pushes the right farce buttons
By Jon Kaplan
THE INNOCENT EYE TEST by Michael Healey, directed by Christopher Newton (Mirvish). At the Royal Alex (260 King West). Runs to April 23. $30-$75. See Continuing, page 87. 416-872-1212.
....
Lisa Norton plays Bundy’s romantic interest, a woman with a surprising skill, while Tom McCamus , sporting the play’s loudest shirts, makes a meal of a Las Vegas wheeler-dealer whose focus is on the deal, not the object for sale.
© Now Toronto
Excerpt from Eye Weekly 3/23/06: Tom McCamus & Stage Door 3/23/06
THE INNOCENT EYE TEST two stars
©Christopher Hoile
Featuring Kevin Bundy, Gord Rand. Presented by Mirvish Productions & Manitoba Theatre Centre. Written by Michael Healey. Directed by Christopher Newton. To Apr 23. Tue-Sat 8pm; Wed, Sat & Sun mats 2pm. $30-$75; students $25 Tue-Fri 8pm & Sun 2pm. Royal Alexandra Theatre, 260 King W. 416-872-1212.
....
The play concerns the mild-mannered Samuel Kneck (Kevin Bundy), who is caught in a mix-up between a Ukrainian arms dealer (Gord Rand), an Irish terrorist (Tanja Jacobs) and Las Vegas casino owner Darryl (Tom McCamus), who wants to buy Tansey's painting.
© Eye Weekly
Excerpt from Canada.com 3/25/06: Tom McCamus
Plays Currently on Stage
T H E I N N O C E N T E Y E T E S T Royal Alexandra Theatre 260 King St. W. • 416-872-1212
Sex, art, terrorism and Canada’s identity all raise their heads in Michael Healey’s new comedy, and they get in one another’s way. Maybe it’s an anti-farce, the trappings of the form without the unifying energy. Gord Rand and Tom McCamus stand out in an uneven cast that has trouble with accents; half the characters are pretending to be from somewhere they’re not, and one is juggling three nationalities simultaneously. Through April 23. R.C.
© Canada.com