It seems I’m developing a bad habit of reviewing shows that are concerningly relevant to me at the time I’m watching them. Merrily We Roll Along, directed by Sasha Cole, is a story of yearning: for your art, for success, and for one another. You can have it all, just not at once. As I sat watching Franklin (Matthew de Meyrick), Charley (Daniel Mark Wakeford), and Mary (Theresa Landy) in ‘Our Time,’ I couldn’t help but think back to all the days I had spent with my closest friends as we revelled in all we had: each other, and to be honest, I started to miss it. These days, things are much more complicated, but for some reason, I’m okay with that. I wouldn’t have started missing those days nearly as much if it weren’t for the acute sense of friendship between these characters that the main trio had fostered. De Meyrick, Wakeford, and Landy were all masterful in their character work and I really found myself wondering if these even were characters in the first place. It’s not often I find myself moved in quite the way that this cast was able to move me, but I fear such compliments quickly become platitudes, especially outside stage doors and in reviews, so I will keep them brief.

Often when I watch theatre, I forget just how much effort goes into it, and that the audience is only seeing a fraction of the effort that has been put into the work. Luckily though, it was coming out of the seams. For a musical that isn’t quite a dance musical, the choreography was tight and well restrained.

Restraint was an overall theme for this production, and in this case, it was good, but in other cases, like on the musical side of things, I wonder if the reins could’ve been loosened on the cast’s voices at times. I think this ultimately comes down to Sondheim’s composition and the overall length of this production, but sometimes phrases felt like they were cut just fractions too short for me to properly process and enjoy them. On the other side of the fence was hair, makeup, and costume, which I have no comments for besides that I would love to have even just one hour to go through their wardrobe.

I now come to the end of my laundry list, with lighting and set written in a big scratchy font, then underlined, then circled. One persistent thing that I love about student theatre is that it always makes the most of its resources, and you could see that with their set, which was well adorned with frames filled with photos of the cast. It really helped reinforce that deep sense of history between the characters, especially as you watch their stories in reverse. For lighting, I must confess that my first thoughts about it were that of concern because I wondered how long that must’ve taken to plot in tech. In return, they were rewarded immensely for their work, the world felt so much more alive and grand with their lighting. This is student theatre, you have to make the most of what you’ve got, especially with minimal set.

Now if you’ll forgive me, I have to go now. I need to find my Franklin and Mary before it’s too late.