REVIEW: Fully Committed is a heaping plate of fun

Gavin Crawford delivers a captivating performance in a one-man play that beautifully satirizes the rich and the powerful desperate for a table at NYC’s hottest restaurant.

Gavin Crawford’s hilarious performance in Fully Committed at Theatre Aquarius is nothing short of remarkable.

I was exhausted for him as he took a bow in front of a packed house standing on its feet on opening night.

For 90 minutes, he is moving on the stage as Sam, answering a variety of phones and intercoms in a variety of places, and embodying about three dozen characters calling in. He brilliantly does that through a range of voices – from raspy to nasally to sneering – and a United Nations of accents, along with facial expressions, body positions and gestures.

It is captivating to watch and a testament to both Crawford and director Steven Gallagher that the audience never struggles to figure out who is on the other end of the phone as the frenetic pace of the show digs in. This is no easy feat.

The phones literally never stop ringing as a cast of the entitled, snobby and privileged – socialites, celebrity assistants, tech moguls, even mafia bosses – call in to bully, beg, and sweet talk their way to a reservation at Manhattan’s hottest restaurant. We never learn its name but we do know it serves the kind of laughable “molecular gastronomy” that no one would ever crave as a meal – deer lichen and edible dirt, anyone?

And we do get to see plenty of the arrogant and vulgar chef who keeps a photographer from Bon Appetit waiting for hours and enjoys demeaning Sam, who toils away in the basement with stacks of extra plates and glimpses of past décor.

Rather than feeling like a dungeon though, set designer Michael Gianfranesco has managed to make it feel more like a fun, though neglected, rec room.

Sam himself is kind, unassuming, and bit broken down by life. He’s a struggling actor and has just gone through a breakup. His actor friend Jerry lords his success over Sam, whose agent can’t be bothered to pick up the phone when he calls. And Sam has recently lost his mom.

People hang up on him, yell at him and mock him, but somehow Sam holds it all together.

His Midwestern dad is the sweetest character of all, saying things like “okey dokey” and “adios amigo,” while trying to cover up his disappointment that Sam isn’t going to be able to visit for Christmas.

Let’s just say the audience is fully on board when Sam’s fortunes start to shift.

Gallagher, a director, playwright and actor who lives in Hamilton, previously told HCM that this play is deeply humorous but it has a beating heart.

SEE OUR INTERVIEW WITH GAVIN CRAWFORD HERE!

This is his second directorial turn with Fully Committed. He teamed up with Crawford on the production at London’s Grand Theatre in January 2020. 

Crawford, a native of Taber, Alberta who now lives in Toronto, is a terrific comedic actor but he’s also adept here in making the most of the glimpses we get into Sam’s life and true character.

He’s best known for his eight seasons on This Hour Has 22 Minutes and The Gavin Crawford Show and has hosted Because News, a weekly comedic panel show looking at the day’s headlineson CBC Radio One, for 10 years.

Theatre Aquarius artistic director Mary Francis Moore told the audience before the show to “hold on to your seat and catch your breath because what you’re about to see is nothing short of magical.” She was absolutely right.

But it’s not a show where you melt into the seat and get swept away. This is a big more like watching a high-wire act.

For all of us who struggle to remember a name five minutes after we’ve met someone or stop in the middle of a room wondering why we went in there, Crawford’s ability to shift on a dime and to pull out the right character when the phone rings yet again is truly incredible.

There is no safety net here. If he stumbles even a little, or pauses just for a second, the whole thing could catapult off the rails.

That sense is reflected in what’s happening in the restaurant, too. Staff are late or not coming in. A renowned chef has shown up for a reservation that wasn’t in the books and he’s been made to wait – horrors! – for a table. There is an unspeakable disaster in the washroom.

This work by playwright Becky Mode firmly satirizes the rich and the powerful, and honouring those made to serve them, something that feels particularly satisfying in the times we live in.

Fully Committed serves a heaping portion of funny and fascinating that makes it worth going for seconds.

It runs until April 12. Note: Reservations are necessary.