The Last Five Years is a show that takes the idea of walking in the other person’s shoes and has the audience become the silent third wheel in a very intimate relationship: from its passionate birth to its slow, but inevitable death. It takes a unique direction in showing us both perspectives and in opposing directions. Our protagonists Jamie (Kodi Cannon) and Kathy (Emma MacEachern) do a wonderful job in showing us the rollercoaster that is a relationship.

Elevator Theatre Company is an up and coming local theatre company that really burst out onto the scene with their season which included amazing shows like Spring Awakening, Songs for a New World, and Next to Normal. Not to spoil the rest of my review, but what an absolute banger of a premiere show for ETC!

General Direction

I’m going to meld all my direction notes into this one column because Josh Rigo handled most of it! I shouldn’t be surprised as I had most recently watched Little Shop of Horrors and that was one of the most engaging theatre experiences I’ve had in a while. The movement in the characters may have been cliché in terms of passing looks and lingering thoughts, but there’s not much space in creativity when it comes to a show solely about detailing a relationship.

Some wonderful direction is having the opposing character part of the scene, but almost like a faceless participant. This technique was used many times throughout the show with great effect and really made the relationship more authentic. The show could be a little cheesy at times, but what is a rom-com without the cheese? No gouda. There were times they did use opposing sides to display the ever-expanding chasm between the two leads, but I think because of such a tight space. I felt like I was in a tennis match having to crane my head in two directions to witness one or the other, but never both.

Music Direction

Small studio shows create a wonderful environment where the band becomes part of the show itself. Led by Sabrina Tang, I’m not shocked how tight and in sync the band was. There’s not much to criticize on this 5-piece band, except maybe at times where the strings were slightly out of tune; however, it’s live theatre so that wasn’t even an issue I would consider.

Cody and Emma are two powerful singers who’s voices meld well with each other. The dangers of having a two person cast is the voices not blending well or one more overpowering than the other, but with excellent direction and skill, I was enamoured the whole time. I do have to say, Cody brought some incredible range to the table with his moments of softness that contrasted his bold voice.

Design

Now, I’m a huge sucker for bare minimum designs when it can elevate the overall direction the show; which it does amazingly here. With only 3 white blocks, minimal props, and an intimate space, we become onlookers to the events and we feel as if we were there. The usage of lights is not to be forgotten as well. There were really clever moments with lights where either colour or brightness varied to establish passage of time and themes. Blue was a main theme that, from what I understood, was foreshadowing the end. Now, this might be an odd idea of mine, but I think the microphones were not necessary because of how intimate the space was. Both leads had amazingly powerful voices that would’ve projected well in the space, but I think we would’ve lost a lot of the details they had when singing soft. I would love to see how the show would’ve sounded like without the mics, as it would’ve created an even more connection with the audience.

Standouts

The whole show. That’s it. That’s the standout. Cody, Emma, Josh, and Sabrina created such a fantastic show! They should be proud of their work and extremely proud of a sold out run for a premiere show. I can not wait to see Spring Awakening in September and ETC is definitely a company to look out for in the coming season. They are also leading in the community theatre space with being a newcomer that is also using a profit share model. I, for one, love companies that are able to pay their actors and wish there was more of this opportunity in the community. Congratulations to Elevator Theatre Company on such a successful premiere show and I look forward to being in the audience for your next ones!