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Mister Baxter

Relationships go off the rails in Kate Fenton’s riveting new play

By Victoria Bégin • September 28, 2012

Written by Kate Fenton
Directed by Adam Seybold
Produced by The Quickening Theatre with the support of Theatre Passe Muraille and the George Cedric Metcalfe Foundation

The cast of Mister Baxter at Theatre Passe Muraille. Photo by Kate Fenton.

Just as the subway trains speed past one another on their respective tracks, three very different stories all run in a similar direction in The Quickening Theatre’s Mister Baxter, now playing at Theatre Passe Muraille as part of the Bring The Buzz series.

The stage has been converted into a familiar setting for any Torontonian—a TTC subway platform. The audience initially meets Mister Baxter (played to perfection by Christopher Stanton) at a bar, as he chats energetically with Joe (Mark Gibson), a welder who clearly wishes to be left alone. It is obvious from the start that Mister Baxter is a quintessential loner, as he muses about the beauty of the subway’s perpendicular lines and his fascination with the trains.

Mister Baxter, revealed to be a math teacher who has crossed an inappropriate boundary with one of his students, later shares the subway platform with a high school boy (Kaleb Alexander), and they discuss their lives as they wait for the train to arrive. In another scene, taking place in the delayed subway train itself, two teenagers (played by Alex Dault and Ewa Wolniczek) struggle with their blossoming relationship, specifically the frustration that one of them is experiencing within it. And the third story follows the troubled marriage of the Joe the welder, whom the audience met earlier, as he is hoping to start a family with his unhappy wife (Ginette Mohr).

These three stories, at first, seem as though they are completely independent of one another. However, it slowly becomes apparent that all three are connected in very emotional ways. Combining these stories into one may seem ambitious at the start, but the overall flow of Mister Baxter is flawless, with excellent character development. Under director Adam Seybold, Theatre Passe Muraille’s multi-level stage is used to its full potential, with cast members running up and down the stairs at various points, which adds to the intensity of the emotional scenes. A dark production with a few laughs, Mister Baxter is at once intense and hopeful, and a must-see.

Mister Baxter runs until Saturday, September 29. Visit passemuraille.on.ca for more information and to buy tickets.

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