Brave, The

The impetus for Sharman Macdonald's plot is a pleasantly intriguing one. Straight off the plane, a Scottish woman fends off a would-be Algerian rapist with a fatal karate chop. After innumerable contretemps and with the aid of three other Scots, the body receives a desert burial. In this North American premiere production, the scenario unfortunately becomes an awfully short clothesline on which to hang Scottish nationalism, feminism, anti-colonialism, and other worthy progressive causes. Director David Mowers presented the misadventures in a theatrical enough way, but few in the audience seemed to catch on to Macdonald's brand of humor.

During operatic-length pauses, Macdonald delineates a sympathetic relationship between two sisters—carefree Ferlie (a believable Kimberly Anne Ryan) on holiday and hardened activist-in-exile Susan (Alice Barden) -- before they make their getaways. Unfortunately, their exchanges more often seemed like screaming matches than gallows humor that the author clearly intended. Ferlie's Act II mini-mad scene was a delight and the swift mood and language changes throughout the script skillful.

Less complex were a pair of Scottish petroleum engineers, gregarious tippler Jamie (lively Randy Scott) and taciturn Robbie (David Marantz), who proved the women's salvation. Aasif Mandvi engagingly held up the Algerian native end of the cast as hotel waiter Hocine, though not without his share of cultural cliches. Alicia Mathewson's sound design was top rate; Craig A. Young's outstanding lighting enabled Markas Henry's workable unit set function so effectively. Exchanging American characters for Scottish ones might make for an interesting adaptation and one more accessible to audiences here.