Direct Flight Theatre – Adam Pettle’s Therac 25//Toronto French Theatre – Molière’s Doctors

reviewed by Paula Citron
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Adam Pettle’s Therac 25
Direct Flight Theatre
Directed by Hume Baugh
Starring Amber Mills and Michael Rode
At Bread and Circus Theatre until Feb. 20
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Les Médecins de Molière
Toronto French Theatre
Directed by Jean Stéphane Roy
Starring Sophie Goulet, Chanda Legroulx, Vincent Poirier, Anie Richer, Pierre Simpson and Nicolas Van Burek
At Berkeley Street Theatre Upstairs until Feb. 20
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There are only a few more days to catch a couple of worthy plays currently in town.

Toronto French Theatre has cleverly clustered two of Molière’s one acts together – The Doctor in Spite of Himself and The Flying Doctor – under the umbrella name of Molière’s Doctors. Both are similar in plot and both are vehicles for Molière’s rant against medical practices, but there is something bracing about the way French-speakers approach the playwright’s farce. The energetic gender-bending cast does a terrific job. TfT features English surtitles on both Friday and Saturday.

On a more serious note, Adam Pettle’s Therac 25 is about two twentysomething cancer patients – one who has hope, and one who has not. The play is just 45 minutes long, but it is potent. Real life husband and wife, Michael Rode and Amber Mills, have real chemistry negotiating through Pettle’s bittersweet dialogue. Hume Baugh directs with astute economy.

Both productions continue their runs until Saturday.