One Minute to Midnight: Sterling Lynch’s Home In Time at the OLT this weekend
Every time I call playwright Sterling Lynch a genius, I worry that someone out there thinks I’m being hyperbolic—or worse, paid.
I assure you, the inverse is true.
Your chance to verify my claim is on Saturday, April 24, at 8pm, as the Ottawa Little Theatre plays host to a workshop presentation of his award-winning play, Home In Time, directed by Peter Hinton.
Yes, Peter Hinton, Artistic Director of English Theatre at the National Arts Centre. I don’t feel so hyperbolic when a playwright gets an endorsement like that.
We got a taste of what Home In Time will look like at Cube Salon in February, where a small portion of the play was presented as a staged reading. Balancing Sterling’s flair for subtle comedy with his tendency to bring up philosophical subjects in an unconventional manner, Home In Time is as fun to watch as it is intellectually stimulating.
Sterling had asked for feedback when he first made the play available on his website; during our brief correspondence (I read the play in one sitting, and still have my printed-out version peppered with marginal notes) he shed some light on the writing process: “I keep my playwriting brain separate from my directing brain: so I only include as many stage directions as are required to drive the narrative.”
I’m curious to see what a seasoned, world-class director like Peter Hinton is going to do with an already brilliant piece. And for only ten dollars? There’s got to be some kind of catch.
Well, there is: space is limited. Call the Ottawa Little Theatre box office (or order online) and get your ticket now, before your time is up.
Andrew Snowdon is a theatregoer, concert attendee, and writer living in Lowertown, Ottawa, sandwiched between a MacBook and a typewriter, with a cup of coffee.
Tags: CUBE Salon, Ottawa Little Theatre, Peter Hinton, Sterling Lynch
April 20th, 2010 at 11:39 pm
Andrew! Thanks so much for your kind words.
I remember our discussion about stage directions and, as it happens, it seems I didn’t keep my two brains as separate as I thought. One of Peter’s first notes was to encourage me to be even more disciplined with my stage directions and resist the temptation to get literary. Live and learn!