After a two-year pandemic delay, Halifax’s Kick at the Dark Theatre is finally ready to present award-winning local theatre artist Katerina Bakolias’s new comedy, ‘Til Death Do Us Part.
My goal was to make the identities, hopes, relationships, sexuality, and fears of the characters true to life but confront them with ridiculous circumstances that are completely silly and comical. – playwright Katerina Bakolias
Taking place in a small town hotel, ‘Til Death Do Us Part is the story of Kira and Ryan, who, just two days away from their wedding, wake up with a dead stranger in their bed.
With friends and family arriving by the minute, and Kira’s disapproving mother breathing down their necks, the couple must hide the body and get through dinners, rehearsals and family celebrations without being discovered.
Struggling to keep their secret under wraps, cracks in their seemingly perfect relationship appear and multiply.
“I think the most important thing in any relationship is communication, whether it’s a romantic relationship, a friendship, or a familial relationship,” says playwright Katerina Bakolias. “And all of the characters in this show struggle with communication at one point or another. Obviously this leads to many funny miscommunications and the ridiculous unfolding of the plot but it’s also the heart of the show. It’s difficult to tell someone what you want and to have uncomfortable conversations but ultimately that’s how to cultivate happy and healthy relationships.”
Based on her own life experiences, Bakolias’s objective is to help tell stories of relationships that we don’t often see depicted.
“We’re starting to see more queer relationships in media, and I wanted to show a relationship that was reflective of my own queerness and situation, which is of a bisexual person in a straight passing partnership and my constant internal battle of ‘am I queer enough?'” she says. “My goal was to make the identities, hopes, relationships, sexuality, and fears of the characters true to life but confront them with ridiculous circumstances that are completely silly and comical.”
Calling life and love often hilarious, Bakolias hopes that audiences will be entertained. “I really just want to make people laugh,” she says. “I think we could all use a good laugh right about now.”
Kick at the Dark Theatre presents ‘Til Death Do Us Part at Neptune Theatre’s Scotiabank Stage (1593 Argyle Street, Halifax) from May 25 through May 29. Visit kickatthedark.com for tickets and information.