2024 Fringe Festival Review: Ducks

Ducks, written by David Heyman and directed by Patricia Darbasie, is a hilarious take on a largely fictional communications crisis for the Government of Alberta. A story about ducks that died in a tailings pond has caused a communications crisis. The government had brought in Mitch (Sam Free), a hot-shot, private comms guy, to handle it. Now that Mitch seems to have handled the crisis, he’s off to a better job in Ottawa, but his going-away-party invitations threaten to ruin everything. Mitch, Kaylee (Jayce McKenzie), Grace (Linda Grass), and Pam (Davina Stewart) only have 20 minutes to avert the crisis — or use it to their advantage.

The performances were all on point and the cast never missed a beat. All of the characters were ambitious in their own ways and they complimented or contrasted each other perfectly. The painfully naive and eager-to-please Grace was the gem of the show. The morbid invitations, courtesy of her twisted sense of humour, set the conflict quickly into motion. But despite her massive mistake, she was the most likeable character.

Mitch was simply rude and cruel to everyone else in the play, except to the premier. Free played him perfectly, only exacerbating the desire to throttle Mitch with each line. His dramatics were a lot like a child throwing a temper tantrum, which was fitting for Mitch’s character.

Pam on the other hand, is bitter and clearly only looking out for herself. I can admire a woman willing to “burn it all down” if things don’t go her way. But she may have had a better ending if she was less self-involved. Stewart played Pam extremely well throughout the whole play, especially as her ambition got the better of her.

Beyond the cast’s amazing performances, the script was just as good. It was rooted in Albertan lore, poking fun at the government and its cherished oil companies. It was hard to decide if you were rooting for the characters or for the crisis to blow up in their faces again. Mitch was far more cut-throat in keeping a lid on the crisis than Pam, who preferred to follow all the rules. The contrast made for some great tension between the two.

The script had everyone in the audience cracking up over the numerous duck puns. On top of that, rubber ducks were strewn around the stage, which characters occasionally tossed around or squeaked. Other props added to the ducky humour, including a “pin the bill on the Mitch” party game and the ducks covered in chocolate/oil on Mitch’s cake.

Another source of humour were the complications modern technology brought to the crisis. While the exact time wasn’t specified, the play took place in the dawn of cell phones and BlackBerrys. The ability to save files to a hard drive or send them by email made the quest to erase the ducks-in-oil image that much harder. Not to mention the handy ability to record conversations. It all made for a lot of blackmailing between characters.

I’d go see Ducks again in a heartbeat — or anything else written by David Heyman. It was a good laugh, though I’m not sure how the current day comms people at the Government of Alberta would feel about it. It’s definitely a must-see for this year’s Fringe.

Ducks is playing at the Fringe Festival until August 25.