“Directed with comic finesse by Steven Gallagher. Performed with controlled freneticism by Gavin Crawford. ‘Fully Committed’ left me with a big old smile as I left the theatre.”

Becky Mode’s ‘Fully Committed’ follows Sam Callahan (Gavin Crawford), an actor whose career is currently sluggish. He’s trying to stay calm about it. He recently auditioned for a play at New York’s Lincoln Center but has not received a call back. Sam feels unsettled because a fellow actor did.

On top of this pressure, Sam’s boyfriend moved out of their apartment because the relationship didn’t work out. Christmas is also approaching. Sam’s father has recently become widowed. He calls his son at work to see if he’ll be home for the upcoming holiday. Sam is unsure if he can go home. It appears he is of low seniority on the restaurant pole and may have to work Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Most New York actors have other day jobs to help pay the rent. Sam’s is working the reservation line for a swanky New York restaurant. Reservations are difficult to make at this restaurant as they often take months.

Where does Sam man the reservation line when he’s working?

Within the basement of the restaurant building.

Michael Gianfrancesco designs a dingy-looking set. At the top of the show, Crawford uses the solid circular staircase leading down to the stage. Stuff is stacked everywhere, from boxes and Christmas lights to messages pasted on the walls. Sam’s desk is downstage at the midpoint where his reservation phone is located. A comfortable, giant, dusty chair is just right from the desk. Steve Lucas’s lighting design skillfully highlights the moments when the audience needs to pay attention to see who is calling on the other end. Verne Good impeccably times the moments in his sound design when Sam answers the phone.

There’s a double meaning behind the play’s title. The restaurant term for a full house is ‘fully committed,’ a good sign for any eating establishment.

Steven Gallagher directs Becky Mode’s frenetically pulsed script with comic finesse. ‘Fully Committed’ remains a challenge for an actor (and a theatrical treat) since it’s a one-man show. The actor has quite the challenge to ‘fully commit’ to playing over 30 roles of individuals on the other end of the telephone, which reflects the other meaning of the play’s title.

These callers are hilariously believable in their desperation to secure a reservation or be seated at the right table to attract the attention of other patrons. The telephone callers include wacky personal celebrity assistants, scheming socialites, name-dropping wannabes, egomaniacal bosses, and megalomaniacal visionaries.

The solo actor’s challenge is demonstrating the physicality of all these characters while being aware of when to intensify and ease the pace.

Gavin Crawford is ready for the challenge. His Sam is a friendly and likable guy who initially doesn’t want to disrupt the status quo at his job (despite increasing signs that he dislikes it). He often aims to do the right thing, sometimes to the extent of being taken advantage of.

Crawford’s facial features terrifically and genuinely convey the various idiosyncrasies of the 30+ characters. He can meld his face and eyes magically large or piercingly small. Crawford’s varied vocal intonations lend credence to these characters. He makes good choices, knowing when to control his pulsating freneticism in his crisscrossing movement to answer various phones across Michael Gianfranesco’s aptly claustrophobic basement. Thankfully, Crawford doesn’t allow the frenzied activity to veer off into stupidity.

A minor quibble at this performance. There are moments when the play’s pacing runs at full throttle and becomes sleepily hypnotic to watch. I could feel myself succumbing and had to fight it.

Just a slight quibble, but it brought me out of the action momentarily.

‘Fully Committed’ concludes with a stroke of good luck for Sam.

Becky Mode’s script is an honourable tribute to the working actor who continues to toil away, striving to pursue a career that means everything to him. In his Director’s Programme Note, Steven Gallagher also comments on that same element. The play transports him back to his own days as a struggling actor in New York, working at the same kind of restaurant as Sam.

In this time of societal change in our lives yet again, let’s go pay tribute to the working actor.

Go and see ‘Fully Committed.’

Running time: approximately 90 minutes with no interval/intermission.

‘Fully Committed’ runs until April 12 at Theatre Aquarius, 190 King William Street, Hamilton. For tickets, visit theatreaquarius.org or call the Box Office at (905) 522-7529.

THEATRE AQUARIUS presents
FULLY COMMITTED by Becky Mode
Based on characters created by Becky Mode and Mark Setlock
Directed by Steven Gallagher
Set Design by Michael Gianfrancesco
Lighting Design by Steve Lucas
Sound Design by Verne Good

Performer: Gavin Crawford