Witness sex, love in Edmonton

Nicole Nytchay

writer

Be prepared to be shocked and amazed: Love and Human Remains, a play by Edmonton’s own Brad Fraser is in production at the Timms Centre for the Arts, University of Alberta, Nov. 4 to 13. This play ventures on the dark side of sex and love, it’s not without nudity and many of the scenes explore homo and heterosexuality.“He likes to have sex and it’s not necessarily loving,” said Ben Dextraze, speaking about his character, David.

“David is a thrill seeker, who is looking to fill the void of what’s missing in his life, which helps him finally reveal his misguided sense of identity.”

Love and Human Remains is set in 2006. David a 29-year-old former actor and current waiter, who is homosexual, moved to Edmonton to live his life as normal as possible.

Along the way, David forms a strong bond with his sexually explicit roommate Candy, played by Gianna Vacirca, and his best friend Bernie, played by Peter Fernandes.

Each character has their own story as they explore sex and love in their relationships. This play adds a darker layer as a serial killer is stalking women in Edmonton.

Sexually loaded scenes only add to the characters’ arguments. The audience is left to see past the sexual acts and think about what sex is.

The meaning of the play is to find love amidst unhealthy relationships; to find light at the edge of darkness. This play is “brutally dark, sexually explicit and wickedly razor-sharp.”

It’s been 20 years since this play was last produced in Edmonton. Brad Fraser’s original production Unidentified Human Remains was listed in the top 10 plays of the year in Time Magazine.

Many elements of the play have changed: John Kirkpatrick, the director of Love and Human Remains, gives this play a modern twist, stylistically its in the form of a graphic novel.

The play moves very quickly;  each scene is a vignette, with approximately 70-90 vignettes in the play.

Ben Dextraze was inspired to play David, because he knows what it’s like being an actor in Edmonton.

To get into character, he researched Edmonton in 1989 to look back at how things were. Flashback was one of Edmonton’s most notable clubs, it was well known for its drag queens and underground sub-culture.

Love and Human Remains plays with the metaphor of darkness. Fumbling around in the dark the characters establish relationships that may lead to love.

Some of the play takes place in the dark; the characters speak in the darkness. The scenes are always moving in a fast-paced pattern, similar to a domino effect.

You can purchase tickets at Tix on the Square or online at http://www.tixonthesquare.ca.