Jordan Tannahill’s “Late Company” is a brave, riveting, extraordinary work, and DLT’s production is one that needs to be seen. The play centres on a tense dinner party where grieving parents Deborah and Michael confront their late son’s alleged bully, Curtis, and his parents, Bill and Tamara. As the evening unravels, polite conversation and awkward silence give way to a raw, devastating exploration of culpability and the limits of forgiveness.

The cast is a formidable one. Standouts include: Deanna Mae Lloyd as Deborah and Timothy Hevesi as Bill.

Lloyd’s performance was one of profound interiority. While she conveyed a visible, etched pain through her facial expressions, giving us a window into a mother’s grief, there were moments where the script’s escalating vitriol seemed to call for a more percussive, vocal release to fully shatter the evening’s social veneer.

Hevesi brought Bill to life with a grounded verisimilitude, resisting the urge to lean into macho tropes and instead presenting a father whose ‘tough love’ felt like a genuine, lived-in defense mechanism. By maintaining such a disciplined natural restraint, he kept Bill from becoming a caricature, rendering the character’s rigidity as something tragically and uncomfortably real.

As Michael, James Vezina presented a gentler interpretation of the career-focused MP, with less bluster than one might expect. In the later scenes, his sorrow was rendered with a genuinely touching sincerity.

As Tamara, Christine Marchetti shrewdly leaned into the script’s moments of levity to provide the audience with much-needed breathing space – an opportunity for humour that she successfully maximized.

Andrew Plasky as Curtis embodied the downcast energy of an adolescent in crisis while still allowing for subtle moments of startling, tender connection.

The technical side of the equation matches the superb work of the actors. Graham Clements’ set design is a masterpiece of elegant isolation. Likewise, the lighting and sound crew deliver top notch artistry.

Director Francesca Brugnani states that she sought to “balance the emotional intensity of the play while making sure the cast felt safe and supported in rehearsal.” However, this intention feels like it was also applied to the audience. As a result, her direction remains focused on the play as a reflective moral inquiry within a directorial framework that favours a tempered meditation on accountability. This creates a sense of untapped energy, where the cast’s clear potential for an explosive powder keg is bypassed in favour of a more cautious didactic restraint.

The message of the play and the strength of the cast and crew ensure that the production’s essential humanity remains at the forefront. Their collective artistry carries the evening, delivering a resonant and deeply moving experience that honours the weight of the work.

This production, perhaps the strongest of DLT’s season, must not be missed!*

LATE COMPANY by Jordan Tannahill continues to May 10th
Directed by Francesca Brugnani

📍 Dundas Little Theatre, 37 Market Street South, Dundas, Ontario
🎟️ Tickets: 905-627-5266 | dundaslittletheatre.com/tickets
💵 $27 regular | $22 seniors & students (with ID)

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