“I’d like to ask for your daughter’s hand in marriage.” How can a question so seemingly simple become so complicated, convoluted, and conflict-ridden? Well, after watching the Vancouver Arts Club Theatre’s “Black Comedy” and the short curtain-warmer “The Marriage Proposal”, it begins to make a little more sense. The father-daughter-son-in-law triangle is explored in both of these plays, each written in an entirely different time and place, yet touching on very similar themes. It’s classic in-law family dynamics at its best.

The show begins with a short one act play titled “The Marriage Proposal”. Evidently, if you are heavy into the arts scene and the history of theatre, this is a classic piece by Anton Chekov written in late 19th century Russia. The story is centred around three characters: a father, his daughter, and their neighbour who wishes to marry her. None of them, by the way, are remotely attractive, and all of them entirely desperate, which makes it all the more funny. While the story is simple, the acting is not. All three characters are larger than life, each with their own brand of wacky Eastern Europeanness. The actors are so over the top with their physical acting and their costumes; at one point I think all three were either yelling, shrieking or crying simultaneously!

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