When former professional golfer Chuck and his lawyer friend Tony are invited to discuss the estate of the wealthy and reclusive Grace, little do they know that what she really has in store for them will push both men to their limits…

John Muggleton’s script presents the situation as a fast-moving and witty dark comedy as the dialogue zings back and forth between Chuck, Tony and Grace effortlessly. The various narrative twists and turns come at an equally rapid pace without feeling contrived; instead, they serve to escalate the dramatic and comedic potential of what is already a tantalising concept. Muggleton handles the frequent shifts between comedy and suspense without any of the transition points feeling too jarring, particularly at the climax when all three characters are physically and mentally pushed to the edge. He also ensures that Chuck, Tony and Grace are equally fleshed-out characters, with individual weaknesses that can be exploited for either their own gain or the advantage of others, as well as adding greater motivations for their actions.

The strengths of the script are greatly enhanced by the overall performances of the cast, which are uniformly excellent. Kurt Shantz impresses as Chuck, capturing his early boisterous arrogance and seeming dominance over Tony as well as his later vulnerability as his past addictions are revealed. Christian Giansante provides great laughs in his depiction of Tony’s nervousness, particularly when Grace threatens to reveal his salacious secrets – however, he also effectively handles the character’s later darker nature without ever obviously foreshadowing its revelation. Venetia Lawless ties the cast together as Grace, embodying the character’s sophistication and isolation as well as her manipulative nature with an intelligence that prevents her from coming across as a stock ‘femme fatale’. The moments where Grace brings up each of Chuck and Tony’s dirty secrets are where Lawless is at her strongest, maximising the dramatic and comedic potential of her dialogue.

Lindsay Laviolette’s stripped-down direction also serves to effectively focus the attention on the strong writing and performances. It’s easy to see how a less confident director would have resorted to a more stylised approach to accentuate the material, a pitfall that Laviolette wisely avoids.

An Act of Grace is a fantastic dark comedy from the Ottawa Little Theatre that, with its strong writing and performances, deserves a greater run beyond the Fringe – and possibly even merits the stage.