"The play is also quite funny...!" - 'Wild Duck' at STC.

After being emotionally abused by her narcissistic father, and manipulated by his spoiled and naively "idealist" friend, a developmentally-challenged young teenager accidentally kills herself.

Shakespeare Theatre Comany Artistic Director, and play director Simon Godwin, says "The play is also quite funny...!"

Some things are "quite funny." How little Godwin seems to understand his material is quite funny. That Nick Westrate is even worse in Wild Duck than he was in Frankenstein is quite funny. And that even the ovation-enthusiast STC audience didn't give this a standing ovation is quite funny.

The Wild Duck is not "quite funny." And Hjalmar Ekdal is not a character of "endearing flaws," as described by Drew Lichtenberg - he's an abusive and manipulative narcissist whose temper tantrums literally destroy his family.

Nor is the production itself any good. The acting ranges from middling to terrible, with Alexander Hurt and Nick Westrate being the worst.

Ok. To be fair, some elements of the production are quite good. Andrew Boyce's scenic design and Stacey Derosier's lighting design are beautiful, and work seamlessly together to create a complete, living space that establishes time, location, and affect. I enjoyed Heather C. Freedman's costume design, too, which became so much a part of each character that they are materially inseparable.

But once again STC has put something on stage no one need rush to see.