Hollywood has been having an existential crisis about the romantic comedy for a while now, because all the obstacles that once created a compelling one have faded from view--or at least from screenwriters’ imaginations. Theatre Calgary’s season-opening production, a funny, smart warm-hearted production of “First Metis Man of Odesa,” is the rom-com Hollywood only dreams it could come up with. In it, a playwright from Edmonton -- Matt (Matt MacKenzie)-- goes to Ukraine as part of a theatre workshop of a new play, where he meets a Ukrainian actress named Masha ( Mariya Khomutova) who is fond of the classics--particularly the Russians. It takes a few flights back and forth across the world, but the next thing you know, Masha and Matt are married and pregnant and living in Toronto in the middle of the pandemic, which is probably an improbable enough plot for a plucky rom-com -- but there’s more. Just when the two broke-in-love theatre artists find a way to navigate COVID-19, there are problems with Canadian health care and oh yeah--a Russian invasion of Ukraine that leads to Masha’s mother moving in to their Toronto home where they’re trying to raise a newborn son, Ivan and a French bulldog on a Canadian playwright’s (virtually non-existent) salary. What could possibly go wrong? First Metis Man of Odesa is a kind of documentary theatre project, seeing as it’s based on the real life love affair of Edmonton playwright MacKenzie and Khomutova, who both play themselves. MacKenzie isn’t a trained actor but he’s a charming one and that’s almost better. He’s likeable and funny and easy to root for. Khomutova is a trained actor and she’s also charming and likeable and her story gives us a human face to put on the emotional price being paid by Ukrainians since the start of their war with Russia in 2014. Ivan, the couple’s son, only exists through their words, but as those draw you in to their amazing story, where contemporary history intersects with an incredible love story, you can almost swear he’s there. Beautifully directed by Lianna Makuch, First Metis Man of Odesa gives the rom-com a 21st century makeover, where broke soulmates sneak into faraway countries dodging pandemic-era travel bans by waving their Edmonton flag! First Metis Man of Odesa at the Martha Cohen Theatre through Sept. 27.
