Smudge. by Alex Bulmer. Directed by Alisa Palmer. Set and Costume design by Carolyn M. Smith. Lighting design by Andrea Lundy. Sound design by John Growski and Deb Sinha. At Tarragon Extra Space, 30 Bridgman Ave. until Dec. 10.

AB: It's theatre review time and today our critic Robert Crew is going to talk about a play called Smudge, now playing at Tarragon Theatre's Extra Space. Hi Robert etc.

RC: Hi Avril etc. Yes, I was actually undecided about what to talk about today until I went to last night's opening of Smudge. And that made up my mind for me.

AB: Why was that? What is it about this play that made it so special?

RC: Well, the subject matter for one thing. It's about a young woman who is going blind. As we learn at the start of the play, Freddie Frederica has retinitis pigmentosa, which is actually the name for a group of degenerative diseases affecting the retina. It's generally known by its short form, RP. As Freddie says in the play: "RP. That's for the baseball caps and team jackets."

AB: And what form does RP take.

RC: In many cases, the field of vision narrows progressively, from the outside in. But for both Alex Bulmer, the playwright, and Freddie, the central character in the play, it's the other way round. What's directly in front becomes blurred, the peripheral vision is still there. As a well-meaning doctor explains to Freddie, it's seeing a doughnut; what you don't see is the hole in the middle.

AB: So tell us what happens in the play?

RC: It opens with the inevitable question: What is it like to be blind. And Freddie tells us with one word: Boring! But we follow her journey as her sight worsens. There are awkward moments: Someone asking Freddie to please push 3 in the elevator and becoming indignant when Freddie does nothing. But there are also chilling moments. She is menaced and tormented by a young person on the street, for example. And when someone else tells her with crass insensitivity: "I can't think of anything worse than what you've got, Freddie shoots back: "Maybe you're not thinking hard enough. There's death." People have trouble relating to her. Her friendship with another woman turns sour because the friend simply can't adapt to what's happening. She can't follow Freddie into the darkness.

AB: Alex Bulmer was diagnosed with RP at the age of 21. She's now 34 and has described her play as "a memorial to sighted life." Is the mood totally sombre?

RC: Not at all. There are moments of rich humour both in the writing and the action. Freddie describes velcro as the Cadillac of goofy sounds. At one point, she is helped across the street whether she wants to go or not. Another person insists on giving her cigarettes. She describes velcro as the cadillac of goofy sounds. And there's a fun scene at the movies. A man and a woman are making love on screen and the friend gives the colour commentary, foreplay by foreplay.

AB: And who plays the role of Freddie?

RC: This really is an inspired piece of casting. Diane Flacks is probably best known as a comedienne she's currently starring in the CBC TV series PR which she also co-wrote. Here, however, Flacks shows us the range of her talent with incredibly detailed and delicate work. It's a poignant and very moving performance. Assorted friends, doctors and nurses are portrayed by a somewhat subdued Kate Lynch and by Sherry Lee Hunter. Director Alisa Palmer, set designer Carolyn Smith and lighting designer Andrea Lundy cleverly present a series of images behind a translucent screen, images that become more blurred as the play progresses. It's an imaginative way of giving the audience a little bit of an idea of what Freddie is going through.

AB: So is the evening a total success?

RC: Not quite. At 60 minutes, it's still very short and I would have been interested to have seen some of the relationships explored a little more. The ending is a poetic tribute to the joys of sight and I felt it reached a little too hard to be the grand closing moment. But it's a wonderfully brave and insightful piece of writing with a superbly nuanced performance by Diane Flacks. Yes, you should see it and rejoice in being able to see it.