Face Value should focus on key strengths

Because she needs to control something in her life, she takes diet pills. When you've got this much going on, you can't go into any of it in any depth.

Jesse Brown, who created Montague, takes a potentially interesting tack in that his character is both abuser and abused. Most of the others are long-suffering victims, which means that they're passive and therefore less interesting because their narratives get stuck in ruts.

Scene 1: my parents are ignoring me. Scene 2: my parents are still ignoring me. The resolutions of the characters' stories are glib and almost universally upbeat. Casey and Maddy, who have just met, head off to a drop-in centre together. Via magically overcomes her drug habit. Only Montague is left alone.

Next time around, I urge Methot to focus the work and develop fewer scenarios with more active characters.

Read More