CALGARY - Lunchbox Theatre is kicking off its 35th season in grand style.

Caroline Russell-King's Mr. Fix It is a little gem of a romantic comedy and it boasts as much talent behind the lights as it does in front.

Russell-King's script is reminiscent of early Neil Simon, particularly Simon's Plaza Suite. Mr. Fix It takes place in a suite at the Palliser Hotel, where Mel (Brian Jensen) has been living since his divorce two years earlier from Edna (Barbara Gates Wilson) his wife of 25 years.

She visits him on the eve of her impending marriage to a New Age massage therapist to announce their divorce is not legal. Don't ask why, because that's part of the fun of Russell-King's wacky script.

The jokes come fast and furious, but so do Russell-King's insights into what makes a marriage fun, maddening, impossible and salvageable.

Jensen is the slob with a big heart but a bigger mouth. He simply refuses to silence a good retort or criticism. Wilson's Edna was always a perfect sparring partner for Mel, which explains why director Kevin McKendrick has turned the hotel room into a wrestling ring.

It's an ideal metaphor for what life, love, marriage and divorce are for Mel and Edna.

McKendrick directs with a deft, but unobtrusive hand. You know he's moving his actors like chess pieces, but it's never obvious enough to spoil the spontaneity and sparkle in Jensen and Wilson's performances.

This is one little diversion you won't want to miss.

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