Perhaps as much a concert as a play, 18 Wheels, currently playing at Theatre Orangeville, is a good time out. Leisa Way, Bobby Prochaska and Cory O’Brien are personable, persuasive and charming.

As always at Theatre Orangeville, the staging and lighting are interesting and integral parts of the show. This time around, the presence of a truck on the stage that comes into and fades out of the action is very clever and impressive.

For the first time that I have seen, the band is on a platform back and above the performers, where Bruce Ley, music director, can keep an eye on everyone. Up in their aerie, the musicians can swap their instruments – guitar, for harmonica, for keyboard, for a fiddle – (Anyone who attended the Celtic Festival at the Alton Mill a couple of weeks ago enjoyed Eric Mahar playing a wide variety of instruments with the group until late, since we would not let them go!) – while Bob Hewus plays the bass. It is a very attractive arrangement. They are on the stage in full view without being a distraction. Really neat.

Likewise, the actors swap their roles around from the point of view of whose story is being told, for the musical wraps its way around one tale to the other, sometimes interlinking, sometimes standing on its own.

The stories are told entirely in song or, where there are spoken words to push the narrative along, the dialogue is still in verse.

Of course, three “old pros” like Ms. Way and Messrs O’Brien and Prochaska, working with director David Nairn, came into opening night very well rehearsed, their timing perfect and their harmonies right on. The songs, which are all original, with the arrangement written by Bruce Ley, are great. Much of the writing is humorous; some is heart wrenching - like life.

Our songsters are perfect choices for their various roles. Ms Way has a super voice; she is bright and vibrant, a petite but brilliant presence on the stage, bouncing her roles between her two male co-stars.

Cory O’Brien also has a lovely tenor voice, full and melodic, with which he tones down the sometimes hasher sounds of country music. He portrays both the comic and the tragic with conviction and delivers the spoken poetry smoothly and well.

Bobby Prochaska is very personable. Laid back and charming, he comes on the stage like someone you know. Right away, he puts you at your ease and gives the whole show a softening influence so that there is good contrast within the scope of the cast.

What 18 Wheels does, for sure, is tell us about the lives of truckers. Who are they besides men (usually) driving enormous rigs thousands of miles? They are people who look for companionship in a lonely life; they are men who need love whether they spend much of their time away from home or not; they are individuals struggling to maintain their balance through the tragedies they meet and the demands of tough work. These revelations, as it were, are well presented in a compilation of music and poetry.

18 Wheels is also all about Canada, about its vast distances and the challenge of hauling huge loads across those spans. What happens between destinations? This is the play that explains some of that.

There is a story that shows the contrast between ourselves and our neighbours to the south in a comic way with a tale about a rebellious wife. What a hoot.

Kudos, as usual to theatre Orangeville for bringing us this diversion, an evening of toe tapping music but – David Nairn never lets us completely off the hook – as ever, leaving us with something to think about and lots to remember.

Don’t miss it.

18 Wheels runs until 25 April. Tickets at the box office and at www.theatre orangeville.ca.