CELLAR HOTEL
Cellar Hotel follows Dr. Gray and Maggie, strangers
who check into a hotel run by God and her staff, the
seven virtues. The hotel’s bar/restaurant is run by Mephistopheles
and his staff, the seven vices. The play is
laced with Faustian themes, and the doctor and Maggie
are drawn into a philosophical tug-of-war between
good and evil. The time constraint of a Fringe show hit
this production hard, leaving gaping holes in character
development and plot propulsion.
Performances were strong, especially the singing.
Mischa Aravena was perfect as the stressed out doctor,
made only stronger by his soothing, crystal clear
vocals. Ashley Gibson’s Maggie was underdeveloped,
making it difficult to understand her post-traumatic
stress, but her final solo, “What Have I Done,” was
hauntingly beautiful.
Brittany Robinson’s choreography was stylistically
perfect, evocative of a big Broadway musical, but at
times, her frustration with non-dancers came through
(the step-touch-snap was an unwelcome recurring
theme). The musical numbers were solid and catchy.
The dialogue is at times thought-provoking, but workshopping
is required for the virtues of this production
to outweigh its vices.
—SHAKIR HAQ
CANUCK CABARET
Canuck Cabaret, written by veteran Fringe performers
Paul Hutcheson and Sharon Nowlan, features several
well-established Fringe artists. Hutcheson is energetic
and charming as host for the 60 minute line-up, engaging
the audience with provocative anecdotes of his
travels across North America. As a bold and outspoken
queer performer, as well as a an engaging teacher,
he’s got some interesting stories to tell. Hutcheson’s
wildly expressive and over-the-top style is a delight
to watch, but the cabaret sees him joining forces with
burlesque performer Sharon Nowlan, whose corseted,
fish-netted contribution to the show seems glaringly
out of place.
Martin Dockery offers a 15-minute story about the
first time he performed, a whirlwind of embarrassing
moments and bodily functions, encapsulating the energy
of the show at its best.
However, the compact production barely provides introduction
to the performers involved, and I left feeling
like there should have been something more. If it
was about Canadian pride, I would have liked to have
heard more than a humdrum story about Hutcheson’s
experience with the Northern Lights. If it was about
song and dance, there should have been more than
lip-syncing to Chantal Kreviazuk. Each performer had
stage presence and charm, but that wasn’t enough to
constitute a fluid production.
—ELIZABETH HAQ
WISHES ARE HORSES
What happens when a physics professor has the
power to make wishes come true? In short, mayhem
of not-so-quantum proportions. Wishes Are Horses, a
comedy written and directed by Peter Bloch-Hansen,
delves into the seedy underbelly of the motivational speaker
business. It also examines the passive-aggressive
backbiting of a university faculty. Finally, it
throws in a disillusioned, alcoholic FBI agent for good
comedic measure.
In the opening minutes of the play, the audience discovers
that Dr. Robert Polari, played by Stephen Flett,
has scientifically proven that wishes can, indeed,
come true. This seemingly life-altering realization
only serves to irritate his modelesque wife (played by
Tina Sterling, the strongest performer of the cast) who
has to deal with the ensuing media storm. Domestic
strife coupled with a potential national security threat
provides a hilarious basis for the plot.
The play runs for forty minutes, and is playing at the
Theatre Passe Muraille until July 17th. Wishes Are
Horses is a short, concise, and funny play. The delivery
might not always be smooth or timely, but there
is a definite sadistic satisfaction that can be gleaned
from watching the escalating neurosis of a professor.
—LILY TARBA
ABRA-CADAVER!
Despite the intriguing premise of “a dark comedy
about the many suicide attempts of literary wit Dorothy
Parker,” Abra-Cadaver!, the one-woman show performed
by Jenna Turk, is surprisingly underwhelming.
In spite of the high-energy delivery, following the
show’s prefiguring scene — a hilariously dressed old
lady Parker, sporting goggles and a purse, bouncing
on a trampolined grave — the production gave many a
redundant ramble about death, mired in sloppy references
and flashbacks to Parker’s sex life.
She’s going for spirited and ironically self-deprecating,
and at times she succeeds, but her single presence
on stage becomes quickly tired. There’s no denying
the considerable talent of Ms. Turk, however; she is a
Fringe veteran and aspiring director, and her booming
spirit and ability to engage the audience is certainly
appreciated. Abra-Cadaver!’s hour long span seems
chocked full of potential to meet its précis halfway,
and yet the chattering dialogue just doesn’t come up
to snuff. Somehow her exploration of the more wanton
aspects of Parker’s life by way of longwinded monologues
fails to gel. The performance is good, but I’m
left thinking it’s a shame she couldn’t push the envelope
further.
—GIGI RABNETT
EXCUSE ME, WOULD YOU LIKE TO BUY
A BAR?
Excuse Me, Would You Like To Buy A Bar? is filled with
imagination, so much so that the possibilities of interpretation
are as daunting as a leering abyss. Free
from the constraints of time, Excuse Me narrates the
overlapping stories of six individuals who all encounter
a young boy on a mission to sell the most chocolate
bars, completely unaware that the boy is a recurring
thread connecting each of their unstable lives. With
sparse sets and very little props, the play cleverly
transitions between locales and time periods using
eerie extraterrestrial sound bites and subtle changes
in lighting.
Created by young playwright Wesley J. Colford, the
winner of Tarragon Theatre’s Under 20 Playwriting
Competition, and directed by Canadian theatre veteran
Marc Richard, Excuse Me not only speaks to a
broad range of theatre-goers; it reminds us that it’s OK
to go through life unsure about the “big questions.”
With discussion on lesbians, chocolate, disco and art,
Excuse Me, Would You Like To Buy A Bar? is a Fringe
experience that will calm the nerves of all those secretly
dealing with unrealized dreams and regrets.
—DAMANJIT LAMBA
EVERY WOMAN I’VE EVER SLEPT WITH
BEFORE I MET YOU
Every Woman I’ve Ever Slept With Before I Met You is
a promising title. I expected a male version of Sex And
The City, filled with hilarious accounts of sexual mishaps.
But David Amito, star and co-writer of this one man
play, doesn’t delve into the steamy details that
the title implies. The play is set at a restaurant dinner
table where Amito sits across from the audience,
basically his date. After he arrives late and nervously
gulps down his wine, he takes his date on a journey of
his past loves.
Beginning with his first kiss with an orange at the
humble age of 6, he weaves his way through the girl
who first broke his heart, his travels in the hope of
oblivion, his first long-term relationship and some
collateral damage along the way. It’s a story that everyone
has in their repertoire, the story of who made
us the way we are. Amito’s character gives an honest
portrayal of the scarring that broken relationships
can inflict but also the bliss they can bring. Though
charming and occasionally hilarious, the play doesn’t
break new ground, but it certainly delivers some of
the best robot moves I’ve ever seen.
—ASSUNTA ALEGIANI
