Charlin McIsaac and Greg Solomon. Photo by Graham Isador
I ended up taking the day to write and spend some time with myself, which I needed. I certainly felt more grounded when I hit the tent in the evening to see Amanda Logan and Lauren Cauchy bring their Ottawa fringe late-night talk show to Toronto. Their show was one of my favourite things about doing Ottawa and I was happy to see them again. They were such troupers as it rained through most of their hour.
I came up on the stage to help them with a competition. I ended up winning a pair of handcuffs. Bemused a little by that, as one of the cards I pulled during my contemplation had to do with stepping into my sensuality and sexuality more. They're not padded so I doubt they're really useful in that context but hey, I have a conversation piece!
I went back to the tent later to participate in Silent Disco. I had wanted to do it last year but felt too tire and skipped it, only to see raves about it from my friends on social media. What I really loved about it is that you had three channels to choose from, so if you didn't like the song, you could switch. The Main Ingredient had great DJs, but I especially appreciated Fly Lady Di. Anyone who spins Chaka Khan's I Feel For You is aces with me.
So I only ended up seeing one show.
News Play
It was bound to happen at some point, that I'd find a play that didn't work for me. That's not on the folks involved in the show. It has everything to do with absurdism, a form I really don't enjoy.If that's the sort of thing you like, then you'll love this show. The show makes a strong statement about how far we'll go, and the lies we tell ourselves in the process, to make an impact. The basic premise has a brother and sister coming back to their home town after hitting a professional block to help their pyromaniac cousin, who was the impetuous for them starting in the first place. I was on board with that and the thing that I really loved about the work was the dynamics and realizations among the three of them. Running through it is a question about whether we need heroes anymore, which is a great question to ask.
What happened after just drove me a little nuts, which I'm sure is the point. There's no doubt that the staging is strong, the actors committed to the story, and that the play has its own internal logic. Certainly the almost sold-out audience just loved it. It's a really good production with some very cool elements, like the use of headbands for audience information, and a really unique way to portray a bus. Objectively, I don't see any problems with the script. All the characters are damaged in some way and are true to that. There's also some biting commentary on what we consider news. And I really liked the brother character.
I just didn't feel satisfied at the end. That may very well have been what I was meant to feel. After all, the idea of manipulating our worst instincts to create news is a discomforting thing. Yet the play does end on a note of hope, which is something that I like. So why didn't I love it? I honestly don't know. I keep turning this over with no answer. Again, this is no commentary on the quality of the show. It's good, and you'll probably enjoy it, and it's definitely worth seeing.
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