THEATRE REVIEWS: TORONTO FRINGE I
3 Jul'10

JOHN COULBOURN
QMI Agency

Ask a dozen seasoned Fringe-goers and you're likely to get 15 different answers as to how one goes about picking shows one might enjoy seeing. It's tough choosing, after all, particularly in the early going, when one can't really mine reviews or line-ups or any of the other 'traditional' indicators to see just where the gold is hidden at Fringe: Toronto Theatre Festival.

For some of us, however, it's not so much about which Fringe shows you should take in, but rather about what it is you should take into the Fringe show. Because, finally, in the Fringe Festival's 22nd edition, just like in its first, it's all about the attitude. For instance:

THE JOKER, playing at the Solo Room: Ex-pat comic Jason John Whitehead returns to Canada after a 12 year absence to share a few of the things he's learned living in the UK and travelling the world making his living as a stand-up comic — things like how to deal with overly familiar customs agents, ex-girlfriends who dump you in the middle of a volcanic eruption and the care and treatment of other people's children. Possessed of a quirky, easy charm and a genuine gift for saying the most outrageous things in the most disarmingly charming fashion, Whitehead's more than prepared to do all the work. All you have to bring is a sense of humour.

PSYCHO BITCH, playing at the Solo Room: Maybe one of the first things you need to bring to this offering is a chill-pill, for even though it appears to be a pretty honest look at one woman's very personal struggle with mental disorders, it really is a bit of a theatrical trip as writer/performer Tamara Lynn Roberts tells us how she, in company with her guardian angel Georgine, has travelled through hell and back to get in touch with and learn to live with her own personal brand of 'crazy.' Occasionally overwritten (which may or may not be symptomatic, it seems), it's beautifully performed in a strong staging by director Laura Anne Harris and is almost certain to delight anyone who believes in the restorative powers of compassion and humour. And maybe we could all benefit from getting in better touch with our own 'crazy.'

THE BLACK HEART PRINCESS, playing at the Palmerston Library: If you can't find a kid to use as an excuse to visit Fringe Kids 2010, then simply call up your inner child and make a date. Written by  Nelson Yu and K. Hillary Thomson and starring Chelsea Larkin, Kelly Barnes, Caitlin Morris-Cornfield and Laura K. MacDonald, this delightfully derivative pseudo-rap tale of a pirate, a princess, a dragon and a bit of drag nay suffer on occasion from director Ana Lorena Leija's lackadaisical pacing. But happily, it never loses sight of the fact that kids of all ages come to the theatre in search of a good time. And frankly,  on the basis of Annie Lam's costumes alone, they might want to do a subversive show or two as part of Pride celebrations, just to broaden their appeal.


HOUSE, playing at the Solo Room: Considering the fact that the show that played Thursday night seemed to have very little in common with the show described in the Fringe catalogue, the first thing one might want to pack for a trip to this show, apparently written and performed by David Lennon, is a sense of adventure.  And though it may initially seem a trifle weird (!) to be sitting in a theatre lit only by a single candle, listening to what eventually proves to be the voice of the statue David, sweet talking sculptor Michelangelo into finishing his work. But if you're prepared to hang in and go with the flow, anyone who has ever stared slack-jawed at the statue in question and marvelled at the genius of its making is almost certain to get caught up in this strange and poetic voyage into its creation.