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written by José Rivera, directed by Brandon Thomas

Clownfire and Column 13 Actors Company,

Toronto Fringe Festival, Annex Theatre, Toronto

July 8-16, 2011

Written in the year 2000, this unusual American play is not a conventional drama but a series of monologues for seventeen actors. A group of seventeen waits in an antechamber to the afterlife. We discover that they need only sum up their life in words in order to depart. The characters represent a microcosm of humanity and react to their situation in unpredictable ways. Some speeches are short, some long; some seeking forgiveness, some unrepentant; some full of hope, some with despair. They serve as a reminder of the injustices of the previous century and as a tonic to brace us for the shocks of the present. Gradually, recurring themes of anger, loss and regret, build to a moving conclusion that we have no choice but to accept life’s manifold contradictions--including death.        

©Christopher Hoile

Note: A version of this review appeared in NOW Magazine, July 14, 2011.

Photo: Poster for Sonnets for an Old Century. ©2011.

For tickets, visit www.fringetoronto.com.