Reviews 2014
Reviews 2014
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by Ray Jarvis Ruby, directed by Erin Kehoe
Blue Dagger Theatre, Toronto Fringe Festival, George Ignatieff Theatre, Toronto
July 4-13, 2014
18-year-old Jamie (Annelise Hawrylak) has come out as a lesbian to her parents who want to send her away from Toronto for the summer. Before she leaves, Jamie goes to her first gay club. Playwright Ray Jarvis Ruby delicately charts the confusions of Jamie’s and female bartender’s mutual attraction. Director Erin Kehoe has the fun idea of having Jamie’s mum played by a man (Sean Casey) and her dad played by a woman (Vanessa Salazar), a theatrical ploy that undermines the strict gender roles the two characters believe in.
Ruby writes Jamie’s monologues in strained and jagged slam poetry that jars with the easy realism of her dialogue. For a girl who has never been to the big city it’s hard to see how an urban poetry form is appropriate for her inner thoughts. In fact, he best part of the play is Jamie’s first frank discussion with the lesbian bartender (Lindsey Middleton) just because it is so natural and well observed.
©Christopher Hoile
Note: A version of this review appeared in NOW Magazine 2014-07-10.
Photo: Lindsey Middleton, Annelise Hawrylak, Sean Casey and Vanessa Salazar. ©2014 Erin Kehoe.
For tickets, visit http://fringetoronto.com.
2014-07-10
Concrete Kid