Reviews 2016
Reviews 2016
✭✭✭✩✩
written and directed by Paul Van Dyke
Rabbit in Hat Productions, Factory Studio Theatre, Toronto Fringe Festival, Toronto
June 29-July 9, 2016
Paul Van Dyck’s well-produced sci-fi play is set in a future where people have learned to extract life-extending “Liquid Time” from the elements. Absence of human death by disease has led to overpopulation and drained resources. This has made the earth a salt desert and caused mass extinction of human life by starvation.
Tol, a lone harvester of “Liquid Time” (Daniel Pagett) continues his work with only a robot voice to converse with, thinking his supplies will be useful if it turns out not all of humanity has died. But someone has been tampering with his collection equipment and then he has an unexpected visitor (Chloé Sullivan) who urges him to stop. Wrapped in pseudo-scientific jargon is the age-old moral that it is death that makes life precious.
Steve Vargo’s lighting and the uncredited sound design are quite effective in creating Tol’s underground abode. Yet, the show would have greater impact if the performance of the normally dependable Pagett were as strong in emotion and presence as that of the impressive Sullivan. Also, at only 40 minutes the play feels too short to deal with the large issues it raises which warrant a more ambiguous ending, rather than the melodramatic one Van Dyck has written.
©Christopher Hoile
Note: This review is based on a review published in NOW magazine July 3, 2016.
Photo: Eric Davis with reflection of Melissa Carter. ©2016 Jeremy Bobrow.
For tickets, visit http://fringetoronto.com/fringe-festival/shows.
2016-07-03
The Harvester