Fringe News
Fringe News
Fresh from critical success as part of the The Coopers Malthouse resident artist initiative, Salvador Dinosaur Presents the ‘The Orchid and the Crow’ – a tragi-comedy about faith, sex, identity and ritual, created and performed by Daniel Tobias and directed by Christian Leavesley.
‘Daniel Tobias has condensed his entire life into a smart and scintillating 75 minute variety show – The Orchid and the Crow is wise, generous, and blackly funny and it’s constantly in the rim of appalling taste. If we gave stars – this would have a fistful’ The Australian
Reflecting on Daniel’s real life (and almost death) experiences, The Orchid and the Crow is a solo performance that features original songs from the award-winning writers of Die Roten Punkte – the lipstick-smeared, tantrum-loving, sonic collision that has gone down a storm at various international Festivals.
At eight days old Daniel’s secular Jewish parents chose to have him circumcised. Having not read the fine print in the Old Testament, this unknowingly triggered God’s ongoing contract with the Hebrews. In return for following his rules, God promised to look after the Israelites.
‘It’s confessional and works on a therapeutic level too, but damn if it isn’t a riot of entertainment’
★★★★ Time Out Melbourne
At 29, Daniel is an atheist, single and living the life of a bohemian artist in Melbourne. And lo, God was not pleased! Appalled with Daniel’s lifestyle choices, God makes an example of him and appears on earth to smite him with stage four testicular cancer. Stage five is death.
As Dan prepares for his upcoming treatment he is left in a spiritual vacuum. He is reaching for faith in something, but he’s certainly not going to find it in a deity who has already stolen one of his balls. Instead, Daniel finds salvation in an unlikely modern messiah, seven-time winner of the Tour de France and testicular cancer survivor Lance Armstrong.
Now of course, Armstrong is a fallen angel and after Daniel’s full recovery, he wonders – how many times will he be cheated by a God?
‘The variety of theatrical effects in a one-man performance is a delight. It’s kind of Python meets Fiddler on the Roof, and clever. Good theatre works on varying levels and The Orchid and the Crow doesn’t disappoint in its emotional range, plus it’s also simply interesting’. Australian Stage
‘When I watched a too-young friend die from cancer, I couldn’t watch or hear cancer stories for some time, but I think I would have loved this one. I certainly loved it last night. Loved it to bits. It’s gutsy, hilarious and honest.’ Aussie Theatre
Daniel Tobias is a hugely talented and respected performer and actor, most noted on this side of the pond for creating the ever child like Otto in the highly successful and critically acclaimed Die Roten Punkte. Since 2006, Clare Bartholomew and Daniel, as Salvador Dinosaur (formerly Button Eye Productions), have produced four award winning Die Roten Punkte live shows with corresponding albums that have toured to the USA, UK, New Zealand, Ireland, Belgium, Hungary, Poland, Canada and Germany.
‘Before we start lauding the snappy comic delivery, endearing performance and fantastic music, we need to say this is an absolute must-see comedy simply by virtue of tackling religion and cancer without relying on cheap jokes or tastelessness. A fantastic, dramatic, hilarious show. See it.’ ★★★★ The Music
Created and performed by Daniel Tobias, director – Christian Leavesley, dramaturg – Casey Bennetto, script consultant – David Quirk, songs – Daniel Tobias and Clare Bartholomew with John Thorn, Casey Bennetto and Jherek Bischoff. Developed with the assistance of the Australia Council for the Arts, Creative Victoria and the Besen Family Foundation.
Salvador Dinosaur present
The Orchid and the Crow
by Daniel Tobias
Season 2 – 11 July 2015
Venue Al Green Theatre
Address 750 Spadina Ave, Toronto
Tickets $12
Bookings fringetoronto.com
Show times
Thu 2 Jul – 8:15pm
Fri 3 Jul – 3:00pm
Sun 5 Jul – 3:00pm
Mon 6 Jul – 10:15pm
Tue 7 Jul – 10:30pm
Fri 10 Jul – 11:30pm
Sat 11 Jul – 5:45pm
Photo: Daniel Tobias. ©2014 Andrew Wuttke.
2015-05-31
The Orchid and the Crow