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by A. David Levine, directed by Mitchell Cushman

Parent Productions, Toronto Fringe Festival, Factory Studio Theatre, Toronto

July 3-11, 2009

Reflections... presents the depressing spectacle of three gifted actors--Mikaela Dyke, Sébastien Heins and Jessica Huras--wasting their talents on an intractable script.  The play would be more successful were it half as long and a one-woman show.  Then the focus would remain on the woman (Dyke) and her “child” and could grow in psychological and metaphorical resonance.  Instead, author A. David Levine suffocates his intriguing premise under a clichéd satire of media exploitation and its effects without fully exploring the woman’s changing reactions to her “child.”  I hope to see the cast again soon in work worthy of their abilities.

©Christopher Hoile

Note: A version of this review appeared in Eye Weekly 2009-07-04.

Photo: Poster of Reflections ....