Reviews 2011
Reviews 2011
✭✭✭✩✩
written and directed by Tali Brady
Orange Wine Productions, Toronto Fringe Festival,
Tarragon Theatre Extra Space, Toronto
July 8-17, 2011
The idea of presenting all six of Jane Austen’s novels in only an hour with just two actors has lots of comic potential rather along the lines of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) from 1987. Unfortunately, playwright Tali Brady has the mistaken notion that including the fictional backstories of herself, fellow actor Pat Di Iorio and even the stage manager will somehow make the show more amusing. It doesn’t. The Star Wars, Seinfeld and CSI versions of the novels are very funny, but it seems a waste of precious minutes to shift the focus even momentarily away from Austen.
©Christopher Hoile
Note: A version of this review appeared in NOW Magazine, July 14, 2011.
Photo: Pat Di Iorio as Fred and Tali Brady as Anne. ©2011 Chris J. Hing.
For tickets, visit www.fringetoronto.com.
2011-07-14
Austen for the Attention-Impaired