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by Alex Karolyi, Sheila Toller and Chris Whidden, directed by Mandy Rovera

Shadowpath, Free Times Café, 320 College St., Toronto Fringe Festival, Toronto

June 30-July 10, 2016

Plays in Cafés is a catch-all title for a series of various short plays that Shadowpath has been touring to cafés around Canada as part of its goal of “transforming everyday places into creative spaces”.  This show is a comic triple-bill that has been touring since 2006.  The first, best and most realistic of the three is Roaring Robert by Chris Whidden.  In this a man () Miles Meili) speaks to Robert, his small stuffed lion, in an effort to to get up the courage to speak to a woman he’s obsessed with. Luckily, a friendly waitress (Katherine Fogler) helps him out.

The second is The Nudes by Alex Karolyi.  Here two strangers (Katie Mactavish and  Chris Reid-Geisler) find they share an unusual erotic pastime that requires them to negotiate their interactions more precisely.

The last is Be Careful for What You Wish For by Sheila Toller.  In this a scatterbrained yoga instructor (Mandy Rovera) tells her friend (Vesna Radenkovic) about a literally unbelievable gift that the café has on offer for only a few remaining minutes.  Unlike the others it leaves well-observed everyday realism behind for fantasy and is based on a far too flimsy premise. 

All three works are slight but the quirky characters are well portrayed.  Especially memorable are Meili, touching as the painfully shy guy in the first play, and the entertaining Roveda as the yoga instructor in the third.  Most of the fun is that the actors sit unnoticed right in your midst until they begin their attention-grabbing conversations.

 

©Christopher Hoile

Note: This review is based on my review published in NOW magazine July 2, 2016. 

Photo: Vesna Radenkovic and Mandy Rovera. ©2016 Greg King.

For tickets, visit http://fringetoronto.com/fringe-festival/shows.