Reviews 2017
Reviews 2017
✭✭✭✭✩
written and directed by Colin Sharpe
CujoLemieux, Toronto Fringe Festival, Annex Theatre, 736 Bathurst St.
July 7-15, 2017
The main question in Colin Sharpe’s comic murder mystery is not who murdered prom queen Tammy Somers. The question is why everyone in Tammy’s small hometown wants to pretend that the murder never happened.
The obvious suspect is Pearl (Alexandra Hurley), whom we first meet covered in blood. She would like to confess, but Debbie, her protective mother (Christy Bruce), won’t allow it. Instead. Debbie advises Pearl to win over Tammy’s boyfriend Ricky (Guy Bradford). After all, Ricky’s friends have encouraged him to get a new girlfriend and the town’s pretzel-eating sheriff (Sharpe) has stopped investigating the case. So Debbie’s plan for Pearl works out just fine – at least at first.
Heavily influenced in imagery by the 1957 song “Tammy” and in style by David Lynch’s 1990s series Twin Peaks, Sharpe as writer and director masterfully creates an atmosphere that is both comic and unsettling. But like Lynch he chooses a surreal conclusion to the show so full of twists and surprises that we can’t tell which revelations are true and which false.
We also need to know if the town’s indifference to Tammy’s murder stems from something deeper than its civic motto “Do Not Disturb.”
Sharpe’s hourlong play is crammed with so many intriguing ideas and characters that he really should expand the piece to explore them more fully. Meanwhile, enjoy this bizarre mystery in its present form along with its gallery of fine performances.
Show length: 60 min.
©Christopher Hoile
Note: A version of this review appeared in NOW Magazine on July 8, 2017.
Photo: (top row) Colin Sharpe, Lance Byrd, Matthew Nadeau, Christy Bruce, Paul Aihoshi,
(bottom row) Guy Bradford and Alexandra Hurley. ©2017 Paul Aihoshi.
For tickets, visit https://fringetoronto.com.
2017-07-08
Murder in the Cottonwoods