My first full day on the Fringe proved to be a bit of an eclectic day.
Emergence (***) deals with some major issues, including grief, loss, family conflict and identity. That it handles all of this with grace, skill and good humour is rather impressive.
The setting of the production isn’t quite clear. It could be anywhere: purgatory, a mortuary or, as the publicity states, ‘a smoky, darkened café’. What is clear is that there are three characters: a mother, her daughter and…well, a narrator who could be anyone. The daughter is travelling from England back to her native Columbia to bury her recently deceased mother and is haunted by memories. These memories span the years and are conveyed through dramatic scenes, choreography and music.
The theatrical skills that the cast and director Lorraine Sutherland display in the hour-long production are impressive, and there are genuinely touching and funny moments that move and delight. However, as a whole the production feels a bit touch-and-go, with some moments that feel overlong and under-explored. It’s good, but the strong moments prove that the overall production could have been better.
However, what did lack any decent moments was Drift (*). In fact, the only thing that the play got right was its name, because all it does is ‘drift’ along. The script is dull and cliché-ridden, the acting spotty at best and the technical presentation a near shambles. The play, which follows a group of mostly shallow people in Shanghai, frankly has little to offer its audience.
It’s possible that, with further runs, the show will tighten, the actors will strengthen in confidence and the technicians will get a better handle on the projections (a blue screen with a failure notice replaced the images that were supposed to be projected for half the production—a touch of unintended irony), but as a whole I don’t see much hope of it rising above mediocrity, and that’s if its lucky.
Mediocrity is certainly not a word to describe Bashir Lazhar (****), a production that runs on full cylinders. The Canadian production is about an Algerian refugee who is serving as a substitute teacher in a Montreal school. The catch is that the class he is subbing witnessed the suicide of their teacher, while he himself is haunted by the conflict he has escaped in his own country.
Evelyne de la Cheneliere’s play is expertly written. What could have been a dull message play is a powerhouse of emotions: witty, somber yet always razor sharp. Piet Defraeye’s direction is consistently engaging, making clever use of the classroom set and chalk.
The greatest aspect of the play is in actor Michael Peng’s performance of Bashir. He is a complicated character who seems at the beginning a bit of a buffoon but quickly proves to be a competent teacher who genuinely cares about his students. Highly energetic and mixing comedic aplomb with heartbreaking pathos, Peng makes a character that could come across as a victim into a full-bodied hero worth rooting for. A production certainly worth catching.
Over at the Underbelly resides the YouTube phenomena known as 3RUN in the production cleverly entitled Free Run (***). I myself had not heard of them prior to the launch of this year’s festival, but enough buzz surrounded the production to make me want to take a look; I’m glad I did. Their energetic jumps, climbs, flips and other physicality over the stage were all rather impressive.
As much as the skill onstage is commendable, the production itself is not. The performance I saw had a late start and yet finished earlier than advertised, and much of the staging, especially in the middle, is downright embarrassing. Still, when left to their own devices, the performers are good at what they do best and manage to do enough to surprise and entertain, even if much of the production quickly ran from my memory.
Emergence, Drift and Free Run perform at the Underbelly until Aug 29. Bashir Lazhar performs at Assembly Two.
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