Review: TORONTO FRINGE FESTIVAL REVIEW ROUNDUP 3 at Toronto Fringe

Keep on Fringing! This roundup includes two shows in the Next Stage Festival (JUSTICE FOR MAURICE HENRY CARTER and SONGS BY A WANNABE), this year being held simultaneously with the Fringe at its Soulpepper venues. 

JUSTICE FOR MAURICE HENRY CARTER (Soulpepper Michael Young Theatre) 

You wish Donald Molnar and Alicia Payne’s show weren’t based on a true story, but the truth is stark and disturbing. In the 1970s, Maurice Henry Carter (Walter Borden) was convicted in the shooting of a white police officer during an attempted record store robbery in Benton Harbor, Michigan, despite an alibi that placed him nowhere near the events, a negative identification by a store clerk, and testimony by more than one witness that police used blackmail to influence testimony. They wanted someone to pay—and Carter did, imprisoned for decades. Then, he sent a plea to Doug Tjapkes (R.H. Thomson), a known crusader for the wrongfully imprisoned, and found a kindred spirit.

It's almost impossible not to be moved by the horror of the events, and Molnar and Payne’s careful construction teases out the suspense even if you know how things played out. The details they provide about the vagaries of the US justice system are invariably terrifying and upsetting (there were audible gasps from the audience many times during the 90 minutes), as well as chillingly, immediately relevant. While the play’s opinion is clear, the script also works to present Carter as a complex and three-dimensional person, imperfect but worthy of humane treatment because he is human, and trying desperately to avoid letting his bitterness eat him alive.

Thomson and Borden are powerhouse actors; Thomson’s Tjapkes is full of restrained frustration and gentle compassion, and Borden brings an expressive voice and Shakespearian dignity to Carter, blazing through several fiery showpiece monologues. That said, there were a surprising number of stumbles and line calls all around for a show already on its fourth performance, which led to some of my anxiety for the characters bleeding into anxiety for the actors. Regardless, I doubt there was a dry eye in the house, particularly with the ensemble’s stark performance of gospel numbers as transitions between scenes.

Photo of Walter Borden and R.H. Thomson by Karen Labonte-Smith

BITTY-BAT AND FRIENDS (Soulpepper Tank House Theatre)

BITTY-BAT AND FRIENDS is one of the silliest shows I’ve ever seen at the Fringe, and I mean that as a high compliment. A delightfully deranged parody of a David Attenborough-style nature documentary complete with hushed voiceover, the show takes us to the Toronto Zoo, where our cheerful zookeeper (Hilary Wheeler) quizzes us on bat facts and introduces an amuse-bouche of an opening act. In my showing, the clown Peep (Michelle Blight) displayed her fascination with the idea of becoming the Pope—let’s just say that many cookies standing in for communion wafers were harmed during the making of this sketch. We’re then invited into the world of Bitty-Bat (Emily Jeffers), a human-sized bat who zips around the cave/stage, drinking blood, avoiding predators, squeaking expressively, mating exuberantly, and precariously handling items in the tiny claws attached to the ends of her impressive wingspan.

There’s truly not much going on here beyond a few extended physical comedy bits, but it’s amazing how quickly the hour (and the bat) flies by, regardless. Jeffers is an expressive performer (even under the suit, ears and fangs) who completely commits to every moment and gets loads of laughs simply via a well-timed facial expression. An example of the truism that humans will instantly pack-bond with anything, she has our sympathies well in hand, working the crowd as Bitty-Bat recovers from injury or teaches a fellow bat how to fly. Creative and clever uses of low-fi props abound; I won’t spoil my favourite, but suffice it to say that when it was revealed, I laughed until my eye makeup ran.

But that’s okay. I don’t need to bat my eyelashes; there’s already a superior bat in the room.

Photo of Emily Jeffers by Lyon Smith

QUILTRO (Soulpepper TD Finance Studio)

Quiltro is a Chilean word for a mutt or mongrel, a member of a pack of stray dogs that roams the streets. Nina, daughter of Chilean refugees to Canada, wishes she could live life as a stray, too. To escape her parents’ constant fighting, the 13-year-old goes AWOL to join a faraway group of canines, armed with only a purple backpack and a sense of family history. Meanwhile, a terrible spirit roams the shadows, ready to pounce on everything she holds dear.

QUILTRO was playwright Yasmine Agocs’ MFA thesis, and the script is carefully considered, redolent with themes of belonging and displacement. Nina is a vivid character, portrayed by both Cheyla McNally Rondon (past) and Alejandra Angobaldo (present) as she tells her story, her descriptions and dual perspective giving the events a sense of magical realism. Particularly interesting is the kindred connection she makes with an unhoused man (also Angobaldo) on his own journey. Director Asenia Lyall does a lot to set the scene with a few props and one impressive puppet (designer Aryana Rivzi). Because there are so many topics and  levels of metaphor woven into the story, some connections and plot pieces could be clarified in the text and some repetition excised; Nina’s pain over the coup that caused her parents to flee Chile is obvious, but the larger political treatise isn’t as easily parsed. Read the translation of Salvador Allende’s last speech provided before the show begins for more context. Still, QUILTRO is a solid, passionate work, full of dogged determination.

QUILTRO poster by Tyra Hayward

SONGS BY A WANNABE (Soulpepper Michael Young Theatre)

Barbara (Babz) Johnston’s attempt to spice up her life forms the basis of this autobiographical solo Next Stage musical. Johnston’s initial idea to get her friends together to form Wannabe, a Spice Girls tribute act, was intended to last a single performance, but the troupe took off. They were booking gigs worldwide and hobnobbing with the likes of Lance Bass when the pandemic hit and the dream collapsed. “Ginger Spice” Johnston found herself suddenly directionless, while also asking herself whether she had even wanted her life to go in that direction in the first place. A classic identity-finding story merged with a “getting the band back together” tale, SONGS BY A WANNABE features catchy, Spice Girls-inflected tunes by Johnston, Anika Johnson and Suzy Wilde, a rack of sequined costumes and Union Jack platforms from designer Erik Andrews, and some pointed commentary on what it means to be an artist when you’re subsumed in someone else’s work.

Directed by Mitchell Cushman, Johnston is a charismatic performer with a long Fringe history, able to turn even the occasional misstep into a bonding experience with the audience. Her story of the absolute lack of glamour behind a performance career is familiar but lots of fun; she shares engaging tales of the tour from hell involving a temperamental RV, an ever-increasing pile of debt, and a sudden dose of competition. The ending feels a little pat, given the otherwise realistic look at the biz, but the show’s got nostalgic charm in spades, if that’s what you want, what you really, really want. Say you’ll be there.