Fringe Review: 36 Little Plays About Hopeless Girls – Birdtown and Swanville
By Megan Mooney
By Megan Mooney
Birdtown and Swanville’s 36 Little Plays About Hopeless Girls is a delight. It’s got a good helping of the surreal, so if you want everything wrapped in a bow this likely won’t be for you.
However, if you like your humour a bit esoteric and your dancing a bit silly then this is the show for you. I really liked it a lot. I loved the props made out of flat cut out cardboard. I loved the over the top feel. I loved the interludes between scenes. So, I guess basically, I loved it.
I kept trying to figure out who, out of the 13 actresses, was my favourite in the show, but the truth is that at various moments in the show each of the several cast members leapt into the spot of ‘my favourite’, which means I loved them all, and each one of them stood out at different points in the show.
Quite a while ago this show played at the Tranzac club, outside of Fringe. I went to it then and liked the idea, but the execution didn’t work for me at the time. There are a few changes that are very much in the show’s favour.
Since that time the show has tightened up, which is always a good thing. But also, never underestimate the importance of the right venue. Bread and Circus was perfect for this show. For me this is the kind of show where intimate is the key.
Basically the show is comprised of short vignettes with entertaining scene changes in between. There are some common threads through the piece, but don’t expect a deep story.
For the record – my favourite line was “Thanks a lot, Fuckos!”
If you get a chance check this out. It’s been getting great reviews all around though, and is in a relatively small venue, so get there early to get your tickets.
Details
Director: Aurora Stewart de Peña
Choreographer: Monique Moses
Cast: Nika Mistruzzi, Donna Maloney, Monique Moses, Cara Gee, Julia Lederer, Liz Peterson, Lauren Bride and Laura McCoy among others.
Audience: General Audience
60 min.
Venue 23: Bread & Circus
Wed, July 1 8:15 PM
Thu, July 2 10:00 PM
Fri, July 3 4:15 PM
Sat, July 4 4:15 PM
Sun, July 5 8:15 PM
Mon, July 6 10:00 PM
Wed, July 8 6:15 PM
Thu, July 9 10:00 PM
Fri, July 10 10:00 PM
Sat, July 11 8:15 PM
Sun, July 12 8:15 PM
- All individual Fringe tickets are $10 at the door (cash only), or with interac and credit at the advance ticket box office at the Fringe Club (292 Brunswick Ave)
- Advance tickets are available by phone (416-966-1062) or at www.fringetoronto.com, there is a $2 service charge for these
- Several money-saving passes are available if you plan to see at least 5 shows
Photo of Monique Moses & Julia Lederer by S.R. Palm
