Wishes Are Horses (Trumpeter Productions) 2011 Fringe Review

I really liked the concept of Wishes Are Horses long before I stepped into Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace.  The concept of the play is a wonderful hybrid of science and faith.

Written and directed by Peter Bloch-Hansen, Wishes Are Horses is a great piece of science fiction. It’s not science fiction in the Buck Rogers “Turn your phasers on stun” realm though. It’s science fiction like writing a wish list for Santa Claus is science fiction.

A university professor unlocks the secret between granting wishes and science. Dr. Roberto Polari (Stephen Flett) loses his tenured position as a result.  He is also put under house arrest by the bumbling FBI and nearly loses his wife.

The fuzzy grey area between textbooks and commandments is the real stage for this play. It’s also a lot of fun to see it in person though.

While I really liked the concept, I loved Leeman Kessler. Kessler played a variety of roles, all of them hilarious and believable. I certainly look forward to seeing him again onstage soon.

It was also great to see young actors on stage, collaborating with a more “mature” one.  It is another hybrid that really works.

On the subway on the way home, I was subjected to glossy ads begging people to become accountants. Frankly, I’d rather be dead than be an accountant. While being subjected to those ads, my mp3 player treated me to a Rage Against the Machine song. Those tattooed hippies from California kept screaming “Fear is your only God!”.

Maybe Rage has a point. Certainly this play is asking the right questions.  If you want to think and wonder “what if”, this is the play for you.

There are probably a lot of religious fanatics who would find this play heresy. Personally, I find the act of hanging up the phone on a certain late-night talk show host distasteful!

Details:
Wishes Are Horses plays at Theatre Passe Murraile 16 Ryerson Avenue, Toronto, ON M5T 2P3
(416) 504-7529

July 6, at 8:45 PM July 9 at 9:45 PM
July 11 at 1:15 PM July 12 at 4:30 PM
July 14 at 1:45 PM July 16 at 5:15 PM
July 17 at 9:00 PM

– All individual Fringe tickets are $10 ($5 for FringeKids) at the door (cash only). Tickets are available online at www.fringetoronto.com, by phone at   416-966-1062, in person at The Randolph Centre for the Arts, 736 Bathurst Street (Advance tickets are $11 – $10+$1 convenience fee)
– Several money-saving passes  http://fringetoronto.com/fringefest/passes.html are available if you plan to see at least 5 shows