Driving Home (Working Artist Productions) 2012 Toronto Fringe Review

With a real-time runtime of 28 minutes, Driving Home is possibly the shortest performance Toronto Fringe has to offer.

The creative result of first-time playwright Heather Sande’s 365 consecutive days of blogging, Driving Home is set in the same place many of us use to get to the theatre: the car.

Trapped inside their car, Derek (Daniel Baumander) is forced to reveal a secret he’s been keeping from Katherine (Heather Sande). But the secret just doesn’t seem as massive as it should be, while the response, including Katherine’s death-defying howl, seems a bit overblown.

Meanwhile the news that Katherine’s estranged mother has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s becomes inconsequential.

The car itself is a difficult prop from the get-go – someone has to have their eyes on the road. But when the characters get out of the car to continue the examination of themselves and their relationships, no doors are actually opened or closed. The realistic, virtual part of the prop is the radio, but that’s only background noise.

Driving home from Driving Home becomes its own little drama. You think about how many plays are being played out in how many cars all over the city. The majority, however, don’t make it to the stage. Driving Home needs a bit more depth – and length – to make it worth the drive.

Details

  • Driving Home plays at the Tarragon Extra Space, 30 Bridgman Avenue
  • Performances: July 6 5:45 PM, July 7 7:00 PM, July 8 10:30 PM, July 10 10:30 PM, July 11 9:15 PM, July 12 1:45 PM, July 15 3:30 PM
  • All individual Fringe tickets are $10 ($5 for FringeKids) at the door (cash only).
  • Advance tickets ($11 including service charge) are available online at www.fringetoronto.com, by phone at 416-966-1062, or in person at The Randolph Centre for the Arts, 736 Bathurst Street.
  • Value packs are available for anyone planning to see at least 5 shows.

Photo by Chris Seagram