CALLAGHAN! & the Wings of the Butterfly (Sex T-Rex) 2013 Toronto Fringe Review

callaghanEvery now and then, I get to see an amazing show. A show which is so outstanding, so perfect in every respect, that I want to shout it from the rooftops. I push out-of-town friends to visit just so they can bear witness to these chunks of theatre at its finest.

CALLAGHAN! & the Wings of the Butterfly is one of those shows. Don’t let the Fringe angle lower your expectations: there’s an hour of solid, consistent, awe-inspiring magic on that stage, and you’d be a fool to miss it.

The most remarkable thing about CALLAGHAN! is how normal it initially appears. It rolls so hard and fast from joke to joke that you don’t really notice much else. But you should.

You should notice the writing. It’s damn hard work to write a show which is simultaneously piss-your-pants hilarious and as tense and taut as a Hitchcock thriller, especially with a one-hour time limit. Sex T-Rex more than deliver, working the alchemy needed to fuse the two perfectly. You won’t notice that you’re on the edge of your seat until you’re just about to fall off, and that takes immense skill on the part of the writer.

You should notice the choreography, which is what really makes this show sparkle. Every moment in this show is positively laced with careful, thoughtful movement, and this layer is what makes the show feel as polished as it does.

You should notice the physical theatre. Sex T-Rex know physical comedy inside and out, and clearly relish having an hour to play to their strengths: this staging is innovative, surprising, awe-inspiring and often downright cinematic.

You should notice the acting. Yes, yes, these actors are outstanding on their own merits, but notice how they support each other. Notice how they play off each other. Notice how they share, how they interact, how they pass focus between themselves. This cast runs like a well-oiled machine, and the sheer joy they display in doing so is downright infectious.

And you should notice how all of this comes together to make CALLAGHAN! much, much bigger than the sum of its parts. This is an incredible, incredible show, a masterclass in comic pacing, an opportunity to admire some incredible actors… I’m beginning to babble, but you get the point. It’s good. Damn good.

Do not miss this show.

And bring the family! My guest and I both agreed that, despite appearances to the contrary, anyone old enough to appreciate Indiana Jones is old enough to get a tremendous kick out of CALLAGHAN!.

 
Remaining Performances
  • July 05 01:15 PM
  • July 08 06:15 PM
  • July 09 08:45 PM
  • July 11 05:45 PM
  • July 12 05:15 PM
  • July 14 03:30 PM
Tickets
  • Tickets for all Mainstage productions are $10 at the door, cash only.
  • Advance tickets are $11, and can be purchased online, by phone (416-966-1062 ext. 1), or from the festival box office at the Fringe Club. (Rear of Honest Ed’s, 581 Bloor St. West)
  • Money-saving value packs are also available; see website for details.
  • LATECOMERS ARE NEVER ADMITTED TO FRINGE SHOWS. To avoid disappointment, be sure to arrive a few minutes before curtain.

 

One thought on “CALLAGHAN! & the Wings of the Butterfly (Sex T-Rex) 2013 Toronto Fringe Review”

  1. I’m so glad that I saw it tonight. It was fabulous. It was like watching a live cartoon, absolutely amazing. That kind of creativity impresses the heck out of me.

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