Blue Moon Girls (Fruitful Productions) Toronto Fringe Review 2013

Blue Moon Girls Toronto Fringe 2013

Blue Moon Girls is a gem. The cast (Jessica Lea Fleming, Justine D. Moritz, and Christian Smith) is talented and works well together, The play – by Jessica Lea Fleming – is well written and has my requisites, plot and character development.

The play is set in Blue Moon, a fictional small northern Ontario town. Blue Moon is one of those French/English bilingual towns. I loved the way Julie (Fleming) and her husband Christian (Smith) switched between English and French throughout a conversation, sometimes switching in the middle of a sentence.

The show shifts back and forth in time. From present day back to a time when Julie and her best friend  Sonya (Moritz) met in Grade 9. The past keeps moving forward until it meets the present at the end of the play.

The ease with which the actors switched from the present to the past was impressive. They became their characters young selves. The scenes between Julie and Sonya when they were in high school were funny and rang true. Pretty typical teenage girl behaviour.

I loved the way that the dialogue flowed, the way it sounded like people talking in real life.

I was also impressed with the use of offstage voices to fill in the gaps in information. The voices were unintelligible at first and then one or two voices would stand out so that we could understand what they were selling. A really interesting way to tell the back story.

I felt the energy and connection between the audience and the cast from the moment the play began. It was a fairly small audience but it was the first show. That will change once there is some buzz, and there will be buzz. This is a fantastic piece of theatre.

I loved Blue Moon Girls and I’m really looking forward to seeing more plays by Jessica Lea Fleming.


Details:

  • Blue Moon Girls is playing at Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse (79A Saint George St.)
  • Performances are:
  • July 06 09:15 PM
  • July 08 10:45 PM
  • July 09 04:45 PM
  • July 11 09:30 PM
  • July 12 05:15 PM
  • July 13 01:45 PM
  • All individual Fringe tickets are $10 ($5 for FringeKids) at the door (cash only) and go on sale one hour before showtime. 50% of tickets are available in advance and are $11 ($9 + $2 service charge), these can be purchased online at www.fringetoronto.com, by phone at 416-966-1062 ext. 1, or in person during the festival at the Festival Box Office in the parking lot behind Honest Ed’s (581 Bloor St W).
  • Value packs  are available if you plan to see at least 5 shows

Please note that there is absolutely no latecomer seating during the Toronto Fringe Festival.

Photo of Justine D. Moritz, Christian Smith, and Jessica Lea Fleming

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