BoylesqueTO are out to carve their own niche in the burlesque scene. ‘Boylesque’ is a lazy combination of words that vaguely defines a sub-genre of burlesque. The vagueness comes partly from its newness and rarity. But, last Sunday night at Revival, during Boys Under the Big Top, BoylesqueTO were met by raucous praise from the audience.
As soon as the theatre came into view I knew it wasn’t going to be a usual night. I saw two men dressed as old-time carnies hoisting up a cotton candy machine, while another fellow was wearing a giraffe head with a marvelously long neck.
Inside, the bar was dressed with silk ribbons and balloons. The aforementioned carnies walked around selling pasties and candy apples, heightening the theme du jour. A fire performer named PyRomeo lit up the night sky (and almost a tree) during the intermission.
Canada has a long history of producing great sketch comedy. There’s acts like Kids in the Hall, the Frantics, Wayne and Schuster, Codco, Federal political parties.
The difficulty is that there really aren’t that many places outside the comedy club circuit to really practice and develop the sketch comedy craft. This is where Toronto Sketchfest comes in. Bring artists from across Canada and the rest of the world, and give them a place to really stretch their legs.
Days have been crazy, and I’m not sure where time is going. In fear of time slipping away completely, I’m going to do a ‘quickie’ review of the Nightwood Theatre and Obsidian Theatre Company production of Yellowman, playing in the upstairs studio theatre at Berkeley Theatre these days. The really quickie version would be ‘I loved it. The end.’ but I’ll give you a bit more than that.
The Belle of Winnipeg, playing at the Winchester Street Theatre, fulfilled a long-time wish of mine: Actors were silent. Throughout the entire play, not a single actor said a single word.
This wasn’t done in the spirit of some German art-house, where they moped about the stage, sadly reflecting on the meaninglessness of life, but in the style of a silent movie. Set to live piano music and using film projection, the play tells the story of a bride in 1882 who, without prospects, runs away to Winnipeg and finds herself in a bordello. Those who have read enough history to know the likely fate of such a woman will be surprised to learn that hilarity, rather than horror, ensues.
