London Fringe Festival 2010

Dean Hall Reviews (NEW ONE JUST ADDED!)

Day 2

June 19

Monster

Written by Daniel MacIvor

Directed by Eva Blahut

Played by Justin Peter Quesnelle

The Passionfool Theatre Company

McManus Studio Theatre - Venue 5

June 18-26

**** / 4

With this dark, brooding and occasionally twisted treatise on the nature of evil by Daniel MacIvor as his vehicle, Justin Quesnelle sets the bar high with a brilliantly executed acting performance that explores ten different characters all dealing with their own personal demons.Their stories are woven together and are revealed in layers like the peeling of an onion with greater meaning communicated as we get closer to the centre. The writing is wonderful but the brisk naturalistic style of the performance is what makes this offering really glow. Staging and movement are so minimal that Quesnelle must maintain the spell he weaves, with its continual interchange of characters, through subtle adjustments to voice, focus and gesture all carried out in masterful fashion. The subject of human fascination with the extremes of the dark side of existence may be disturbing but universally real. This fascinating piece of theatre cleverly makes evil accessible for close examination with just the right degree of humour through a truly superlative and detailed piece of acting.

Fishbowl

Written and performed by Mark Shyzer

McManus Studio Theatre - Venue 5

**** / 4

Fishbowl is a cleverly conceived, brilliantly written and skillfully performed puzzle that explores the science of strained human relations. Mark Shyzer’s character creations are hilariously funny while each maintaining a degree of pain that grounds them and provokes our interest and concern.

Five seemingly unrelated personalities each presented in their own separate worlds collide like atoms in an experiment gone awry. Shyzer’s manipulation of each character, from the adolescent female nerd to the morbid senior rehearsing the details of his demise, is masterful with changes in voice and attitude propelling our interest. It is without a doubt the gorgeous sense of humour built into the tales the characters tell that makes Fishbowl so worthwhile an investment for each audience member. Intelligent, extremely funny, thought provoking and cleverly crafted, put this one at the top of your Fringe list.

Dean Hall is an actor, director and retired theatre educator with over forty years experience on the stage.