From the Toronto Fringe: Live and in person at Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace:
Written and performed by Nicholas Eddie
Directed by Sepehr Reybod.
Music and sound by Nicholas Eddie
Our gangly and over-sweatered hero has a dilemma. The RCMP are coming to his house tomorrow morning at 9 am to retrieve his late father’s handgun because the license for it is years out of date. Our hero can either turn it in or lie and say he couldn’t find it and thus keep it for himself. He seems to lean towards the latter with cause. He muses on so many things that are wrong with the world: the phoniness of land acknowledgements, the frantic pace of life as exemplified in his “healthy stew”, how depending on cell phones is addictive, racists, the fear of getting old, how AI could get the vote and where would we be (hmmmmm), loneliness. But there is always hope and the celebration of life.
Nicholas Eddie is a tsunami of energy. He charges around the stage pursuing ideas, demons and inspiration. He does pushups, a perfect downward dog and an excellent pigeon pose. He takes the audience on a sweat inducing workout without their needing to get up and be breathless, except for laughing. His riff on the woes of the world is both funny and moving. His perceptions about that world are deeply felt. He gives voice to many thoughts/feelings the audience must have all felt at one point or the other. Nicholas Eddie is both charming and quick-witted. He replies to a comment or two from the audience with a smart replay, but never smart-assed.
Well worth a visit to see the show. Hurry. My performance was sold out.
Continues at the Fringe, Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace on: July 9, July 11, July 12, July 13, July 14, July 15.
COMMENT: The volunteers to a person at the Fringe are cheerful, helpful and accommodating. I love that every show I’ve seen starts bang on time. There is a no-late admission policy at the Fringe. How then to explain why two people were allowed in five minutes late to ONE NIGHT ONLY? They disrupted a quiet, poignant moment. Nicholas Eddie was gracious. Classy.
Stick to the no late admission please, out of respect for the artist and all the people who managed to be there on time.