Fringe freak-out

>> Bad relationships, crummy jobs and motivational speakers invade the festival

by AMY BARRATT

Having run out of time last year to see the popular Thanks for the Mammaries, I made a point of catching Sarah Quick's latest offering early in this year's Fringe. In The Men Commandments, Quick and Ruth Dennison play young-ish single birds whose lives apparently consist of: 1) going out drinking and picking up men and 2) gossiping about 1) the next day at work. They make fun of the dating advice to be found in magazines like Cosmo, and loudly declare that they don't want to be in relationships. The catch is that one of them, Rebecca, played by Quick, is starting to get serious about a bloke.

The play is about her coming to terms with this distressing reality, and it could have been a fun idea if these characters weren't so unrelentingly shallow. The "commandments" of the title are a set of rules for living in relationships, which are delivered by the girls, in verse, between scenes. These insights make Cosmo look profound: don't say mean things about your boyfriend's parents; don't yell out the wrong name during sex; don't sleep with other guys. There are a few good laughs in the script, and Dennison's character is kind of appealing in a trampy sort of way, but there is no play here. At Venue 2, 4247 Ste-Dominique, tonight, June 21, at 6:15 p.m.; Saturday, June 23 at 10 p.m.; and Sunday, June 24 at 6 p.m.

Workin' for the Man

One of the themes of this year's Fringe--not surprising in a festival rife with struggling writers and actors--is "lousy low-wage jobs I've had." It comes up in Gaumontville, comic Isabelle Gaumont's satire of just about everything Québécois. One of the characters she portrays is a communications graduate who, entertaining no hope of finding work in her field, is trying to pay off her student loans working for a collection agency. Gaumontville takes place in a fictional municipality on the day of a mayoral election. The challenger is the rich, posh-accented Marie Hurtubise-De-La-Roche-Crions, whose solution to the problems of the poor in Gaumontville is to build a nice wall because "it must be so hard on them to see our nice houses and nice cars." The incumbent is the earthier, but equally clueless Céline Poupard, who uses her position to the benefit of all citizens who share her last name. Gaumontville is biting, edgy stuff from which no one escapes unscathed. Remaining shows on Friday, June 22 at 10 p.m.; Saturday, June 23 at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, June 24 at 4 p.m at Venue 2.

With The Slip Knot, Fringe veteran T.J. Dawe has outdone himself. It consists of three interwoven monologues about different jobs the author has held: stockboy or "merchandiser," as it's euphemistically called, in a drug store; Christmas temp at Canada Post tracking lost parcels; and a truckdriver who delivers dumpsters to construction sites.

The concept is simple: Dawe comes on stage in semi-darkness and sets up a stand with three tiny spotlights attached: a red, a white and a blue. These are all he has to create settings for his three "characters" who are all the same guy at different points in his life. The three monologues are structured so that peaks and valleys come simultaneously in all three. Using his usual rapid-fire delivery, Dawe jumps back and forth between one narrative and another, never missing his mark on the floor and never dropping the thread. It's a miracle of memorization that's also an acting tour-de-force and a thoroughly satisfying piece of theatre. Don't miss the final show Saturday, June 23 at 11:30 p.m. at Venue 7, 4273 St-Laurent.

Also in the "lousy jobs" category is The Floorboy, written and performed by Scott Clarkson. Based on a job the author once had as a cleaner in a hotel for gay men, it's elegantly written, and Clarkson is a charming performer. At Geordie Space, 4001 Berri, tonight at 11:24; Friday, June 22 at 2:15 p.m.; Saturday, June 23 at 4:15 p.m.; and Sunday, June 24 at 8 p.m.

In praise of the mainstream

Some readers may recall the recent debate in the Mirror's letters page following my unflattering review of a certain company whose initials are P.I. After I was soundly dismissed as an ignoramus by a couple of individuals, including the company's artistic director, along came a letter from a certain Matt MacLennan essentially admonishing his fellow artists to get out of the fire if they can't stand the heat. He also wrote that his only connection to me was that I once panned a show he wrote, and that "with any luck she'll come pan my next bit at the Fringe."

After that, you can bet I was racking my brain to remember who this guy was, but it wasn't until I saw the press releases for By a Thread and Mainstream that all the pieces came together. MacLennan was the author of a short play called X, which I saw as an opener for another show in November '99. (This X is not to be confused with the multimedia dance show X currently playing at the Fringe, or with Madame X, one of the lovely ladies in last Sunday's drag races). I did indeed pan MacLennan's X, suggesting that it be dropped from the bill.

On receiving the press releases for By a Thread, by Diane Flacks, and Mainstream, by MacLennan and Tim Mooney, I remembered another letter from one Chuff McKinnley. He exhorted MacLennan to quit being a loser clinging to the "alternative" label and join the mainstream. Hmm. Sure enough, the lead character in Mainstream is called Chuff McKinnley. He's a motivational speaker bent on saving us all from ever being called "different" again.

Anybody still following me? Mainstream is a 15-minute opener for By a Thread and it's performed by Tim Mooney, who was a hit a couple of Fringes ago with his one-man show, Mooney. All this to say that I haven't even seen the show yet (it only opened Tuesday) and these guys have already made me laugh. Check out By a Thread and Mainstream tonight at 8 p.m. and tomorrow at 11 p.m. at Fringe Venue 5, 1590 St-Laurent.