Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page.
Article content
The Calgary Fringe Festival runs Aug. 4-12 at various venues in Inglewood. Every morning theatre critic Louis Hobson will choose his best bet for the day. Here is his pick for Thursday, Aug. 10
It’s called the actor’s nightmare. A performer walks on stage only to realize they don’t know their lines. Toronto’s Parlous Theatre has taken this nightmare scenario and turned it into a dream of a show called Insert Clown Here.
Article content
Under the guidance of Jacob Willis and Kendelle Parks. the company wrote a parody of an Anton Chekhov play for six characters and rehearsed it fully. The play is appropriately called The Visitor because each evening of the performance, they replace a character with a local clown performer who has never seen the script. Because this poor clown knows absolutely nothing about the plot or other characters, they must improvise their performance from clues they get from what’s happening, and what’s being said.
The regular actors must try their best to keep the action of the play on track working with, or around, what the clown provides. It’s a recipe for chaos which is the whole point of this show.
Insert Clown Here will never be the same twice because it all hinges on the input of the local clown, which on Thursday, will be Jacqueline Russell.
You can join Russell, Kole Durnford, Nicole Kleiman, Ella Berger, Atlin Hofer and Anna Kopacek in the conference room at Wood’s Homes at 5:30 p.m. for a genuine comedy of errors.