The adventures of our favourite coffeeshop girl continue in Rebecca Perry’s Adventures of a Redheaded Coffeeshop Girl, directed by Matt Bernard and running now at the Annex Theatre for Toronto Fringe.
When last we saw our intrepid Joanie Little (in Confessions of a Redheaded Coffeeshop Girl – and you needed have seen this to join in the fun of Adventures of a…), she’d just found the man (Marco) and job (interning with Dr. Jane Goodall) of her dreams. Bad news: the dream job is located at the Jane Goodall Institute in Tanzania!
Trekking from the urban jungle of Toronto to the actual jungle in Gombe National Park, Joanie joins Goodall, and other interns and staff, to study chimps in the wild and assist with preparing the sanctuary chimps for the wild. In addition to the challenges of the work and conditions, and navigating a long-distance relationship, being a pale-skinned, redhead has its own difficulties – and our feisty gal isn’t always sure she’s up to it. But if you didn’t know it already, you’ll soon learn that there’s nothing small about Joanie Little.
Masterfully shifting between multiple characters and dialects – including Goodall; Joanie’s male Scottish tent mate, also a redhead; and the African park security chief – Perry incorporates music (with live sound cues signalling character changes) and storytelling to take us on an entertaining and moving ride. And, just as she gave her human coffeeshop patrons animal attributes as she studied them from behind the counter in Confessions of a…, she anthropomorphizes her chimp charges, and discovers an interesting emerging dynamic between the dog-like Fetch and sanctuary tenant Cora.
Also a lovely crooner, Perry can serenade like nobody’s business, charming the sold out house with standards and Celtic roots-inspired ballads, accompanied by Da-Rell Clifton on percussion and Quinton Naughton on keys. Her performance of “Caledonia” is particularly beautiful and heart-wrenching.
With shouts to set/props designer Claire Hill and costume designer/makeup artist Ellie Mac.
Rebecca Perry has done it again, this time giving us danger, romance and chimps in Adventures of a Redheaded Coffeeshop Girl. Joanie Little is an anthropological warrior princess!
Perry is remounting Confessions of a Redheaded Coffeeshop Girl at Brampton’s Rose Theatre July 9-11, then taking that show to Edinburgh Fringe. You can support her efforts by purchasing a CD of songs from Confessions and Adventures, and more – available after each Fringe performance or on Bandcamp.
Adventures of a Redheaded Coffeeshop Girl runs at the Annex Theatre until July 12; check here for dates/times. Definitely pre-book your tix for this one – last night was sold out and it’s sure to sell out again.
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life with more cowbell 