SoulOTheatre kicked off its fourth annual SOULO Theatre Festival on Thursday night at Red Sandcastle Theatre, hosted by the super positive, energetic and welcoming A.D. Tracey Erin Smith.
Last night’s early evening performance Soulo Salon included four solo shows by performers who’ve done Smith’s 10-week soulo show class – short, personal stories of adversity, growth and hope, told with candor, trust and humour.
The Life Boat. Morgan Joy brings a playful, kid playing dress-up vibe complete with alter ego puppets: the child-like, positive Dot and the abrasive, negative grown-up Gloria as she plays captain, cruise director and entertainer in her life boat. Filled with artifacts of her family history, the life boat is a metaphor for her life – and as the water gets higher, the positivity becomes increasingly desperate just as hard truths are avoided. Until. Let go. Float. A beautiful, poignant journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance.
Bedazzled. Silvi Santoso arrives in Canada as an excited newcomer with her husband and two children, with another on the way, taking on the challenges of learning a new language, searching for a place to live as doors close in her face and eventually getting a dream job as a federal food inspector as she works a can-do attitude. And when a double personal tragedy becomes too much to bear, despite all her positive personal milestones, she tackles that as well. The storytelling is part autobiography, part stand-up comedy – and Santoso brightens up her darkest moments, using comic songs and narrative, bedazzling her life and her outlook. Taking depression and blinging up its ass so it doesn’t hide her inner light.
Fat Shamed by My Mom. Amish Patel makes lemonade in his story of struggling with body image. A funny, engaging and warm storyteller, his personal history tour includes conflicting and confusing cultural takes on eating and body fat: in India, it’s a good thing, a sign of health and prosperity – but in Canada, it’s a source of disdain and disrespect. A chubby tween with boy boobs, his dream of being an actor is snuffed out in a moment of body shaming from his mother, and as he grows into adulthood, he adopts some unhealthy means of coping. Part confessional, part stand-up storytelling, Patel is frank and courageous as he trusts the audience with his revelations and personal evolution.
#grateful. Nicola Elbro’s story of love, loss and gratitude as she makes her way from heartbreaking break-up to post-break-up sexy times with an “amenity” in her new apartment, aka hot Brit dude in her building, and getting back out on the dating scene (in a hilarious dance club scene) while she works with young superhero cancer patients at Sick Kids Hospital as she pursues an acting career. And even harder than the conflicting emotions of meeting her ex to clear out their shared storage unit are the moments when the kids are not okay – and some of them don’t get to go home. As you’re struggling with trying to keep it together, falling apart may be just the thing to help you mend. A lovely, tender and sharply funny performance.
Four storytellers. Four personal, poignant and funny journeys. Four brave, engaging and committed performances.
The Soulo Salon was a one night only performance, but no worries – there’s more SOULO Theatre Festival happening at Red Sandcastle Theatre this weekend (May 28-29). The fest includes solo show performances and workshops, see the full schedule here; and get your advance tickets/passes online here. Advance tickets strongly recommended; it’s an intimate venue and a very popular festival.
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Come back to the cowbell blog this afternoon – I also saw Daniel Stolfi’s hilarious Finding Funny at the SOULO Theatre Festival last night.
life with more cowbell 