A few years ago while trolling the Edmonton Fringe Festival solo for shows to see, I decided I would try something a different. At the time I was really into improv shows and sketch comedies and the bittersweet comedy/dramas of a few local playwrights, and not a whole lot else. I was pretty sure that I didn’t care much for poetry, and didn’t really know what performance poetry even was.
Exactly what possessed me to drop into a show called the Bold & Spiky Poetry show I’m not sure. You can probably tell where this is going, though: I was glad that I did, in the end, because it was fantastic. Two British guys on stage, alternately reciting/performing poetry of their own creation; it was riveting stuff. It’s been years since the show and I can still vividly recall many details. Particularly affecting was a Remembrance Day poem from one half of the duo, Rob Gee, a poem about the abandonment and loneliness many old soldiers face when they’ve returned from war, something he’d seen firsthand as a psychiatric nurse. “We should wear our poppies with shame, not pride,” Rob said. Every November I think about that poem.
Anyway, all this is a very roundabout way of saying that Rob Gee is very, very good, and that you should see his show that’s running this year at the Toronto Fringe, namely Fruitcake – Ten Commandments from the Psych Ward. From the press release:
“Comic, poet and reformed psychiatric nurse, Rob Gee presents a user-friendly guide to losing the plot. Fruitcake charts a night shift on an acute psychiatric ward, seen through the eyes of a nurse who hears the voice of God – a kindly Jamaican woman – who gives him ten benevolent commandments to help him through the shift; and life.”
Bet on a thoroughly entertaining show that is mostly hilarious, often touching, and will probably leave you with tears in your eyes by the end. Recommendation: go early in the run. This show totally owned the Winnipeg Fringe Festival last summer, winning Best of the Fest, it owned the Orlando Fringe in May, winning the Sold Out Award, and has gotten great reviews everywhere it’s been. The smart betting is that as soon as the Toronto reviews start coming out and word of mouth spreads, this show’s going to be sold out the rest of the way. And if you come on opening night, try to find me and say hello. I’ll give you one of my new Panic Manual business cards.
Fruitcake is at St. Vladimir’s Theatre, Venue 8 in your programs, just south of Harbord on Spadina. The schedule:
Wed June 30 – 7:00pm
Sun July 4 – 11:00pm
Mon July 5 – 4:45pm
Wed July 7 – 9:30pm
Thur July 8 – 12:00pm
Fri July 9 – 8:00pm
Sat July 10 – 1:45pm