Sloop-oronto: Edition 1

This begins my first edition of Sloop-oronto, a segment where I bring tales of my Toronto cultural experiences. Tonight: BASH'd at Passe Muraille.

SOME BACKGROUND INFO:

Theatre Passe Muraille pretty much wrote the book on alternative Canadian theatre. In the 1970's they were THE avant-garde Canadian theatre company, doing radical leftist, often site-specific theatre with the nationalist bent that would come to define the alternative Canadian theatre movement. For this, they will always be my heart. As is the case with most of the alternates though, over the years they institutionalized and mainstreamed (and acquired walls, despite their name). Some consider this heresy, others a natural and inevitable evolution. In recent years they have run into financial difficulty and now are trying to rediscover their place in the Toronto theatre community. They have opted for a 'midwife' role, working with and nurturing talented individuals and companies, and sharing with them the resources of Passe Muraille.

BASH'd

I am too lazy to reread my program, but BASH'd started in Alberta, I believe as a Fringe piece, and has since gone on to big things, including a successful off-Broadway run. The show, a 'hip-hopera' is essentially two white dudes rapping about being gay. And it is OFF THE HOOK. The energy pouring out of the two actors is full-force, non-stop gusto for the entirety of the 75-minute showtime. They pretty much never stop rapping.

The plot is as follows: gay boy from the country meets gay boys from the city, they fall in love, get married, country boy's parents accept his orientation, and everything is story-book happy. Then one of the characters gets viciously attacked in a hate crime. He survives, but he and his partner clash over how to go on in the aftermath. Retreat and lick your wounds, or match violence with violence?

I really loved how they made their reaction to the hate crime, and not the hate crime itself, the focal point of the play. It felt, in a lot of ways, like they were picking up where Laramie left off. It also kept that old tired victim/aggressor dichotomy at bay.

I could ramble on here about my issues with hypermasculinity and violence and how the play dealt with them but this ain't no essay and I did not mean to spend very long writing this.

Anyways. To conclude, I will say that the use of the hip-hop genre worked explosively well. For me, this play was an example of musical theatre at its finest. Others might dispute that this play fits into the musical theatre genre, but I will be happy to argue that point with them (and more than likely will have to soon with a certain musical theatre-hater I know). The rhythms of the rapping molded the emotional rhythms of the play like a heartbeat, to incredible dramatic effect.

Well, that's it for edition one. Here's what you can expect upcoming on Sloop-oronto.

Julie Doiron and Herman Dune in concert (okay, I might leave before Herman starts. We'll see)
Battle of the Blades Live: The Results Show (because fucking Ticketmaster bought out the performance night)
Elliott Brood in concert
John Ralston Saul at the AGO
Peter Mansbridge and Rex Murphy at the Appel Salon
The Nightingale at the COC

So stay tuned!