Review: (Ottawa) Paco P. Put To Sleep (Fringe)

ICE CREAM...
by Robyn Lester
@RobinRobynRob

I’m not sure what to say about Paco P. Put to Sleep. It was certainly interesting. But I’m still not sure if I liked it. I think I did. I laughed. But I also got really irritated with all the characters. Is that normal? All I know for sure is that by the end, I really wanted ice cream. 

Written by Martin Dockery, this play is about a friend who falls asleep, the five people who are left to wake him, and a world that is on fire. Sound strange? Well, it is. After Paco falls asleep on the couch, his friends have a brief moment of concern before getting annoyingly sidetracked by inconsequential details like, is it going to rain?

As things start to get really weird - cars on fire, neighbours dying – the group pretty much carries on as they were before. Focussing on all the things that shouldn’t matter when the world is ending, like getting ice cream. You’d think they’d care more about trying to figure out what was going on. But they never really give it much thought. Even more interesting, I didn’t either. Sure, the question would pop into my head, but just like the characters I’d quickly become distracted. It didn’t take long for me to stop wondering why Paco was still asleep. And even when smoke was spilling into the room, I was more concerned about whether the characters would get their ice cream.

Despite not really knowing how I feel about this one, I’d suggest checking it out. It’s a production you need to experience for yourself. 

 June 19 - 29