Review: (Toronto) Bard Fiction (Fringe)

Quentin Shakespeare
by Lisa McKeown
@lisammckeown

Written by Tedious Brief and directed by Christopher Moore, this play is a retelling of Pulp Fiction through the language and lens of Shakespeare. 

I expected the show to be good, and it certainly lived up to my expectations. But what was a pleasant additional surprise was how much the audience was loving the show - the energy in the crowd helped take this theatrical experience to the next level. 

And Shakespearian language is surprisingly amenable to representing the spirit of Quentin Tarantino: both are poetic and often involve violent themes. The cast was strong across the board, but special mention should be given to Cameron Sedgwick for his Christopher Walken impression, and to Kareem Alleyne for invoking Samuel L. Jackson's spirit while spouting Shakespearian vocabulary. 

A word to the wise, however: if you have the time, try to watch Pulp Fiction again before seeing this, since some of the references are subtle or throw-away and are easy to miss if you don't have the original film script easily accessible to the memory. 

July 2 - 13