Review: (Toronto) Fantastic Extravagance (Fringe)

Stiff Characters
by Beat Rice

Fantastic Extravagance is a fast paced story about an eccentric author's intimate and unseen struggle with the writing process. Eden Montgomery is a young writer with a reputation for having her protagonist in her novels die at the end.

Eden explains that her characters are like children to her, albeit temporary children. She gives birth to them and they live with her - until she kills them off and she grieves them. In her latest novel entitled Fantastic Extravagance, her main character Poppy stays with her even after the book is published and up for a prestigious award. Poppy is depicted by an actor onstage as Eden's invisible friend. Only she can see and hear her character. Eden tries to explain what her mind and body go through when writing these characters in her books, but she is merely seen as crazy. 

We sympathize with Eden's frustration but also laugh at her eccentric ways of dealing with the fact that nobody understands her, a notion she confesses is her deepest desire. 

Her parents, played by Alison Smiley and Clyde Whitham, make an especially hilarious appearance as very liberal academics. Lindsey Clark is a superbly talented actor who plays the role of Eden with just the right amount of kookiness that it still remains believable. Playwright Lara Stokes has written a love letter to all writers. Writers, or anybody who is close to one, will love this play. 

July 2 - 13