The Devil is in The Details
by Max Gorokhovski
@MaxGorokhovski
Watch out WildKat! tells the simple tale of a young gunslinger in the Wild West as she confronts her father's killer, the devil. What follows is an hour of lively comedy that excels at drawing the crowd from the mostly barren stage and into the wild landscape of the troupe's imagination. Very reminiscent of Futurama's comedic style with a sprinkle of Tarantino's punchy dialogue.
Sean Murray deserves a steady round of applause for taking the same old Hollywood tropes that we have seen a million times before and really making them fun again. This along with the cast's collaborative direction really brings life to the show.
This collaboration between the production company as directors, only works due to the tremendous amount of chemistry among them. They flow and bounce off one another with ease, landing just about every single joke they throw out. With a sense of care they easily whisk the audience away into their world with minimal use of stage design. It also helps that not only does the troupe know their genre conventions, they also know how to successfully twist them around.
This is not to say that any of the jokes are fresh or original, you have the gunfight jokes, the crotch punch jokes, the trains an so on. What really makes the show work is the cast's dedication to the audience. It's almost as if they are energized by each and every chuckle and laugh, making their energy grow as the show chugs along. They are very attuned to the audience around them. When they notice that their delivery is becoming too fast, they slow down so as not to lose the audience in their flurry of ceaseless hijinks and hilarity.
The chemistry of the cast also comes out in full force during the dance numbers. They are pulled off exquisitely, every actor in tune with the other as well as the lighting. Sadly, this is also one of the only parts of the show that has an issue. The third dance number, although well performed feels tacked on. Crammed in and surrounded by hilarity at each end, it flounders under the strain of expectations.
In closing, this is a must see show, by far the best thing I have seen at Toronto Fringe. It is lively and engrossing. Applause to Sex T-Rex for giving the audience its money's worth and so much more.
July 2 - 13
Thanks so much for the review, really glad you liked the show!
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to mention that the show was actually directed by (the recently Canadian Comedy Award nominated) Alec Toller! We had to submit fringe info before he was brought on board, so he's not listed on the website.
But he's a fantastic director and a mildly interesting human being.