Last year I caught a one-man show outta nowhere, Random Samples Collective’s GAMETES AND GONADS starring Leff Leard. And for a show about spermatozoa, it impressed the Hell out of me, so I was pretty jazzed that Jeff was back in this year’s Ottawa Fringe Festival with a brand new show. Once again going solo, his latest is THE SHOW MUST GO ON, a wonderfully dramatic/comic retelling of his year travelling the country with a Children’s Theatre Troupe out of Victoria BC.
Chronicling dozens of stops atop winding mountain roads in the middle of nowhere, pushy principals, weak-bladdered schoolchildren and a seemingly neverending run of Rumplestiltskin driving them on. Well, that and their run-down van. And all the while, a menacing figure named Bill looms on the horizon…
Jeff Leard manages another incredibly entertaining and engaging show with this look at the darker (and occasionally uplifting) side of children’s theatre. Peppered with Leard’s bang-on physical storytelling, plenty of memorable characters, and some well-aimed Game of Thrones and LOTR in-jokes for the geeks (which is everyone these days, let’s face it), THE SHOW MUST GO ON is great fun, and a dynamic look behind the curtain. And Jeff is now in competition with Christine Lesiak of ASK AGGIE for most smashing outfit of Arts Court Library. Seriously worth a visit, I think you’ll be happy you did . Peace, love and soul,
Kevin Reid, the Visitor (and Winston)
The Visitorium 