This is the first year that I’ve gone to any of the FringeKids shows that are part of the Fringe every year and I saw two shows in one day. The second show was The Super Secret Subway Society which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I noticed a (mostly) blank page inside the program. It had a small drawing of a subway car and the text said that it was a picture of the subway of today and asked us to draw a picture of the subway of the future on the page. I thought it was included as a way to entertain restless kids. Maybe it was but there was more to it than that. As we went into the theatre kids were given three crayons – they got to choose their favourite colours – so they could draw a future subway. They were told that their picture might be used in the show. Much colouring ensued.

What a great way to get kids to feel as if they are part of the action right from the beginning.

The show started with the excellent cast (Brittney A. Filek-Gibson, Freddie Rivas, and Kevin Dowse) introducing themselves by their real names and telling us who they would be in the show. They realized that they needed someone to make the door closing sound and enlisted the audience to say “ding ding ding” whenever anyone in the play said, “The doors are closing”. We did that really well.

They then collected the drawings. One little guy was finishing his so they waited for him. You have to love kid’s shows. They did use some of the pictures in the show and one boy was literally quivering with excitement when he realized that his drawing was being used.

The show is about 10 year old Seymour who takes the subway to school. He has invented an imaginary friend and a game – a quest to find the lost Spadina Diamond – to pass the time. Amy, the most popular girl in school, starts to take the subway as well and, to his amazement, she talks to him. He tells her about his game and asks her to join. Not quite as easy to tell her about his imaginary friend but it turns out that Amy can see him as well.

Enough story details. It’s a lovely show, very imaginative, with enough TTC jokes to keep parents happy. It’s appropriate that it plays at the Palmerston Library Theatre because the subway runs underneath and you can hear the trains.

Details:

• The Super Secret Subway Society plays at Venue FK – Palmerston Library Theatre – FringeKids (560 Palmerston Ave)
• Showtimes are July 07 12:45 PM, July 08 05:45 PM, July 09 02:30 PM, July 10 04:15 PM, July 12 05:15 PM, July 13 01:00 PM, July 14 04:00 PM
• All individual Fringe tickets are $10 ($6 Fringekids) at the door (cash only). Tickets are also available online at www.fringetoronto.com, by phone at 416-966-1062, or in person at The Randolph Centre for the Arts, 736 Bathurst Street (Advance tickets are $11 – $9+$2 service charge)
• Value packs are available if you plan to see at least 5 shows