Theme Park is a dark comedy about a terrible ride accident at Super-Duper Mega-Marine Coaster World – and a gunman-hostage situation that follows it. A detective and his sidekick attempt to diffuse the situation.
Writer-Actor David Jacobson creates a fairly complex story with very little – his body, his voice, and just a few chairs as props. He brings a great deal of energy to the show – funneling it into creating six-odd characters.
In fact, the story features an impressive array of characters for a one-man show.
However, this sometimes made it a little difficult to follow – a few more (simple) props to differentiate characters such as hats, and accessories may have made it a bit easier.
The portion of the story that really appealed to me (as a former Psychology major) was the psychosis of some of the darker characters. The back-story of the gunman, made him a little more human – and I think that’s important in any examination of any psychologically unstable character.
I would have liked more of the story to focus on the interaction between him, the detective, and his assistant, and what drove them, than on the hostages – but that is because that’s what interested me.
This tale despite it’s setting as a place for kids, is definitely not family friendly. But it might be interesting to check out if darker comedy is your thing – and if you want an adult night out.
Personally – it wasn’t my thing. But to be fair, reading the other reviews out there, (Glen Sumi of NOW gives it 3 N’s) – I feel like this a show you will either like or dislike – so check it out and judge for yourself.
Details
– Theme Park plays at Theatre Passe Muraille (16 Ryerson Avenue)
– It plays at the following times:
Wed, July 13 9:30 PM
Thu, July 14 Noon PM
Fri, July 15 11:30 PM
– All individual Fringe tickets are $10 ($5 for FringeKids) at the door (cash only). Tickets are available online at www.fringetoronto.com, by phone at 416-966-1062, in person at The Randolph Centre for the Arts, 736 Bathurst Street (Advance tickets are $11 – $10+$1 convenience fee)
– Several money-saving passes are available if you plan to see at least 5 shows