On Thursday evening I saw A King’s Heart at Factory Theatre. There are two things I need to admit to before I say anything about the show.

One – I chose it because I was seeing a show at 6.30 at Factory and I didn’t want to have to go to another theatre afterwards. It’s actually as good a way as any to choose shows, I’ve discovered some pretty great stuff that way.

Two – I’m an atheist. Chances are that I’m not going to be saved and come to Jesus as a result of a play.

I wasn’t. It felt as if I was at a Sunday School Pageant that ran for 90 minutes albeit with older and more talented performers.

The show got off to a bad start when the first thing we heard was feedback. Aw, the poor sound person. I don’t think that shows actually get time to rehearse in the space where they’re going to perform so a little glitch is forgivable. Seven or eight aren’t. I stopped counting at that point and just kept bracing myself every time a performer come on to or left the stage.

Factory is not a big theatre. The performers didn’t need mikes. I found most of the show too loud and I’m losing my hearing.

The play is a series of stories about King David. The narrator, Nathan, tells us the story of the part of the story that we’re going to see. He then leaves the stage and David and various other characters act out the story Nathan told us. They also sing. And David dances.

Nathan was pretty distracting. He sounded like an evangelical preacher with a Mennonite accent. I thought maybe that was his real accent because I couldn’t think of any reason for him to do it. I looked at his bio afterwards and he was born and raised in Toronto so I guess it was an artistic decision.

About three quarters of the way through the show it struck me that the cast was all male. I was thinking about that and about what it meant and what kind of message it sent and lo and behold, a woman.

Unfortunately she was playing Bathsheba and her part consisted of wearing a skimpy costume, ‘bathing’ and belly dancing. I found it quite offensive and wondered what on earth the (I assumed) male production team was thinking.

Once again I checked the program. The production team is all female. Now I really wonder what they were thinking.

On the plus side the costumes were interesting. They were kind of ratty edged homespun wrapped in really interesting ways.

Details:

• A King’s Heart is playing at Factory Theatre Mainspace (125 Bathurst St)
• Showtimes are:
  July 05 03:00 PM
  July 07 04:45 PM
  July 08 02:45 PM
  July 09 10:30 PM
  July 11 12:00 PM
  July 13 07:30 PM
• All individual Fringe tickets are $10 ($5 for FringeKids) at the door (cash only) and go on sale one hour before showtime. 50% of tickets are available in advance and are $11 ($9 + $2 service charge), these can be purchased online at
  www.fringetoronto.com, by phone at 416-966-1062 ext. 1, or in person during the festival at the Festival Box Office in the parking lot behind Honest Ed’s (581 Bloor St W).
• Value packs are available if you plan to see at least 5 shows

Please note that there is absolutely no latecomer seating during the Toronto Fringe Festival.