“[A] wildly funny and absurd dark play that serves as a cautionary tale of the powerful bond between one household and one primate.”
Excerpted from press release:
If you like your family, you are going to love You and That Fucking Gorilla. Beth Torrance is a doting wife and mother who suddenly finds herself under intense and unyielding attack from everyone she loves after showing a lack of enthusiasm for the family’s unusual new pet. You and That Fucking Gorilla is a wildly funny and absurd dark play that serves as a cautionary tale of the powerful bond between one household and one primate.
The piece was initially conceived for an undergraduate playwriting course at Queen’s University in 2012, and is now making its way to the Toronto Fringe Festival. Tia McGregor, then a third year drama student, was stumped over what to write about for class and was searching for inspiration laying in bed and staring at her bedroom walls as she drifted in and out of sleep. She found it in a mixed media print tacked to the wall featuring the words “You and That Fucking Gorilla”, by Scottish/American artist David Fullarton. The concept for the play was born from McGregor’s deep consideration of why anyone would ever need to say, “…you and that fucking gorilla”.
The Fringe Festival is much like a Debutante Ball, as it is host to House of Squalor Productions’ official coming out into the Toronto theatre scene. House of Squalor Productions is made up of playwright Tia McGregor, who was a part of the 2014/2015 Obsidian Theatre Playwright’s Unit; director Rebecca Moran, who is currently an associate at Larissa Mair Casting and Associates; and producer Brittany Allan, who holds administrative positions at both the Whistler Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival.
You and That Fucking Gorilla manages to explore the burdens of motherhood in a severe and poignant way, while always remaining a comedy first. This play will make you laugh very hard; it will also make you want to call your mother and love your family dog just a little less.
Showtimes:
July 1, 10:30pm
July 4, 1:45pm
July 6, 1:15pm
July 7, 6:30pm
July 9, 12:00pm
July 10, 9:15pm
July 11, 5:45pm
Venue: Factory Studio Theatre (125 Bathurst St.)
Tickets for all Fringe productions are $10, $12 in advance. Tickets can be purchased online, by phone (416-966-1062, business hours only), in-person from the festival box office located in the parking lot behind Honest Ed’s, (481 Bloor West), or — if any remain — from the venue box office (cash-only), starting one hour before showtime.
The festival offers a range of money-saving passes for committed Fringers; see website for details.
Be advised that Fringe shows always start exactly on time, and latecomers are never admitted.
Photo by Don Albin.