Jayson McDonald in Giant Invisible Robot.
Giant Invisible Robot
Written and Performed by Jayson McDonald
Directed by Scott Holden
At the Lower Ossington Theatre until May 10
Balls
Written and co-directed by Rob Salerno
Co-directed by Cole J. Avis
Featuring Rob Salerno and Garett Watson
Presented by Ten Foot Pole Productions
At the Lower Ossington Theatre until May 17
By Matt McGeachy
Presented at the Lower Ossington, a theatre that’s making a name for itself producing and hosting interesting new work by younger playwrights and actors, the double features Giant Invisible Robot and Balls both got their start Fringe-ing. I previously reviewed Balls for last year’s Fringe Festival in Toronto.
Jayson McDonald’s one-man show about (you guessed it) a giant invisible robot has a lot going for it, not least of which is McDonald’s impressive performance and catalogue of voices and characters. But the clever, revelatory writing is a large part of what drives the show.
The show opens with a young boy talking to what seems to be his only friend, a giant invisible robot that no one but him knows exists. In quick sequence, McDonald changes characters to Dr. Scientist, a quack exploring the GIR phenomenon, and then to Captain Victory giving a speech about staying in school while taking time off from hunting the GIR. The show proceeds along and we think we’ve got it down: okay, Jayson, there are phenomenon that cannot be explained. We should respect the fantasy lives of children. Lovely vignettes, nice story, thank you.
But we haven’t got it at all (this is where the clever writing comes in): these are not a series of vignettes, but the life of one man’s mind. Abused as a child, he created an inner life to retreat to, filled with intrigue, import, and friendship. His therapist doesn’t believe him, but we know that for him, the GIR is real. The writing, the acting, the theatre itself: this was a fun show! It’s fitting that this show is staged up the street from CAMH, where no doubt many suffer (or don’t suffer) from delusion far grander than the friendship of a Giant Invisible Robot.
Next up, Balls, a slightly re-worked version of the Fringe show about two male friends and their struggle with testicular cancer. Unfortunately, not only was this the weaker show of the night, it was also weaker than when I first saw it performed.
Paul and Bastian have been friends since childhood and are now pre-med at U of T. (This is the first of several ill-fated references to U-of-T-specific places that fall flat: U of T does not have “pre-med.” Why the inserted location, when the story is really about the friendship? What value is added to the script?)
Paul discovers a lump on his testicle that turns out to be cancer. In a perverted twist of fate, Bastian also ends up with testicular cancer. The relationship between these two friends, and the comment on male friendship in general, that has such potential for a powerful story falls flat. Not only do we not buy that these guys have been friends since childhood, at times the characters seemed so flat as to have very little relationship at all.
Salerno’s Paul lacked the emotional intensity that might have made the character interesting, and Garett Watson’s Bastian stumbled so badly at points that I wondered if another week of rehearsals was needed to get the rhythm and lines straight in his head.
Technically, the messy stage — littered with childhood toys, basketballs, and dirty magazines — did not add anything to the performance. At times, the actors were outside their light and obscured, and the staging seemed haphazard. In the elapsed time between the Fringe and now, something went awry.
