Deslyn Bach, James Goldman, Kylee Martinez and Le Truong from ‘Unfurnished’, Photo Ellie B. Mendoza
Presented by Hundred Flowers | Modjelewski Productions
I love farce. I love people running in and out of doors and overturned furniture and props scattered across a stage and people tripping over each other and mistaken identities and misconstrued situations and characters yelling outlandish things and falling down oof! Unfurnished has all of these things! Competently written and efficiently staged, it makes good use of its 11-person cast. It’s rough around the edges because Fringe, but even when the guns are neon plastic toys, we sort of buy in. I did, anyway.
In an abandoned cottage, about a dozen people are gathered for a high school reunion. Their plans are upended by a series of zany plot contrivances. A real estate agent is trying to show the house. Gangsters and thugs descend upon it, desperate for something hidden in the couch that keeps disappearing and reappearing. There’s a blizzard and standoffs and secret identities and drinking battles and a television winds up on someone’s head.
The script, by Seamus Tokol (who also directs) and Spencer Pearson, is full of clever banter. Each of the characters has a distinct and funny deal. Their interpersonal dynamics are clear and motivated. This solid base allows for all the wacky shenanigans to occur without it being too muddled. Don’t get me wrong, it absolutely feels like a glorious, chaotic mess, but its antics are rendered with enough focused craft to keep you oriented amidst the mayhem.
The sound effects can sometimes be a little clunky and the internal logic isn’t always consistent. The amorphous reality, to its credit, does feel theatrically self-aware. Too short to climb through the window? He’s just gonna walk around it—through the wall! In a running gag that really tickled me, a pair of performers keep re-appearing in a series of random bit parts with hokey dollarstore disguises to portray each new pair of oddballs. This is, essentially, a staged cartoon. It’s consistently hilarious and surprising; sometimes, even, a little sweet.
Everyone here is, at the very least, compelling, with some of the performers absolutely killing it. Applying more intensive scrutiny, it could lose about ten minutes. But all things considered, even without a proper set, the thing has personality, momentum and a robust engine for its comedy.
Unfurnished
@ Toronto Fringe Festival
running July 3 to 14, 2024
Tarragon Theatre Mainspace (30 Bridgman Ave)
running time: 75 minutes
