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SummerWorks review: Catacomb

CATACOMB by Laena Brown (Stopgap Theatre/SummerWorks). At Trinity Bellwoods Green House (790 Queen West). Aug 5 at 8:15 pm, and 9:45 pm, Aug 6 at 8:15 pm and 9:45 pm. See listing. Rating: NNN

To see Laena Brown‘s short, intriguing bee-themed site-specific show, small audiences (capped at 15) are crammed closer than cells of honeycomb inside the tiny and beautifully lit greenhouse in the southwest corner of Trinity Bellwoods park.

The fast-paced, high-energy performance alternates between snippets of the story of a hard-partying self-destructive woman (Brown) who eventually becomes a beekeeper, and fun lecture-like factoids about bee anatomy, behaviour, social structure and hive design delivered by Vincent Leblanc-Beaudoin.

Browns character is fascinating, but her story could benefit from some clarity for a while its unclear if the beekeeper and cocaine addict are in fact the same person and making more overt connections between the insect facts and the human parable would help, too.

But the production, directed by Katrina Darychuk, is otherwise very strong. Brown and Leblanc-Beaudoin are both very fun to watch, as they bounce around the small verdant space, especially during well-executed symbolic lifts performed on a large central worktable.

At just over 30 minutes, Catacomb feels like a preview of a longer work that could easily be expanded and refined.

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