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Culture Stage Theatre

Fringe Festival review: PRUDE is a potent and powerful solo show

Prude review Fringe Festival 2022
Toronto Fringe 2022 review of Prude
Courtesy of Probably Theatre Collective

PRUDE written and performed by Lou Campbell (Probably Theatre Collective/Toronto Fringe Festival). At the Tarragon Theatre Solo Room (30 Bridgman). July 8 at 8 pm, July 9 at 4:45 pm, July 10 at 8:45 pm, July 12 at 6:30 pm, July 13 at 9:15 pm, July 14 at 2:30 pm. See listing. Rating: NNNN


Lou Campbell gets full marks for originality in PRUDE, their difficult-to-categorize solo show about the pressures put on people to party, drink, take drugs and have sex.

Not that this feels like a PSA, mind you. Bursting onto the stage at the Tarragon Solo Room in a head-to-toe spandex suit the colour of lox cream cheese, complete with orange cape/skirt and matching crown (Everette Fournier is costume designer), Campbell rouses us with a high-energy routine about being the “King of the Party.” Between blaring music and air horns (the sound design, by Peter Sarty, is impressive) and some call-and-response action, Campbell’s strutting character dispenses lots of aggressive, motivational-speaker-type jargon.

But it’s all a bait-and-switch as they gradually dig deeper into the dangers of forced conformity – whether about mind-altering substances or sex itself. Contrasting with the high-energy moments are powerful scenes of high schoolers at a debauched trip to a tropical resort, a house party gone very wrong and glimpses at the pervasive booze industrial complex.

While the piece, efficiently directed by Stevey Hunter, could be developed a bit more, especially after some poignant revelations in the final scene, it’s always watchable, and Campbell delivers a layered, nuanced performance full of heart, soul and some killer dance moves.

@glennsumi

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