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Culture Stage

Fringe Review: Inaudible Garbage

INAUDIBLE GARBAGE by Stepen MacDonald. Robert Gill Theatre. July 1 at 1:45 pm, July 3 at 3:30 pm, July 5 at 1 pm, July 6 at 2:15 pm, July 8 at 11:30 pm, July 9 at 8:45 pm. Buy tickets. Rating: NN


Writer/director Stephen MacDonald deserves credit for using the “E” word in the Fringe program: experimental theatre. If only his vaguely existential show added up to something more thoughtful and entertaining.

In a roadside gas station restroom, a man (John Healy) has locked himself inside to… do what, exactly? He washes up, shaves, discusses the importance of first impressions and repeatedly breaks down theatre’s fourth wall to talk to us. In another room – or is it the same one? – a different man (Jonah Allison) wakes from sleeping on the restroom floor to mope about. Occasionally both knock on the adjoining door to pretend to be someone wanting to enter.

Are they different sides of the same man? It’s never clear. Nor is it clear what brought the men to this place. A bit more about the men’s lives – or even why they chose this particular gas station restroom – would have grounded the production.

That’s a shame, for despite a jarringly abrupt ending, the play features a strong, focused performance by Healy, and MacDonald is dealing with important issues like mental illness and suicide.

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