BE KIND, REWIND by Barbara Johnston and Suzy Wilde (Edge of the Sky/Fringe). At the Randolph Theatre. Jul 9 at 2:45 pm, Jul 11 at 4:30 pm, Jul 12 at 6:15 pm, Jul 14 at 7 pm. See listing. Rating: NNNN
When lonely 15-year-old Torontonian Deirdre is forced to spend her summer in the Muskokas with her younger half-sister, Dawn (Sarah Abernathy), she finds friendship among a group of townies, including some film nerds working at the floundering local video store.
That’s the premise of Barbara Johnston and Suzy Wilde‘s rough-edged but charming and heartfelt musical. Structured like a live read of a screenplay (the significance of which becomes clearer later on), the show is a nostalgia-tinged fable with lots of references to 90s pop culture and pre-social media communication.
In a bold move, four actors (Elle Baron, Taylor Lovelace, Joanne Choi and Kryslyne-Mai Ancheta) play Deirdre, allowing for a range of performance styles and some haunting ensemble harmonies.
Johnston and Wilde’s songs are all terrifically catchy, whether they’re about big box stores, sisterly love or wearing a new bathing suit.
Not all the narrative threads come together, but there’s so much talent on display – both in the writing and the performances by the young cast – that it doesn’t matter.