GRAB ‘EM BY THE PUSSY: OR HOW TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB by Rouvan Silogix (Theatre ARTaud/Filament Incubator). At Theatre Passe Muraille (16 Ryerson). Runs to November 5. $ Pwyc from $15-$75. theatreartaud.com. Rating: NNN
Theatre ARTauds vaudevillian farce is wildly exhilarating and frustrating at the same time. A group of talented performers called the Riot Brigade dance, sing, play violin, perform acrobatics, scream and conspire in episodes that evoke the anger and mania of the population succumbing to the likes of Donald Trump.
Sometimes it works spectacularly, as when an aspiring terrorist (Bobby Del Rio) is interviewed by a recruiter, or when the group does a line dance that evokes the sight of a crowd in lockstep. Even the slightly overdone duck fetish is charming.
But the pro-environment sequence in which the Brigade forms a circle and catalogues various eco-disasters, punctuated with an amusing hashtag, borders on agitprop, something the piece otherwise manages to avoid. The list of Trump tweets gives no new information and the last scene, though powerful, shifts the tone in a way that subverts the message.
Then again, the piece is not intended to make one grand statement the stagecraft is low-tech, and one long piece of red material that, when used as gymnastic equipment, goes a long way. For the most part, the chaos is bracing.
Amaka Umeh and Zoe Katz are stand-outs but every member of the cast has multiple skills and they all sing superbly. Plainly the performers led by Jerry Schaefer as the emcee who cant control himself or anyone else have an inspiring commitment to social justice.
Dont be daunted by the two-and-a-half-hour run-time. You wont be bored for a second. And playwright Rouvan Silogix is a gifted talent. Youll walk out of this thing not knowing what just hit you.
