THE RED QUEEN EFFECT by the company (Seventh Stage). Mainspace. Jan 14 at 5:15 pm, Jan 15 at 9:30 pm, Jan 16 at 5 pm, Jan 17 at 3:15 pm. $12-$15, passes available. 416-966-1062, fringetoronto.com. See listing. Rating: NNNN
This ensemble-crafted comic critique of corporate life and structure follows recent MBC grad Alice (Monica Dottor) “down the rabbit hole” into the Kafkaesque world of Toronto finance.[rssbreak] Its look at gender discrimination in the workplace (no one takes Alice seriously initially) cleverly points out social contradictions but might go further to expose the roots of these assumptions.
The show’s biggest asset is a great pair of comic characters. As the firm’s corporate-philosophy-obsessed CEO, Dylan Scott Smith speaks almost exclusively in hilarious New Age boardroom babble, while Ted Hallett gets big laughs by playing the misogynistic executive type. Dottor and Melissa-Jane Shaw’s choreography, which has streams of office workers shuffling around in formation, is funny and works well to support the anti-corporate theme.
