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Fringe review: Bugger The Butterfly! (Or My Sci-Fi, Hollywood Adventure)

BUGGER THE BUTTERFLY (OR MY SCI-FI, HOLLYWOOD ADVENTURE) by T. Berto (Pencil-Neck Theatre). At the Theatre Centre Franco Boni Theatre. July 11 at 10:15 pm, July 13 at 5:45 pm, July 14 at 4 pm, July 15 at 1:45 pm. See listing. Rating: NNN


This intriguing time-travel two-hander imagines an intense and comical encounter between British actor Peter O’Toole (Gordon Harper) and Diego (Kenny Grenier), an awkward fan who’s travelled back from decades in the future to confront him in his backstage dressing room before a 1960 performance of The Merchant Of Venice.

The ensuing back-and-forth hinges on Diego’s attempts to explain the future and time travel to the skeptical, intensely annoyed O’Toole, and to compel him to make a crucial change in his life. The script traffics in nerdy tech humour and paints an intriguing picture of the future, as well as an amusing vision of how time travel might operate and be used. No spoilers here!

Harper’s boozy, bewildered O’Toole is fun to watch, and the odd-couple pair create a strange but enjoyable enough chemistry, which helps overlook the simplistic staging, minor plot holes and extended-sketch feel.

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