Fringe Review: Free Kittens
- Septimus & Carmunist
- Aug 25, 2024
- 2 min read
Dates: Aug 21, 2024 - Sep 1, 2024
Location: SKAM Satellite Studio (Fringe Venue 4)
Artist: Megan Milton (Vancouver, BC)
Duration: 60 mins
Rating: Ages 16+
Genre: Comedy, Storytelling
⭐⭐⭐
Megan Milton's Free Kittens explores the oversimplification of anti-abortion rhetoric. As an "abortion survivor," she shares a story of growing up in poverty with a mother who kept having kids even though it wasn't necessarily the right choice for her or her existing children.
Milton is naturally funny. She has the ability to crack up an entire audience, even just by telling them they should have laughed at a joke that didn't land. She has a great sense of sarcasm and an unstoppable self-deprecating wit. There were consistent laughs from beginning to end.
Fringers who enjoy comedic storytelling will appreciate Free Kittens. It's vulnerable, sometimes shocking, and will definitely make you think.
Workshop notes
There wasn't much circularity to the narrative. It felt more like an itemized rant about her mother and upbringing. We both spent the early part wondering when free kittens were going to make an appearance. This could have been a helpful image to open with, to give the title more symbolic weight.
Milton's mother and siblings never really came to life for us. In part, this was down to a "telling" instead of "showing" issue. Situations were explained rather than dramatized. We both felt the show would have been stronger if we could have stepped into some of Milton's experiences, moment by moment, rather than having them merely summarized. A good example is when she encounters a houseless man who knows her father: this would have been a great opportunity to slow down, deepen the scene, and give us the actual exchange of dialogue.
In Milton's pauses, it often felt like she was trying to remember what came next in the play. The pauses didn't feel intentional. With more focus on the audience, we would have been more immersed, but as it was, the performance felt like a work in progress.
If you are anti-abortion, an abortion survivor, or if you think that's a great joke (because it is), then you should check out Free Kittens.
Get your tickets here.
The Victoria Fringe Festival, presented by Intrepid Theatre since 1986, has become a cornerstone of the city’s arts scene, known for its unjuried, anything-goes approach to performance. For Carmunist and Septimus, Fringe is the highlight of the year. We’ve been involved as volunteers for more than a decade, and more recently, we’ve opened our home to performers as billets. Reviewing Fringe shows is something we’ve talked about for some time, and now we’re putting our experience as fiction editors and theatre stans to work, offering our thoughts and workshop notes for as many performances as we can attend.
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