Fringe Review: Multiple Organism
- Septimus & Carmunist
- Aug 26, 2024
- 2 min read
Dates: Aug 21, 2024 - Sep 1, 2024
Location: Metro Studio (Fringe Venue 1)
Artists: Mind of a Snail - Chloe Ziner & Jessica Gabriel (Vancouver, BC)
Duration: 60 mins
Rating: Ages 18+
Genre: Comedy, Puppetry
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Chloe Ziner and Jessica Gabriel's projector-powered shadow puppetry is masterful. What they accomplish with light and sound is indescribable, at once simple and beautiful and intricate. You really have to witness one of their shows to understand. Their eccentric take on shadow puppetry is unlike anything either of us have ever seen.
The story that unfolded on stage was delightfully absurd, from a talking stomach to a love affair between toothbrushes, with plenty of toilet humour (literally) along the way. This performance will appeal to most Fringers, although there is some nudity, which explains the 18+ rating, so leave your kiddos at home.
Multiple Organism won us over to this Mind of a Snail duo. We'd be happy to see any of their other shows. That puts this review very nearly at five stars. However, we did hit a couple snags with the story. There is some fun symbolism here about objects and objectification, but it required a final explanation for the point to be made. And the title is more of a funny play on "multiple orgasm" than a true reflection of the show's narrative, which amounted to an artist's model travelling to a magic toilet world and having sex with two amorous toothbrushes. The comedy relies heavily on the bawdy and some repeated puns, with a suicide/hanging gag thrown in for shock value. Yet these are snags more than gripes. To reiterate: we'd jump at the chance to catch another performance by Ziner and Gabriel.
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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