REVIEW
What: I鈥檓 Doing This For You
Where: Intrepid Theatre Club
When: Continues on Friday at 9 p.m. and Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
Rating: 3 1/2 stars (out of five)
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At the beginning of I鈥檓 Doing This For You, her one-woman show at Uno Fest, Toronto鈥檚 Haley McGee handed out vodka shots.
What a promising development in contemporary theatre. I had two. Bear in mind these were tiny glasses, each containing about two thimblefuls of booze (she said they were plastic communion cups purchased from Amazon). Added bonus: we each received a cupcake at the show鈥檚 end.
McGee 鈥� a striking figure in a blond page-boy wig and a 1960s-style orange dress 鈥� greeted each of us as we entered. The conceit is that she鈥檚 throwing a surprise birthday party for a close friend who鈥檚 a stand-up comic. And we, the audience, have all answered a Craigslist ad soliciting guests.
The show, about 70 minutes long, is a strange little comedy with dramatic elements. Part of McGee鈥檚 intent is to break down theatre鈥檚 traditional fourth wall. At the outset of Wednesday鈥檚 show, she mingled with the crowd, repeatedly checking on the time and asking if we needed more vodka shots.
To further shake up the actor/audience relationship, she started her show with the lights turned off. In the dark, she explained her friend鈥檚 comedy act (he鈥檚 yet to arrive). McGee told us her absent pal鈥檚 comedy is a little unusual, perhaps a bit sexist, and warned we might not find it funny at first.
When her friend still hadn鈥檛 shown up after 25 minutes, McGee borrowed an audience member鈥檚 phone and gave him a call. The atmosphere 鈥� already a bit uncomfortable 鈥� became more uneasy. More and more, we gleaned bits of information about McGee鈥檚 unnamed character. She鈥檚 on anti-depressants; she volunteers at a cat shelter; she鈥檚 an odd duck trying to hold it together.
One can see why Intrepid Theatre selected I鈥檓 Doing This For You for Uno, its long-running festival of solo performance. The show is intimate, quirky, experimental. McGee is a talented performer able to create a character who鈥檚 a bristling bundle of contradictions: charming, engaging and damaged in a slightly Fatal Attraction kind of way. And she鈥檚 not afraid to take chances (turning off the lights, offbeat audience interactions, allowing for long pauses in her delivery).
On this night, it worked a lot of the time. That said, I鈥檓 not sure the script was always compelling enough to sustain the performance. A few sequences lagged; sometimes the plot seemed rather thin.
I鈥檓 Doing This For You is the sort of show that thrives or falters depending on the audience鈥檚 response. Certainly Wednesday鈥檚 crowd was good-natured and receptive; however, the atmosphere of buoyant effervescence the show requires (partly to contrast with the dramatic scenes) wasn鈥檛 always there.
On a good night this may be a a four-star show. Those who love quirky theatre will likely enjoy I鈥檓 Doing This For You. Uno Fest continues in various downtown locations through Saturday.