Toronto Fringe - We Are The Bomb

The Toronto Fringe is always a bit of a mixed bag so it feels especially satisfying when you see something awesome. It feels even better than that when the first play you see is awesome. For a brief shining moment it feels like you've beaten the odds and that this will be the year you see nothing but awesome shit. Past experience has taught me that this feeling is fleeting. Nevertheless! I'm going to revel in it tonight.

We Are The Bomb had a lot of things going for it on paper, including a good company (Theatre Brouhaha) an acclaimed writer (Kat Sandler, writer of last year's Best of Fringe winner Help Yourself) and critical anticipation ( NOW, Torontoist, blogTO, etc.), so it seemed like a safe bet. I'm always a little apprehensive about site-specific plays because they tend towards gimmicky, but this play did a good job using its unconventional location without it feeling hokey. We Are The Bomb takes place in the Paddock Tavern at Queen & Bathurst and the basic plot (no spoilers) is that it is the last night in Toronto before prohibition takes place and a motley crew of bar patrons declare themselves a sovereign nation in an attempt to thwart the new law. And then shit goes down. It's genuinely laugh-out-loud funny (Kat Sandler is clearly a sharp writer, especially of dialogue) and as it begins its descent (ascent?) into more dramatic territory it feels very organic and natural.

I won't go into any further details; suffice it to say that there are 9 more performances left and I predict they will be well-attended so get your asses in gear and grab some tickets. A word of caution: The Paddock is not air-conditioned and it was hot as balls by the time the play reached its conclusion. The good news (for you drinkers) is the Paddock is open for booze business until the curtain goes up, despite there not actually being a curtain in the bar, so grab something cold before the show. ONE LAST THING: I really enjoyed the pre-show music being played by the company. Someone made a cool revolution-themed playlist, including Patti Smith, The Clash, The Living End, John Mellencamp, Neil Young and The Beatles. It's the little things, amirite?