Ninety-Five

Winnipeg Free Press – ONLINE EDITION Recycled By: Rick Caslake
eeshka peeshka Winnipeg, MB 6/07/2010 6:18 PM | Comments: 3

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This two-handed dramatic comedy, penned by Winnipegger Rick Caslake, flubs an interesting premise.
Local actors Kevin Anderson and Lorraine James play former lovebirds who make dinner together 30 years after their relationship has ended. They now have nothing in common – he is an MBA who loves his beef and she is a civil servant obsessed with environmentalism. That’s pretty much it. In 55 minutes, Caslake gives us no revelations of note about their pasts and supplies no reason why they should make a fresh start. The two actors are competent amateurs, but director Barbara Best‘s casting is dubious: James looks like she would have been in elementary school 30 years ago. The virtue of the production is its elaborate kitchen set. They could recycle it for a TV cooking show.
— Morley Walker

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This play is currently rated an average of 3.9 out of 5 (8 votes).
3 User Reviews

1. POSTED BY: HM JULY 18, 2010 AT 2:07 PM It’s a shame that so many people take the Free Press reviews so seriously when considering their choices for the Fringe, because Walker is a unusually harsh reviewer, especially when he’s asked to see something with commercial appeal.”Recycled” was a warm, funny, charming play with a lot of laughs. The actors did a great job in making the characters of Sunshine and Toby come to life. It was very well-written, and, as Arthur Dent said, made me laugh out loud as well. The witty back-and-forth verbal sparring between the two characters was so enjoyable that I was a little sad when it was over. I used to review Fringe plays for many years, so I have a good sense of what the general caliber is, and this play was deserving of more than two stars. A shame that the hapless playwright drew the short straw and was reviewed by Walker. Hopefully good word-of-mouth will counteract the bad press.
2. POSTED BY: arthurdent JULY 18, 2010 AT 12:33 PM “Recycled” has the rare gift of touching both your heart and your funny bone. There were several moments of tenderness, and it was one of the few plays this year that actually made me laugh out loud repeatedly. Morley evidently dozed through the explicitly-stated reason why the characters are making a fresh start, and it’s a reason that’s closely tied to the underlying theme: can you go back home again? When the present isn’t working out, how productive is it to look to a happier past for solace? The actors did a great job with their characters, and the writing was excellent. This is definitely a play worth seeing.
3. POSTED BY: JULY 17, 2010 AT 7:11 PM REALLY neat idea, GREAT acting, poor execution….too bad.

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Ninety-Four

I didn’t think I’d have enough time to watch any fringe shows at all, but I squeezed in only 6 this year. Luckily I didn’t feel worn out or wrung out, so I’ll be going back to my wage-slave job fresher than before. Here are my glimpses of the few I’d seen this year:

• Kafka in Love: it wasn’t as weird as I thought it would be. I liked the 3 stories featured. The writing was good; I’m always aware of the female characters written as distractions, but otherwise the actors did a good job. Kevin Anderson, who was my co-star in Recycled, had an 18-minute monologue, in a Czech accent, at the end of the play. Great job, Kev!
• Scar Tissue: Anyone who mentioned this play to me always triggers my reaction to the ending of it. Every time I saw the performers around the fringe grounds, I’d express my delight in seeing their show, like I were a Justin Bieber fan (adding his name here will get me a butt-load of traffic!). The writing, acting & directing was superior. Period.
• Super Spectacular!: Rick Caslake & I met these two beautifully-talented men before our CJOB interview. They seemed normal. They went into character after Rick & I coughed up some answers to the interviewer & their charismatic characters convinced me to see their show. I was so glad I went! As a person who knows a thumble-full about opera, their pitch sold me on its entertainment value, and they weren’t wrong. The audience couldn’t stop laughing; my facial muscles were sore from grinning & laughing & their style was inspiring. I haven’t heard a bad thing about them from anyone who had seen them. They’ve learned from Philippe Gaulier and I wanna know who this genius is.
• CRUMBS in the 13th Dimension: I’m a fan (not some creepy stalker) of these guys, maybe because I did improv way back in Vancouver & my improv muscle is sagging. I didn’t do very much long-form like these young’uns, mostly theatre sports, so it’s still good to see many different forms. My “date” was the vivacious Rebecca Gibson (thanks for the ride home, chica! ❤ ). Even Ryan Stiles knows of their skills! Every night is a different show, so just when you think your night was good, go on a different one to compare.
• unADULTeRATED me: Starts off quirky, gets funnier, leads to poignant & ends up revealing (pun intended). Rachelle Fordyce is a good friend of mine & she happens to be a great performer too. All this time, I’d never heard her sing opera!
• Little Dickie Milburn: It was weird seeing another show in the same venue we did Recycled in, but that has nothing to do with how amusing this show was. I’m always distracted by younger people’s make-up job to look older, but then again, Morley Walker dissed me for looking like a kid in my show, so no ill-will towards any of the fine actors in this show.

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Ninety-One

1. Thank you to all the total strangers who went out of their way to tell me how much they liked the show, for feeling so compelled to express yourselves and motivate me to keep trudging along this inconsistent profession.
2. Thank you Winnipeg Fringe Festival for picking Rick’s play to be performed in the first place.
3. Thank you to St. Mary’s Church for allowing us to rehearse our fringe show.
4. Thanks to the only other cast member, Kevin Anderson, who was talented and just all-around fun to work with and made every rehearsal feel like it wasn’t work.
5. Thanks to Barbara Best for her patience and trust in our abilities as actors and for the use of her home for line rehearsals (also her husband Ted for tolerating us and seeing our show).
6. Thanks to Sherry Bailey for inspiring Rick to write such a delightfully thought-provoking play and for your backstage help, also your delicious bread I ate during rehearsals and performances. Veggies Unite!
7. Thanks to Laura our venue technician for being in charge and keeping us in line.
8. Thank you to my wonderful family for coming out to many of my shows in the past and being supportive.
9. Thanks to my wonderful friends who came out, rain or shine, to see me on stage, some of you more than once, and also being supportive.
10. Thank you to my fellow actors who came out to see me, for which I’m always grateful!
11. A GIGANTIC Thank you Rick Caslake, for casting me in a role that no major theatre or major film company would have even considered me for, for seeing capabilities in me that nobody saw, for going beyond race and sexual attractiveness and believing I was the right person for the role and for just being you.

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Ninety

Here‘s a gallery of photos taken on our tech day in our space.

You can also access eeshka peeshka‘s Posterous blog for photos and video of our show.

One night down, 6 more to do. I almost wish is were the full 14 days though.

We’re waiting until the show is over to check out our reviews, so don’t tell us!

Eighty-Seven

A Shout-out to Olga K!

“Recycled”, a comedy written by Rick Caslake

A sneak peek at ‘Recycled’ filmed at McNally Robinson
Grant Park, July 6, 2010

In this age of Blue Box recycling, greenhouse gas reduction and reusing everything from eggshells for fertilizer, to wine corks for fishing floats – what about an old relationship? Don’t some things belong in a landfill?

Starring Lorraine James and Kevin Anderson

RATED: General Audience, 60 min

Venue#3 The Playhouse Studio
180 Market Ave. Entrance on Main St.