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Robert Enright, CBC TV, July 7, 1999 Winnipeg, Manitoba
Burnt Tongue was on Robert Enright's
Top Ten pick of the Fringe list, CBC Television, July 9, Winnipeg
"Burnt
Tongue" is a heartbreaker. Shannan Calcutt, who plays
a clown called Izzy, is an absolute darling of an actor, and I
defy you not to fall under her desperately fragile spell. Izzy
enters from the back of the theatre, walks down the aisle in a
wedding dress, and carrying a picnic basket to which she has delicately
attached her veil. She is, as one would expect from a clown, also
wearing a red nose. She has come to the park to meet a man whose
acquaintance she has made on the Internet.
The action of the play is comprised entirely of what she tells
us about herself as she waits. The waiting is of Godotian duration,
but we learn buckets more about this fragile creature as she waits
than we do from Becket's hopefuls. She is almost paralyzed from
fear of making the wrong impression - does her early arrival indicate
that she is too eager, or punctual? Is she thoroughly lodged inside
the status quo, or is she a risk-taker? Is she capable of disturbing
the universe? And in her utter need to be accepted by her Internet
paramour she attempts to cover all the bases. "Like I'm totally
prepared." She tells us in her light and lightning fast voice,
"to be spontaneous."
You can see evidence of her spontaneity in the scene where she
brings an audience member up on stage as a surrogate for Mr. Internet:
Audience participation in Fringe shows is often just a way of
stretching out a play to make it fill an hour (and sometimes more),
but Ms. Calcutt makes every moment count. Her romancing the stranger
on stage was endearing and sensitive.
She also has a section where she explains the training she receives
in corporeal mime. A subject that you wouldn't expect to fit a
play about low self esteem and high expectations. But Izzy tailors
everything to her heart and it works. Right from the beginning,
Izzy asks the audience - and keeps asking - Do you think I'm pretty?
Well, she's not. She is adorable. Don't miss this sweet, sweet,
play. It will make your day."
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