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eye Review, July 12, 2001
Toronto Fringe Festival
Review of Burnt Tongue
REBECCA TODD
Written and performed by Shannan Calcutt. Directed by Sue Morrison. July 12, 12:30pm; July 13, 7:30pm; July 15, 2pm. Glen Morris Studio, 4 Glen Morris.
The real test of a truly excellent Fringe show is when you see it at 11pm, after watching six children's plays in a row, and you're disappointed when it's over. This was my experience with Burnt Tongue. No wonder Shannan Calcutt's Izzy the Clown has been touring constantly for the last couple of years.
Izzy is the self-loathing women's-magazine reader in all of us. Waiting to meet a blind date, she lies to us transparently. She informs us she's confident, but, "Do you think I'm pretty?" she asks. "People tell me I'm pretty a lot!"
She tells us she's spontaneous (she's wearing a wedding dress to a first date!) and laid-back (as she winds herself up into a series of anxious, agitated states).
Calcutt is a wonderful clown -- she establishes a beautiful rapport with the audience, her humour has an edge, her timing is musical and Izzy's childlike emotions wash over her whole body. When the audience laughs -- and they do, often -- the laughter is that of self-recognition.
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