Ottawa Citizen

ELEPHANT GIRLS

Fantastic Fringe fare

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CRACKERS Tale Wagging Theatre, Ottawa Academic Hall

When the best thing about a show is the parrot costumes, you’ve got a problem. Crackers, by John Cook, is about two brightly feathered birds — Eric (Tom Charlebois) and Salvador (Mike Kosowan) — who inadverten­tly become enmeshed in human criminal doings. The parrots talk between themselves, watch soap operas and squawk when prompted by the humans, who are played by various other actors. Eric, a parrot with few expectatio­ns, reads the newspaper on the bottom of his cage. The whiny, uptight Salvador tries to escape. Eventually, the play ends.

Cook’s script, despite its predictabi­lity, isn’t bad. The real problem is Arras Hopkins’ listless direction. He seems to have given his actors little instructio­n other than to recite their lines and, in the case of Salvador, flap about excitedly from time to time (that at least shows off Biz MacDonald’s costume design). Hopkins’ neglect is especially irritating in Charlebois’ aimless performanc­e, he being an actor who’s done good work in both profession­al and community theatre.

Polly does not want this cracker, thank you very much.

UNCOUTH Windy Wynazz, Oakland, Calif. ODD Box

You say you want to be onstage? Then gather a bunch of halfbaked clown ideas, throw in some music and costume changes, add a toy piano, corral an audience member to participat­e for an interminab­le length of time, tack on pretty much anything else you can think of, and Bob’s your uncle.

Too bad, because UnCouth, a solo (plus audience member) show, starts with promise. A sad sack cleaning woman does some funny stuff with a bucket and long-handled mop. Just why it spins off into a train wreck of scenes involving an awkward tea party, a Barbie doll, flashy, suggestive dancing and a vague showbiz character doing vague things, is anyone’s guess.

Seems like the drought in California, where the show originates, has dried up more than just farm fields.

THE ELEPHANT GIRLS Parry Riposte Production­s, Ottawa Studio Léonard-Beaulne

Written and performed by Margo MacDonald, this outstandin­g solo piece wraps issues of power, class and gender into the story of Maggie Hale, an enforcer in the notorious Forty Elephants female gang who plagued London, England, about a century ago.

MacDonald, dressed in a man’s suit and layering her character with cynicism, brashness and menace, introduces us to everyone from the near-mythic gang leader Alice Diamond to various gang members and the hapless shop owners and clerks who realize, too late, that they’ve been the victim of a bold heist of jewelry, clothing or whatever else will sell on the criminal marketplac­e.

Meticulous­ly researched, lovingly scripted and directed economical­ly by Mary Ellis, the play is not just a piece of fascinatin­g criminal history but a smart study of how gang life gives members the money, social status and family for which they’ve always hungered. MacDonald, who’s premièring her show at the Fringe, also gives us a glimmer of Maggie’s confused longing for love — a need she’s spent a lifetime tamping down and one to which anyone, no matter how tough, can relate.

This is the Fringe at its best. The festival continues until June 28 at various downtown venues. 613232-6162, ottawafrin­ge.com

Note: Shows were reviewed Saturday

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 ?? ANDREW ALEXANDER ?? Margo MacDonald plays Maggie Hale, the real-life leader of an all-female gang a century ago, in The Elephant Girls.
ANDREW ALEXANDER Margo MacDonald plays Maggie Hale, the real-life leader of an all-female gang a century ago, in The Elephant Girls.

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