For What We Labour
Reviewed by Jennifer Walton
The vibe is fast-paced, farcical and farty. There are lots of comedic twists and turns in Renata Ona’s For What We Labour. In the capable hands of director Tamara Kamermans, this is a delightfully fun romp that offers a glimpse into a prominent household in Ancient Greece. The Narrator, played adeptly by the playwright with energy and sparkle, is expelled from the Greek Chorus and is tasked with doing the job solo. If she fails, she will be doomed to retell this one tale for eternity. The story in question follows the daughter of the house who is hiding a pregnancy and when the no-good baby daddy returns 8 months later with the idea that marrying her will help him settle his gambling debts, she has some other ideas.
The characters are cleverly named after the Greek words that define them. They each have clear desires that drive the action. The costumes evoke the time period well and the basic set is functional and well laid out to serve the actors. Like any good farce,the rules of society are upended and the characters must scheme and plot to get what they want. The actors are having a blast with quick pacing and lots of physical humour, including some quite literal potty humour and some actual labour as alluded to in the title. The company has workshopped this piece previous to Fringe and it shows.
Go see this show if you’d like some light-hearted, fast paced Fringe fun.
Age Suitability: Parental Guidance (ages 13+)
Warnings: Sexual Content, Coarse Language
Venue: The St. Luke's Mission
Genre: Theatre—Comedy
Playwright/Producer
Renata Ona
Director
Tamara Kamermans
