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Without A Clue Reviews
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| Ottawa Fringe Festival Audience Reviews:
--------------------------------------------------------- A large round of applause to the cast of Without a Clue! I found myself captivated by the performance i saw late Saturday night. The key to a good show is entertainment, to sacrifice yourself to the fantasy on stage. There was hardly a moment i found myself not drawn into the the show or taken up into the crowds infectious laughter. In this respect With out a Clue was flawless. Each member of the troupe brought a certain flare to their respective roles. Like the lovely Thea Nikolic, kept up a sultry charm even as an animated corpse, or the delightful Jody Haucke whose height and stature won us all over with his “stiff doctor” act. I do not say this lightly, a performance filled with a “Blockbuster cast” I suggest taking the time and enjoying a good belly laugh with without a clue :) - Mike K --------------------------------------------------------- What a wonderful evening! I laughed from start to finish and I was most certainly not alone. Their standing ovation at the end of the night was well earned and well deserved! This clever whodunnit comedy featuring incredible local talent should not be missed! - Tara --------------------------------------------------------- As a theatre fan, I believe a show is successful if it entertains in some fashion. “Without a Clue ” does exactly that, it “entertains” As I approached the stage at Alumni Hall,I was taken in by the distinctive “game board” style set. To my delight, Quesnel’s cleverly choregragphed “moves” and the talents of the actors in their brillantly designed costumes, brought the quirky “game board” characters to life..or death, as the case may be. I had as much fun watching this murder mystery as the actors seemed to have unfolding this enagaging story. And it is really funny!!!! I do not have to be lead down a deep dark path littered with angst and or pathos and foul and or heady language, to feel I have seen a good “fringe” show. So if you want to be truly entertained, in “lighter” way….see “Without a Clue” Fluff is good..fluff is fun! - Brenda --------------------------------------------------------- "Natalie Joy Quesnel and Stewart Matthews are the dynamic duo in Ottawa theatre." "The fast pace kept us guessing. It's really well choreographed by Quesnel and it's pure fun." - Alvina Ruprecht, CBC Radio | |||
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52 Pickup Reviews
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Calculating love's many permutations and combinations Shuffling scenes means 52 Pick-Up crowds don't see same play twice Liz Nicholls, The Edmonton Journal Published: Thursday, August 24, 2006 At this point in human history, the word "relationship" is probably beyond all redemption, ground to a pulp by the pop-psych machine. Even the phrase, "Let's talk about the relationship," as if it were a small appliance on the fritz or a piece of public statuary, can make your blood run cold. Frankly, even when it's not waving the R-word like a bloody stump, the Fringe tends to like its love stories fraught, moody, unresolved, fragmented, solo and/or doomed. There are a couple of notable exceptions at the festival. David Belke's The Raven and the Writing Desk, a comic tribute to the Wonderland mystery of it all, is one. OK, Jane Eyre works out in the end, romantically speaking. In the musical version, Jane and Rochester, now blind and maimed, have a finale clinch while they sing the anthemic Brave Enough for Love. 52 Pick-Up (Stage 11, Academy at King Edward) has been around before. It's a two-hander by the team of Fringe star monologist T.J. Dawe and Rita Bozi (who, in another offstage romantic connection, is married to Ken Cameron, playwright/star of My Morocco). This time, it's done by Stewart Matthews of the fierce and inventive English company Screwed and Clued, and his real-life wife, actor/director Natalie Joy Quesnel. There's a gimmicky premise to 52 Pick-Up (apparently adopted by The Aleatory Project, too). At the outset, the actors shuffle a deck of cards, each specifying a different scene in the arc of a relationship from first encounter to first euphoria, first sex, first doubts, first tension, etc., love as a 52-step program. The odds of the scenes getting performed in the same order twice are literally astronomical. Apart from repeat business, why oh why (I hear you ask) do they not just do the play? Well, it wouldn't be very spellbinding, in truth. The idea is that by shuffling the scenes, you'll look with a more appraising eye at the universal integers, the little things that are momentously attractive about the people with whom we fall in love, and then the little things that are momentously unattractive. Quite often, they are the same things. The whole enterprise has a wry, coolly knowing, even clinical, spirit; you can detect the smiles of recognition around you. The writing is similarly dry and laconic. "How come you don't like going out anymore?" is one of those fake-casual throwaways that are a red alert to those with ears to hear it. In the end, 52 Pick-Up is not a revelation; it's a small, knowing glance at the familiar. Matthews and Quesnel have charm. The former has a quirky, presentational stage style, essentially comic, that acknowledges the audience in a quite different way from the quiet focus of Quesnel. Is this the point? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- See Magazine - August 21st 2006 FOUR and a HALF STARS Let me confess to a fringe blasphemy. I haven't see this legendary TJ Dawe/Rita Bozi creation in either of its two previous incarnations. Mea culpa. That sin being repented, it's difficult to imagine anyone topping this production featuring Stewart Matthews and Natalie Joy Quesnel. They're a husband and wife team, which pretty well ensures the chemistry in this non-linear story of love and its aftermath, but the appeal goes further than that. Matthews and Quesnel share a similar performance style that is physically charged yet precise as a glass etching. In a piece that consists of 52 scenes, their order dictated by the scattering of a deck of cards, such precision is paramount to keep things as straight forward as possible. Each scene is ended in a pose or moment that flows into the succeeding moment regardless of story order but which is striking enough to allow the audience to connect the dots as the story unfolds. Although the script is witty, Matthews and Quesnel are able to infuse deeper meaning into the story with simple gestures, glances, posture and intent. It lifts the well-known piece from theatrical gimmickry into an honest examination of the human heart. - Reviewed by Eva Marie Clarke -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vue Weekly said: IF YOU'RE ONLY GOING TO SEE ONE PLAY ... Zombies (Screwed and Clued) 52 Pick-up (Enigma) Stage 11 All Stewart Matthews and Natalie Joy Quesnel, generally better known as Screwed and Clued, seem to do is get rave reviews. Zombies has already picked up an Outstanding Original Work award at the Ottawa Fringe and five star reviews in Winnipeg, and 52 Pick-up, which features 52 scenes about a relationship selected at random from a scattering of the cards, promises to be one of the most wildly creative works at this year’s Fringe. Do yourself a favour and see both. See Magazine quoted us in an article... "Siren song. Your fringe show will get you laid if..." "...Dallas met her husband on the Fringe and her daughter was conceived at the Winnipeg Fringe. She also notes there are quite a few other "war brides," British performers who came to Canada for the Fringe, fell in love and stayed. Stewart Matthews is one such. A member of Screwed and Clued since their first tour in 1998, he was determined in 2003 to "...have flings in every city." Enter Natalie Joy Quesnel, with whom he performs 52 Pick Up this year. They met at an improv show in Ottawa "He yelled ‘Wankers!’ really loudly," says Quesnel, "I thought nothing of it other than ‘He sounds English; he must be from the Screwed and Clued group that’s always here and is so popular and all the girls love them.’" In the heightened world of Fringe, things progressed extremely rapidly, says Quesnel. "Our first kiss I pulled away and asked him, because I had nothing to lose, ‘How many kids do you want?’ He said three. I went ‘great’ and we carried on kissing." Matthews chimes in. "Two hours later we finally got out of the elevator. Yeah, our first kiss lasted two hours in an elevator." Three months later they were engaged. For Matthews and Quesnel, it was a case of love at first sight and a bone deep knowledge they’d met the right person. However, says Matthews, the reality is a bit different for most Fringe artists. "The Fringe is a place for ummm... heightened relationships. Because you know people for a short amount of time, relationships move a lot faster because of that. To get something lasting from it is very unusual, it’s usually very quick, very short affairs... yes that’s the Fringe, a whole bunch of horny actors having torrid affairs!"..." AND "Picks from other parts Greetings my ducklings. After a two week absence, yours truly is back at the Underwood, devotedly scouting out all the news that’s fit to print. A week in Saskatoon, mining their Fringe, was an interesting sociological exercise. Onwards and upwards! The Fringe is supposed to be all about risk and adventure, but I know many of you readers out there want a bit of certainty when it comes to your Fringe dollar. Therefore I comb the newspapers of other Fringe cities to find out the frontrunners–the shows dubbed "Pick of the Fringe" by my out of town colleagues. Of the ten picks in Saskatoon, seven are coming on to Edmonton. They are: Letters in Wartime, Canterbury Tales, 52 Pick Up, Teaching Shakespeare 3, My Morocco, The Excursionists, and Train Your Man. Advance tickets are available at the Fringe Box Office or by calling 409-1910." Edmonton Sun -- FOUR STARS "52 Pick-Up is a returning Fringe favourite. It was created a few years back by Uber Fringe God T.J. Dawe, along with Rita Bozi. The premise is simple. Two actors throw a deck of cards in the air. Each card signifies a single scene. They pick up the cards in random order and read off the title – the ace of hearts signifies “first meeting,’’ the two of diamonds, “sex,’’ the queen of hearts, “there are so many things I love about him,’’ the five of clubs, “first impressions’’ – and so on. They then perform a scene based on the title. Slowly, the pieces come together and the story of a romance begins to form. In other words, each performance is different and the audience has to work to form the pieces into a coherent whole. In other iterations of the show, I found it mildly interesting – an actor’s exercise to which we were invited. Not so this time around. First the acting is superior. Stewart Matthews is a member of Screwed and Clued, the English troupe that has brought us Trench, Fitch and Cabbage and EN-GER-LAND. Natalie Joy Quesnel has had considerable stage training and experience. What makes it work so well is that both performers have the ability to take just a few words, a mini-monologue, a snatch of dialogue or a small scene and make it work emotionally and dramatically satisfying, even if its context has yet to emerge. He’s a solid actor; she has an appealing impish quality. So, mixed up though the scenes are, you still experience the thrill of first meeting, their developing love and the later problems that face any relationship. These attractive young people are married and it is quite evident they are completely at home with each other on stage. The two have loads of charm, chemistry and connection. Will they end up with each other or will they be pulled apart by fate and mutual differences? You have to see each production to find out but Matthews and Quesnel make the trip involving and worthwhile. – Based on performance at the Saskatoon Fringe" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Star Phoenix - August 5th 2006 - Silas Polkinghorne for The StarPhoenix Relationships are usually like this — up and down, funny and sad, frustrating and joyful — and they usually don’t happen in any particular order. So it’s appropriate that 52 Pick-up — written by T.J. Dawe and Rita Bozi — is just as random. The characters, played by real-life couple Natalie Joy Quesnel and Stewart Matthews, toss a deck of cards on the floor to start the play. One by one, they pick up the cards and act out the 52 scenes the cards represent. You have better odds of winning Lotto 6-49 than seeing this show in the same order twice. Bits and pieces of the story come out helter-skelter — gradually revealing the course of the characters’ relationship the way an artist adds colour to a canvas to create a painting. It’s no small feat that the performances feel cohesive, and the whole thing is tremendously moving. Quesnel and Matthews again and again distil the essential moments that make relationships wonderful or uncomfortable, exciting or monotonous, and often quite hysterical. The actors are constantly doing emotional turns, going from enthusiasm to bewilderment, or from tenderness to anger, between the scenes, or even within them. This one is highly recommended. - FOUR STARS --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Uptown Magazine - August 3rd 2006 Rating : FIVE STARS (A+) What sounded at first like a gimmick quickly became one of the most moving pieces of theatre I’ve ever seen at the Fringe. Originally written by T.J. Dawe and Rita Bozi and staged by Screwed & Clued’s Stewart Matthews and his real-life wife Natalie Joy Quesnel, 52 Pick-Up tells the story of a couple that meet, fall in love and go through a particularly painful breakup for no specific reason but many small ones. The catch is that the show’s 52 scenes are randomized, each assigned a playing card, all of which are scattered around the stage. The breakup might come before their first date, reminiscence of their first meeting might proceed it actually happening, and the future’s punchlines become the past’s setups. The most tender moments are made painful by the fact that, chances are, you’ve already seen the pair at one another’s throats. I had tears in my eyes by the time it was over, and it was all I could do not to get drunk and start calling ex-girlfriends. — PV --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CBC Manitoba - 2006 Audience reviews Interesting way to act out scenes, based on the card game 52 pick-up. Very well acted, very funny! A realistic take on relationships. -Judith A brilliant mish mash of scenes played from relationships. Guaranteed to make you thankful for what you've left behind, and bring you closer to your fellow man in wondering if you were really crazy or not. The actors had such an amazing chemistry on stage together. This show is a must see. I saw this show today and I think it was better than the original production. Stuart and Natalie have a real on stage chemistry and it works. Definitely check this one out. - Rod McDonald This is a well-known Fringe play, from well-known Fringe playwright TJ Dawe. It's a fairly straightforward relationship comedy-drama, highlighted by excellent writing, excellent performances and an innovative execution. The play consists of 52 scenes depicting key moments in the couple's long-term relationship...and performed in random order. Some are very funny, some quite serious, but all are engaging. Some scenes are hilarious due to their brevity, or irreverence, but also sometimes due to the way they fit into the overall sequence of the play - something that would change with each performance. Performers Stewart Matthews and Natalie Joe Quesnel are a couple in real life as well, and it shows: they work very well together, have great chemistry and deliver their lines flawlessly. Possibly too cute for some, 52 Pick-Up is otherwise about as close as it gets to a must-see Fringe show. 4.5/5 stars. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CBC Manitoba - July 23 2006 This TJ Dawe-authored, two-person show is a Fringe favourite. The concept is one of a kind. The play starts with actors Natalie Joy Quesnel and Stewart Matthews tossing a deck of playing cards in the air. As each of the 52 cards is picked up, we see a short scene from a different point in their relationship (first meeting, first date, first fight, etc). Since the order of the show is completely random each time, you never know what you'll get. And it's almost certain that you won't see the story play out in chronological order. It's a touching, funny, honest look at the good and bad sides of a young adult relationship. Real-life husband and wife Matthews and Quesnel have strong on stage chemistry, whether they are embracing or arguing. And Matthews especially is a pleasure to watch, as he navigates from one scene to the next, all the while authentically expressing the diverse emotions his character feels in each scene. - CBC Reviewer: Katie Andrews --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WINNIPEG FREE PRESS - July 26th 2006 by Kevin Prokosh The gimmick of 52 Pick-up involves actors Stewart Matthews and Natalie Joy Quesnel tossing playing cards in the air, then acting out scenes in the random order of the scattered cards, each card representing one of the 52 scenes they have learned. By letting the cards fall where they may, co-authors TJ Dawe and Rita Bozi attempt to duplicate the undeniable randomness of a romantic relationship. That arbitrariness is evidenced when her snoring complaint, for instance, occurs before their first sexual encounter. In a recent performance the two of diamonds was the first card picked-up, triggering both to gush about their lovemaking. About 70 minutes later, the last card, the nine of diamonds, provoked her to complain about him never wanting to go out anymore. The idea of scrambling the stages of a failed love affair is appealing, but the success of 52 Pick-up depends upon having two ace performers who make you care about the relationship. Both Matthews (of Screwed and Clued) and Quesnel are quite watchable, especially the latter, with her charming facial expressions. - FOUR STARS --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 52 Pick-up OFF THE RECORD The two-actor gem 52 Pick-up beautifully captures the experience of sifting through memories after a relationship ends by making inventive use of chance -- and gravity. The structure of the show ensures it never runs the same way twice: The actors toss a deck of cards in the air at the beginning and then play out one small vignette from a love affair for each card they pick up at random as the show progresses. Such a roller-coaster of a piece, in which the audience might witness a wrenching post-breakup phone call, followed by a first date and then playful bedtime chatter, requires strong actors who can master frequently jarring emotional transitions. Thankfully, Natalie Joy Quesnel and Stewart Matthews, who both directed and starred in the piece, are up to the task, and breathe life into the uncannily realistic script. Anyone in the audience who has ever loved, mourned and wondered how it all fell apart will recognize a little of herself in 52 Pick-up. The show, presented by Enigma Productions, runs until Saturday at Studio Leonard-Beaulne. Shannon Proudfoot, The Ottawa Citizen OFF THE RECORD Issue 6, June 22nd 2005 Go see this show! Go see this show! GO SEE THIS SHOW! Playing in the Studio Leonard-Beaulne, 52 Pick Up was one of the lucky shows that sold out on opening night and with good reason! A deck of cards gets thrown into the air and out come 52 scenes, sometimes poignant but mostly funny, about relationships. The gimmick with this show is that you will never see it in the same order twice. However, the hook that will really keep you coming back for more is the chemistry and talent between the two actors, real-life couple Natalie Joy Quesnel (director, How nous avons Met) and Stewart Matthews (of England's Screwed and Clued). Seriously, just go see this show. A word of warning though, you
might want to start camping out for tickets now since they will
obviously sell out the rest of their run too! From OFF THE RECORD, the fringe paper A golden rule of reviewing is: Don't give away the ending. What do you do with a play that has 52 potential endings? In fact, any scene may be the last one, or at least the last one performed the night you attend. Furthermore, the first time seeing "52 Pick-Up", like another famous first time, is special. It'll never be the same again. You sit there trying to make sense of what's happening, as the two actors perform the 52 scenes in random order. How does the play start? How does their relationship develop over time? How does the play end? Which scene will be the one where it starts to fit together for you? Performed in random order, the play is fresh every night, never to be performed the same way twice before the heat death of the universe. But only the first time do you have to figure out the plot for yourself. Unless of course some reviewer reveals a critical scene to you in advance. Which could be any of the 52 scenes! Screwed and Clued fans will know Stewart Matthews. If you liked "How Nous Avons Met", you know Natalie Joy Quesnel as a director. If you've travelled to other Fringes, you probably know of one of the authors, TJ Dawe. TJ is a legend on the Fringe circuit, but unknown in the nation's capital where this is one of two premieres of his plays in this city. The structure of the play is demanding on writers and actors. First impressions are tremendously important. The first scene has to grab your attention and draw you into the state of suspended disbelief. Since any scene could be first, each one has to make the audience care about the characters. It's no easier for the actors. A scene title and the playing card on which it's written is the only cue to begin any scene. Be well rehearsed for opening night, or you could go dry. This is performing under the big top, with no safety net. Throughout the play there are points of recognition for anyone who has tried to make an intimate relationship work. Our night's audience were quick to catch the pitfalls facing the often naive couple. Hence all the laughter, not to mention the gentle smiles of empathy. Without the strong cast, however, this warm, understanding, little gem of a play would just fall apart. 52 Pick-Up has sold out its first two nights. Get advance tickets, or buy your tickets early. The buzz is already hitting the street. Don't miss it. Brian M. Carroll
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FIVE STARS
- Uptown Magazine FOUR and a HALF STARS - See Magazine FOUR STARS - Edmonton Sun FOUR STARS - Winnipeg Free Press FOUR STARS - Saskatoon StarPhoenix |
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