Until August 19th, Globus Theatre at the Lakeview Arts Barn in Bobcaygeon welcomes well-known Canadian comedian, novelist, and playwright Lorne Elliott who directs and co-stars in his play The Fixer-Upper.
An enjoyable comedy about family dynamics, summer rentals, and profiteering, The Fixer-Upper is a uniquely structured production and another success for Globus’s “all Canadian” summer season.
Best known as the host of the long-running CBC Radio comedy series Madly Off in All Directions from 1995 to 2006, Lorne Elliott has been featured on radio and television and has travelled throughout Canada and the US with his various comedy shows. He originally performed The Fixer-Upper as a one-man show called Tourist Trap, which made its debut in 2000 at Theatre on the Grand in Fergus Ontario, and then published the story as a novella called The Fixer-Upper in 2009.
That led to a new production of the show co-starring actress Karen Cromar in the role of Aunt Tillie, who reprises her role in Globus’s production. Although Lorne originally performed the role of the play’s protagonist Bruno MacIntyre, he has since handed the role to actor Kyle Gregor-Pearce while Lorne has stepped back to focus on the direction of the play, as well as performing the key roles of Phyllis and Simon.
The Fixer-Upper is the story of Prince Edward Island resident Bruno MacIntyre, a good-natured slacker looking for an opportunity to make an easy buck. When his father leaves him a rundown old shack in the midst of a swamp, Bruno gets the idea that he can rent it out as a vacation spot to unsuspecting members of his large family for extra income over the summer season.
Having never cared to pay attention to any of his extended relatives, Bruno calls his meddlesome Aunt Tillie, who knows the back story on everyone. Through Tillie, Bruno gets the phone number of two distant relatives, Simon and Phyllis. While Bruno calls Phyllis and talks her into renting the cabin for two weeks, Tillie contacts Simon and gets him to rent the cabin for three weeks.
What Bruno doesn’t realize is that Simon and Phyllis are scheduled to arrive on the same day, and there may have been a few key factors in his renters’ back stories Aunt Tillie had left out. The result is a hilarious comedy of errors which keeps the audience laughing as the missing pieces start to fit into the holes left in the story, and the tale gets wilder and wilder.
What makes The Fixer-Upper a unique theatrical experience is that the entire show is made up of people talking over the telephone to one another. The play originally had the subtitle “A play in seven conversations” and that’s exactly how it’s structured. The actors never physically interact with each other beyond talking on the phone, nor do they ever look directly at one another. However, this doesn’t stop them from entertaining the audience through their reactions and body language.
For the most part, none of the events in the show actually take place on stage; they are all related to the audience by conversations between the three performers. So how entertaining is it to watch people having phone conversations? In the case of The Fixer-Upper, very. Relying completely on the art of storytelling, the performers — particularly Kyle Gregor-Pearce — are able to entertain and engage the audience, which holds on to every witty quip, every action, and every reaction in the journey to the ultimate punchline. It’s a risky show, but one that works with the proper director and performers.
In the role of lovable loser Bruno MacIntyre, Kyle has the difficult task of keeping the audience engaged, never leaving the stage, being part of every conversation, and using storytelling to create vivid scenes in the minds of the audience — and he is fantastic. A slacker, a schemer and an opportunist, Bruno is the ultimate underdog looking for the fastest and cheapest way to create his “vacation paradise.” His lack of knowledge and inattention to details, like arrival dates and building structure, leads to his hilarious downfall.
Most of all, its Kyle’s storytelling ability that makes this show work. In the first act, Bruno has six different conversations with three different characters, setting up the show and keeping him engaged with the different characters. But the second act becomes just one long phone conversation, where Bruno must explain an entire comic situation to Aunt Tillie.
Kyle relies on his body language, voice work, and comic timing to bring this potentially difficult scene to life for the audience. For a less experienced actor, the second act could be a disaster, but Kyle is incredible and constructs a dysfunctional world for the audience with little more than his words. It’s a brilliant performance that you have to see to understand.
The role of Aunt Tillie, performed by Karen Cromar, is an interesting one. Brash, gossipy, and manipulative, Aunt Tillie seems to be mostly a sounding board for Bruno. However, over time we realize there is much more to Aunt Tillie and her relationship to the plot than it first appears. Eventually, Aunt Tillie gives a different meaning to the play’s title: does it refer to the cottage or to Aunt Tillie herself? Playing a colourful character, Karen brings to life those annoying yet endearing relatives all of us have, and her performance hit close to home on a number of occasions.
Although Lorne has given over his character Bruno to Kyle, he maintains a presence in the play through his performances as Simon and Phyllis. In Simon, he plays a pompous writer who has designs on destroying Bruno before he even arrives. But it’s his off-stage performance as Phyllis where Lorne gives his most outlandish performance. A sex-starved cougar out on the prowl, Phyllis’s conversation with Bruno is among the funniest of the show. While he doesn’t have much stage time himself, Lorne’s comedy is stamped all over The Fixer-Upper.
This year has been a particularly strong season for Globus, and The Fixer-Upper is another entry in a remarkable summer of entertainment at the Lakeview Arts Barn. Lorne Elliott and his company put on a delightful show with a potentially risky staging concept but, through their wit and comedic storytelling, make it a show worth seeing. It’s another reason to make the trip to Bobcaygeon for one of the best theatre experiences in the Kawarthas.
The Fixer-Upper runs from until Saturday, August 19th at the Lakeview Arts Barn in Bobcaygeon. A three-course table d’hôte menu is available at 6 p.m. prior to every evening performance. Tickets are $31.50 for adults and $20 for students for the show only, or $65.50 for adults and $54 for students if you want the dinner and the show. For tickets, visit the box office at Lakeview Arts Barn or call 705-738-2037.
