Twenty-One Rants About Working in a Drugstore, a new work by York University Film & Video graduate student Jordan Hall, will be presented at the 16th annual Fringe of Toronto Theatre Festival, which celebrates independent theatre from across Canada and around the world.
Hall is a versatile writer who pens screenplays as well as stage scripts. Her new play follows her award-winning From Grace which was part of Theatre Aquarius’ Brave New Works Series in 2002.
Directed by Andrea Romaldi and stage-managed by Tanya Green, this loopy comedy is about Numbers, a disillusioned university student, who has been working evenings at Tweedmuir’s Drugstore for six-and-a-half years. Her boss is crooked, the co-workers are inept and the customers are from hell. The plot develops when Jack – drunk, miserable and fresh from being fired from his third job in a month – decides he’s going to rob the place. However, Jack is not much better at armed robbery than he is at steady employment. As the story progresses, his bungled attempt reveals more about the drugstore than anyone suspects.
“Throw into the mix co-workers who sing, dance and speak in Shakespearean verse, as well as a clairvoyant telemarketer, and a healthy dose of philosophy, chaos theory, and wild romance and you’ve got a comedy that’s anything but routine,” says Hall.
Emily Reisman (Numbers), Ian Christensen (Jack), Ayla Rosendahl and Ian MacIntyre make up the cast of misfits.
Opening on July 1 at 10:30pm at the Robert Gill Theatre, 214 College Street, Third Floor (enter off St. George Street), Twenty-One Rants About Working in a Drugstore continues July 3, at 5pm; July 4 at 7pm; July 5 at 12:30pm; July 7 at 1pm; July 8 at 4:30pm and July 10 at 6pm. Admission is $10 in advance, $8 at the door – no latecomers.
An important stage for emerging talent, the Fringe of Toronto Theatre Festival offers 127 new works with more than 900 performances in more than 20 venues. For more information, click here.