Toronto Fringe Review: BASH’d!

The cool thing about the Toronto Fringe is the high quotient of Pro’s (the cool thing about the Montreal Fringe is the high quotient of dance and international shows, but the Montreal Fringe is over now so stay focused Dickens). People who have dedicated their life to theatre and film, but especially theatre; people who are so good they make a living off it are out in force at the TO fringe. The creators of BASH’d are of this breed.

BASH’d is a morality play narrated by 2 gay angels who tell the story of how they fell in love, got married, were happy, then get bashed and unravel with anger, crossed wires, traumatized action in star crossed lovers style, and eventually end in tragedy. Entirely in Rap!

Right as it began I thought.. oooffhh these guys might be a bit old to pull this off- the Hip Hop looks a little odd at first and when they introduce their younger, teenage selves I really thought, oy, that guy’s not sixteen, but the physicality of each character they put on was so was so clear in their minds, the postures so perfectly assumed, the faces and voices so subtly tuned they put me at ease almost instantly and I was ready go with them.

This two hander is a ride of caricatures deftly handled by Craddock and Cuckow. Even when the transitions between the characters is super quick, even when Craddock needs to do someone Cuckow did in another scene, we are able to see who we’re supposed to see instantly by virtue of some very precise direction. These are actors who excel at their craft enough to take on rap and not have it kick their asses.

Because rap is hard. Language flies fast in BASH’d, the rhyming is relentless and it transitions throughout from slamming roof raisers to equally tongue twisty and tricky conversational numbers that are still, always, beat driven (with a head bobbing fist pumping score by Aaron Macri). These actors stay on top of the script they developed together (sometimes barely, but they really do pull it off) and their ability to rock the mic, sample and flip alot of recognizable rap lyrics (like: “I’m sorry mama but tonight, I’m comin out the closet..) and to embody a wide range of hilarious caricatures AND tell a really convincing and touching love story is stand-up-and-cheer impressive. Best scene for caricatures, best scene in the play in my opinion: the gay club where the lovers meet. Fags hags, bears, chicken hawks, twigs: the rainbow of types is hilarious and scathing.

The writing is consistently smart, with politics and surprising satire in the rhymes, just like Hip Hop is supposed to. The only time it rubs me the wrong way is in the chorus of the first song. “Throw your limp wrists in the air” is funny good stuff, but then in talking about reclaiming the word faggot, they say it’s not ok when used by ‘them’ but “when we use it it’s like the word that starts with N.” Ahh the N word. Hmm. Cool that BASH’d consistently and clearly reiterates the connection between different struggles for human rights; and true that taking ownership of a hurt word can be an empowering act, but not everyone sees the N word that way, or thinks that internal use is kosher, much less positive. More or Les, the wicked Canadian rapper who brought his brand of Hip Hop Karaoke to Montreal for our Indyish at the Fringe stuff, has a song about it, edits it out of the lyrics for Hip Hop Karaoke, and spoke with some mc’s and others about the taboo term in this CBC interview. I’m pretty sure the BASH’d guys would welcome dialogue about it too, so if you see them in the Tranzac Club or Toronto Fringe beer tent maybe ask ‘em about it and let me know how it goes.

The only other thing I’d say about BASH’d is that it’s a bit didactic, and feels directed at teens. You do realize about halfway through that we’re all here to learn a lesson about not beating each other up, and not responding to violence with violence. Pretty basic stuff, and at the Toronto Fringe the ‘don’t bash gay people’ lesson is preaching to the choir, but that’s ok, the plot took enough twists to keep ahead of my assumptions, despite being unsurprising in it’s message.

If it’s at all possible to do this show in a way that high school principals wouldn’t object to (a lot of the language used by cOcKsucKaZ Productions would get you, at minimum, sent to detention) it would be freakin awesome to see this play do a huge school tour. Kids should get to see this, ideally unsterilized, but if that’s what it takes I’d still say go for it. The sweetness and realness of the love story alone would be a good education in lots of towns around the world.

Four stars and high fives to this gay rap opera, go see it if you get the chance.

BASH’d: written and performed by chris craddock and nathan cuckow, directed by Ron Jenkins, playing at the Factory Mainspace. check the Toronto Fringe website for times.