jeff leard
Zach Zultana: Space Gigolo is a high spirited and highly imaginative science fiction adventure written by Ron Fromstein and brought to vivid life by virtuoso performer Jeff Leard.
The story centres on our protagonist, Zach Zultana, who works for a mining company in space, owned by a corporate dictator. Zach gets into trouble when he is seduced by a mysterious woman with a space ship, and ends up earning the reputation of being a “Space Gigolo” and gets demoted to the highly toxic waste management department where he ends up leading a revolution by accident.
Leard plays Zach, earnest and full of self deprecating charm, and also plays all the other characters in the play including Nick, Zach’s burly Eastern European friend, sultry Alexandra, and the narrator of the piece, who describes certain scenes as they would appear in the action film version of the play. This is a difficult conceit to achieve but Leard infuses it with so much intensity and exuberance, the audience is taken right into the play’s filmic alter-ego happily. Leard’s exuberance also serves him well in his physical work and the specificity in his movement, especially when miming objects and providing fun sound effects.
There are those who say that, for certain things, like action sequences for example, film is the superior art form but in Zach Zultana: Space Gigolo Fromstein and Leard prove that sometimes, or I would argue often, theatre is way more fun.
TWISI FRINGE RATING:
Zach Zultana: Space Gigolo plays at the Tarragon Theatre Mainspace (30 Bridgman Avenue) as part of the Toronto Fringe Festival at the following times:
show times
July 10 at 11:00 PM buy tickets
July 11 at 12:30 PM buy tickets
