sex t-rex
Sex T-Rex’s Swordplay: A Play of Swords is a swashbuckling epic adventure of filmic scope deftly brought to life with beautiful and creative theatricality and nonstop hilarity.
As in a futuristic The Princess Bride, a grandfather, born in the 1980s, brings his sick granddaughter an old video game to play, where three Musketeer-like comrades, Roland, Salvatore and Barnabas are serving the Princess Pimpernel, when suddenly Roland burns to death in a fire and Pimpernel is kidnapped by the evil Baron Thorne. It is up to Barnabas and Salvatore to save the day. What is so wonderful about this story is that what comes next is entirely unexpected, jammed with popular culture references that are woven elegantly into the story and the characters’ development, and creatively culminating in gruesome sword fights and all the plot points coming together tightly in a most satisfying way.
Sex T-Rex is a comedy troupe made up of highly skilled improvisers, and Swordplay: A Play of Swords shows how long-form sketch comedy can be pushed to its limit where it melds into divised playwriting and Swordplay: A Play of Swords is an excellent example. The physicality of Josef Addleman, Conor Bradbury, Julian Frid, Kaitlin Morrow and Seann Murray, combined with the imaginative vision of Alec Toller proves that theatre is still the perfect medium for creating the impossible. We are taken across seas, on to a dragon, through video game green tubes, and swinging from chandeliers, with immediacy and silliness abound. Simultaneously, Sex T-Rex creates an entire world for us to wholeheartedly believe in, while also poking fun at how little they need in props and sets (foam swords, cutout set pieces, and a large piece of fabric) to achieve this feat. The fight choreography by Kevin MacPherson is both fierce and joyful, if morbidly so, and the music choices add another dimension of cinematic proportions and pop culture bliss.
We are so lucky to have so many incredibly talented comedy troupes in Toronto creating wonderfully unique and awing theatrical and comedic experiences for us and Swordplay: A Play of Swords is one of the best I have ever seen. Get thee forth, on thy honour, and sit thy arse down, and play.
TWISI FRINGE RATING:
Sex T-Rex’s Swordplay: A Play of Swords plays at the Al Green Theatre (750 Spadina Avenue) as part of the Toronto Fringe Festival at the following times:
show times
July 10 at 05:45 PM buy tickets
July 11 at 04:00 PM buy tickets
