shawn hitchins photo by jen squires
Shawn Hitchins has a plan to populate the world with gingers, and in his hilarious one man show, Ginger Nation, which plays at the Bus Stop Theatre as part of the Atlantic Fringe Festival he explains to us why.
Hitchins is a charismatic and entirely engaging storyteller, with good natured comic timing and he is equal parts hilarious and touching in his tale about becoming a zealous gay redheaded sperm donor. Hitchins dramatizes, with great physicality and a joyful sense of fun, his experience attempting to help his friends, a lesbian couple, conceive a cild, without sex or a clinic. There’s dancing to “My Sharona,” a nod to Liza Minnelli and a hilarious sad birthday clown schtick in a nightmare bathroom, but there is also honest reflection about what it means to give up your paternity and navigate this new life you helped create, but not as a father.
Hitchins’ play is a beautifully polished comedy of wit and silliness, but it’s also incredibly uplifting. In a world where the news is often about violence, it’s wonderful to remember that people also have the capacity to help each other bring children into the world, surrounded in love, optimism and laughter.
Ginger Nation plays at the Bus Stop Theatre (2203 Gottingen Street) at the following times:
September 5 (7:20PM),
September 6 (2:30 & 8:15PM),
September 7 (9:45PM)
September 9 (5:15PM)
September 10 (5:05PM)
September 11 (5:25PM)
September 12 (6:00PM),
September 13 (1:55 & 9:00PM).
