Fringe Show Reviews

Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION

Artichoke Heart

Written by: Jessy Ardern, Michelle Elrick & Gordon Tanner

Presented by: Theatre Outgrabe, Winnipeg, MB

Venue 9: The Shaw Centre for Performing Arts (MTYP)

Our Rating: Your Average Rating:

07/19/2012 4:28 PM | Comments: 0

Boy meets girl. What ensues is a modern-day hookup, except for erotically charged seduction lines as: “I want to do to you what spring does with cherry trees” and “Naked, you are blue as the night in Cuba.”

The Pablo Neruda-infused dialogue makes this otherwise clever comedy from Winnipeg playwrights Jessy Ardern and Gordon Tanner a bit awkward and hard to dig into, much like the fleshy thistle that apparently inspired it.

Fans of the Chilean poet may beg to differ, but the considerable chemistry between reluctant lovers Peter (Adam Charbonneau) and Maria (Gwendolyn Collins) seems to happen in spite of his surrealist verse, not because of it. Tom Keenan’s musical accompaniment adds a cheeky touch.

— Carolin Vesely

From the Fringe program:

Peter doesn't like it when people get too close. Wild parties are not his thing. Letting his guard down is not his thing. Going home with a stranger is definitely not his thing. But Maria picked him out. She took him home. Undressed him piece by piece. Peter has never felt like this before.

But Maria doesn't like it when people stay too long…

Inspired by Pablo Neruda's "Ode to the Artichoke."

What happens the morning after someone eats your heart?

Recommended For: Mature Audience

Length: 60 min

Tickets: $9

Discount Tickets: $7 for Students, Fringe performers

Warnings: Language

History

Updated on Thursday, July 19, 2012 at 4:28 PM CDT:
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