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Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION
Big Shot
Our Rating: 
MTC Up the Alley (Venue 2), to July 23
All the world’s a stage? So passé. Today, all the world’s a movie set, where we desensitized viewers see tragedies as action set pieces.
Written and performed by the magnetic Jon Lachlan Stewart, the 75-minute Big Shot is a bravura work. On a bare stage with starkly effective lighting, the black-clad Stewart actually seems to change the planes of his face with every character he plays, whether it’s a little boy trying to turn a horrific accident into a movie climax, guilty mother Gloria, sucking on a cigarette to remind herself she’s breathing, or an old Japanese man, filled with simmering resentment. (At one point, Stewart tells a story almost entirely in Japanese and we’re breathlessly drawn along despite the language barrier).
The play’s structure — individual characters tell their stories; the audience only gradually sees how they fit together — isn’t really fresh, and you’ll see the end coming. But thanks to Stewart’s performance, that knowledge doesn’t detract from its gut-punching power.
— Jill Wilson
From the official Fringe Festival program:
"Big Shot raises the bar for one-man shows" - Vue Weekly, 5 STARS.
A boy retells a terrible tragedy, pitching the brutal event to you, the audience, as the most exciting action movie ever. A darkly comic, fast-paced, multi-character thriller.
"You literally cannot take your eyes off Stewart. Words fail me … see it" - SEE Magazine, 5 STARS
Recommended For: General Audience
Length: 75 min.
Tickets: $10
Under 13 not admitted.
Warnings: Language, Strobe Lights
http://www.surrealsorealtheatre.com/
History
Updated on Friday, July 15, 2011 at 10:16 AM CDT:
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Updated on Saturday, July 16, 2011 at 1:06 PM CDT:
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