Generic Male – Just What We Need, Another Show About Men
Created by Darren Stevenson and Ashley Jones
Produced by PUSH Physical Theatre (Rochester, USA)
60M | Comedy
Content Notes: Mature Language, Sexual Content, Audience Participation, Abrupt Loud Noise
By Hayley Kirsh
Let me be the first to say… there was nothing generic about this show. I’ll be honest, I did not know a lot about Generic Male: Just What We Need Another Show About Men before arriving at the Arts Court Theatre; in fact, I got lost and headed to the wrong one.
But as I approached the grand stairs into the beautiful space, I could immediately feel the buzz of the Ottawa theatre community coming back to life with another year of the Ottawa Fringe Festival. The Ottawa Fringe is in its 26th year, showcasing 45 different shows across six venues during its two-week stint.
As I approached the box office, I could see production photos of Generic Male rotating across the screen. What I had easily assumed was just a comedy about toxic masculinity suddenly changed. Elements of dance? Moody creative lighting? Half-naked men? Could this be more?
To my enjoyment, it was.
The multi-award winning Off-Broadway show from the creative minds of PUSH Physical Theatre runs back to Ottawa (I don’t think these performers know the meaning of sitting still) to dazzle us with a brilliant showcase of intense athleticism and captivating storytelling.
At first, performers Darren Stevenson and Ashley Jones seem inconsequential to the plot—kinda funny, kinda awkward. But they quickly reveal themselves to be incredible performers, combining storytelling with dance-like, yoga-like, acrobatic movements to share stories about fathers and sons, war, death, consent and what happens when you blow a little too hard.
Stevenson is a brilliant mime, commanding the stage as he floated around the empty space, creating scene after scene with just the use of his body and the audience’s imaginations.
The moments of absurdity contrast well with wistful moments of emotional connection and physical embrace.
The variety-like show transitions smoothly between comedy and drama, beginning and end, the physical and the narrative, stillness and hip-thrusting, body-balancing lifts and moments where it seemed the performers were hovering above the ground.
With the occasional and sometimes cheesy fourth-wall break spattered throughout the one-hour performance, Generic Male had audiences laughing and left standing.
Generic Male – Just What We Need, Another Show About Men by Darren Stevenson and Ashley Jones is playing at the Arts Court Theatre until June 24, 2023. Visit ottawafringe.com/fringe/ for the schedule and box office info. Read more reviews at https://apt613.ca/category/festival/fringe/.
