Yesterday, we ventured to the Sweet Action Theatre in Toronto.
- This was our first visit to this theatre which is located in the Artscape Youngplace. According to the Youngplace website, they are "Fully accessible by Ontario standards."
- The internet suggested parking in the area was scarce (roughly Dundas St. West and Ossington) so we braved the TTC. The Ossington 63 south takes you to within a 4 minute walk of the theatre.
- As James revealed in his June 5th interview with us, the theatre is a cozy space, with a capacity of 46 seats (with raked seating). Every seat has a great view of the action. There are seats reserved in the front row, for audience members who have accessibility issues.
- The theatre is air-conditioned (very welcome with the current heat wave).
- The show is approximately an hour in length, with no intermissions.
On with the show:
- In a theatre this size, you get a good view from every seat. The closer you sit, however, the greater the astonishment!
- As teased in his interview, Mysteries and Lies is completely different from any of James' other shows we've had the pleasure to attend.
- Much to our dismay, there was no wine bottle nor were there citrus-y 'arts and crafts.'
- Without giving too much away, the show did involve glassware, coins, cards, cups, balls, jewellery, envelopes, and a condiment.
- There was plenty of audience participation. Four lucky audience members were able to sit at the table with James, scoring better-than-front row seating. (It should be noted that consent was obtained, and no one was forced to sit at the table.) In addition to those four, another seven or eight people from the audience contributed to the uniqueness of the show.
- The show touched on history, astronomy, astrology, biology, physics, and pop culture. There was even a Browser's Den of Magic Easter egg, if you were paying attention. (This was possibly unique to opening night.)
- While we have seen more than our share of Cups and Balls routines, we have never seen anything quite like the one in this show!
- Last week we saw a sneak peek of James performing one of the card effects, and we had no idea how he did it. At the show we were sitting roughly 4.5 metres (~15 feet) away and are no closer to determining the method.
- James performed excellent sleight of hand with a wide variety of objects. This was so much more than a 'card magic' show. (But the card magic in it, is excellent!)
"Mysteries and Lies" is our favourite James Alan production to date!
Disclosure: We were guests at this show. The opinions expressed above are entirely our own. We did not receive compensation for the writing or the publishing of this article.
Don't just take our word for it, read what Teena in Toronto had to say about it in her June 30th Instagram post.
For more information about the Toronto Fringe, visit
FringeToronto.com
For more information about James Alan, visit his website at JamesAlan.ca and follow him on Facebook and Instagram.
From the July 1st Instagram post by Canada's Magic (photos taken with permission):
