The Plank Panel talk sixty

Talk Sixty, they think about sex and Alison is curious.

The Show:
Talk 60 to Me is a verbatim play constructed by Oonagh Duncan from hours of interviews with 60-year-olds from all over Toronto.

The Panel:
Alison Broverman is a Toronto-based playwright and arts reporter. Last year she wrote a romantic comedy with a lot of make-outs in it (a LOT) and a few old people complained.
Ann McDougall is a Toronto-based storyteller, playwright and performer. Old people love her.

Alison: Even though I think "verbatim theatre" should be called something else, it is an interesting way to approach a play and I love the idea behind Oonagh Duncan's Talk 60 to Me. So great to offer up the stories and thoughts of ordinary people, especially a group often overlooked by the young indie theatre artists who populate festivals like SummerWorks and the Fringe. I've been on a documentary kick lately, so I love these glimpses into someone's life and brain.

Ann: 72 brains! I thought that interviewing such a large group of people and then distilling the result into 55 minutes was effective. I was afraid that we'd have to sit through a few rambly, unscripted stories, but instead it had a really nice chorus effect. Sort of a mass-culture take on what it means to be a baby boomer - which suits that generation well, come to think of it. I enjoyed the four performers, too. It's a rare treat to see actors over fifty in a summer festival.

Alison: That's true. But I thought the staging could have been a bit tighter. To be fair, due to time constraints, opening night at SummerWorks is usually like a dress rehearsal. They'll probably tighten up as the run goes on. But there was some extraneous stage business with those coat racks onstage - I didn't think the set was necessary at all. The charm of the stories and the performers would have carried the show well enough.

Ann: The set felt fussy at times but I thought it worked well to help differentiate the many characters and that the actors used it well - hopping through the fabric strips like subway doors or pushing them aside like leaves in a jungle. Without that visual interest it would have felt sparse and academic. What I could have done without was the projections overhead. We didn't really need to know the interviewees names and birthdays. It was more interesting to see how the stories and themes blended into one another.

Alison: I didn’t mind the projections, though it was a bit annoying that they seemed to be suffering from some technical difficulties and inconsistencies. Chalk it up to opening night snafus. That’s a minor complaint, though. For a self-absorbed 20-something like myself, Talk 60 to Me offered a valuable and insightful perspective on life from people of my parents’ generation (especially about things that I would never discuss with my actual parents, like sex - is it wrong that the sex talk was my favourite part?)

Talk Sixty To Me by Oonagh Duncan;Directed by Philip Adams; Presented by Oyster Productions; Featuring Cayle Chernin, Bonnie McDougall, Allan Price, Andrew Scorer. Part of the 2008 SummerWorks Festival. If you want more information and show times, take your walker here.

By Alison Broverman and Ann McDougall