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Next Stage Theatre Festival: Post Eden

Sleeping dogs wake in Jordan Tannahill's artful multimedia production

By Lauren Gillett • January 8, 2013

Presented by Suburban Beast
Written and directed by Jordan Tannahill

Post Eden: Lindsey Clark. Photo credit: Jacklyn Atlas.

Jordan Tannahill digs up buried emotions in Post Eden, a fantastical documentary-style "live film" now playing at the Next Stage Theatre Festival.

Inspired by interviews conducted with real-life residents of Neighbourly Lane, Richmond Hill, the movie-theatre hybrid zooms in on a day in the life of a fractured Suburban family: the teenaged Ashley (Sascha Cole) and her recently separated parents, Robert (Sean Dixon) and Susan (Linnea Swan), who are driven apart after the death of their family dog, Eden (played by the fiesty Lindsey Clark).

In a Donny Darko-esque countdown to the end of the world (the launch of the Large Hadron Collider in this case), Ashley joins forces with Jacob (Kevin Walker), the strange, coyote-like boy next door, on a mission to move Eden's body from the backyard to a nearby field. She hopes that freeing her beloved canine's soul will help lift the family curse. Meanwhile, the adults attempt to reconnect in a hilarious and surprisingly moving scene involving a DIY plaster dildo kit.

Tannahill gets sublimely authentic performances out of the talented cast, displaying interesting on-screen visuals while the performers narrate the story on stage. A beautiful production with just the right amount of satirical bite, Post Eden is a must-see at this year's festival.

Post Eden runs until January 13 at the Factory Studio. Visit fringetoronto.com for showtimes and to buy tickets.

Show Dates:

Wed, 2013-01-02 - Sun, 2013-01-13

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