Louis B Hobson's review Learning to Count...

Learning to Count Past 100

Eve Beauchamp has written one of the few plays to be featured at Fringe this year, but it is not a typical play by any means. It is a non linear, absurdist dramedy.

The two characters played by Keith Bonioi and Maysan Kawah are brother and sister, but he ends up playing several other people including their father, other children and one of his sister’s suitors.

Kawash is baking cookies, while Bonioi is obsessing over the possible existence of extraterrestrials. Kawash was what she called a math kid, intrigued by numbers, and they have taken over her life even as an adult. Sometimes the two characters interact and sometimes they even break the fourth wall to talk to the audience. Most of the time they are in their own little worlds. There are two times that they interact that are particularly effective. In one sequence, the father takes his terrified daughter on a roller coaster. In another, the boyfriend takes the young girl to an Italian restaurant. When Kawash and Bonioi get to interact, there is some genuine magic.

Under Madeline Taylor-Gregg’s direction, there are several different styles from outrageous to naturalistic. The set and props are all made of cardboard. A great deal of thought and effort has gone into the presentation and we know we are in the presence of theatre artists who know their crafts.

It is a welcome distraction from the typical fringe fare, even if it is a bit avant-garde.