Boat Load
Jayson McDonald
2008 AWARD WINNER - OUTSTANDING SOLO PERFORMANCE
Gary Bazman is a fabulous, wonderful actor who only needs a thousand dollars to make his dream of bring discovered at a touring arts conference a reality. Also, his cat needs a thousand dollar operation, but that’s just way to much money to spend on a cat. Directed by Jeff Culbert, and created and performed in Jigsaw Mthod. From the creator of Giant Invisible Robot, the most destructive solo theatre piece in history.
Stars and Hearts
Ottawa ON
BYOV 2- SAW Gallery
| Date | Time | Buy Tickets |
| Friday June 20 | 20:30 | |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday June 21 | 20:30 | |
| Sunday June 22 | 19:00 | |
| Monday June 23 | 19:00 | |
| Thursday June 26 | 21:30 | |
| Friday June 27 | 19:30 | |
| Saturday June 28 | 22:00 | |
| Sunday June 29 | 18:30 |
Amy Salloway
June 22nd, 2008I would venture the guess that everyone in the packed, cheering, adoring audience of “Boat Load” tonight left the SAW gallery trying to decide if they loved this Jayson McDonald show MORE than last year’s “Giant Invisible Robot”, or equally much, and that most people came to the conclusion that it was an impossible question, and also somewhat painful, like trying to choose which of your children you love more, which never leads to any good (as we all know), and so instead we all just spent the rest of the night carrying around this giddy, glowing, ephemeral bubbling beaker of happiness and sadness and hilarity and honesty and amazement inside our chests, reveling in it, and doing a little dance with it, and hoping it would last as long as possible, because that is the gift of “Boat Load”. Its astonishing cleverness, creativity, wit and insight into human behavior gives you an absolute rush of joy…a little personal furnace of comfort that yes, theatre can still be THIS original, acting can be THIS good, a fanciful one-man show can feel THIS touching, deep and resonant while still being THIS pants-wetting funny. Jayson McD is a treasure, seriously.
And bananas ARE nature’s telephone.
Alex Eddington
June 22nd, 2008Beautiful. Really. Jayson’s “Giant Invisible Robot” (which I have seen five times I think) is a marvellous, funny show that draws us in and then goes for the emotional jugular - and I love it - but somehow, I think “Boat Load” tops it for me. While “Robot” is sequential, “Boat Load” is layered. There are clever play-in-a-plays plays to swim through - the play IS the metaphor that the play plays with, if you will. It’s very, very, VERY funny… and then he plays a cat (and the main character’s mother) with such honesty. This cat (Mr. Tangerine) came from another place, some sublime world of characterizations that Jayson sometimes dips into - which I believe might be the same magical dimension that Gemma Wilcox comes from.
Jayson makes the best argument for cat ownership that I’ve ever heard. And I’m a bird person.
Arden Usin
June 22nd, 2008This is without a doubt my favourite show of the Fringe so far. Hilarious, intelligent, and really really touching and sad in parts. At one point I found myself still crying but also laughing really hard as well. It’s hard for me to say this, as I loved Giant Invisible Robot so much last year, but this was an even better show. I am still blown away, and I think I want to see it a second time!
Amazing work, Jayson!
Alison Williams
June 23rd, 2008I agree with everyone above. So I’ll be blunt.
If you haven’t seen Boat Load yet - GO!
GO! GO! GO!
Vernon W
June 24th, 2008Fast moving, clever and funny, this show is definitely one of the best of this year’s fringe. Great writing and great acting make for a very entertaining show, go see it!
Mister Malarkey
June 24th, 2008Jayson McDonald has done it again! Easily as good as last year’s Giant Invisible Robot, Boat Load is a one-sided tour through one man’s personal hell: small-town Canada. With convincing and strangely familiar characters who range from hilarious (”Dad”, “Spater”) to moving (”Mom”, “Mr. Tangerine”), McDonald skillfully keeps the audience’s focus and delivers plenty of laughs. Go see it!
carolsteinbegf
June 26th, 2008As the mother of a young comedian with a cat - I laughed and blushed all at the same time - especially when Dad asks “what can I get you?” Jayson is very talented and the show cleverly enables him to demonstrate his ability to play different characters quite effectively. Although the play looks like it’s aimed for a young audience, it works for us parents as well. Loved it!
Ray
June 26th, 2008One of the finest Fringe shows I’ve ever seen. I’m a big fan of Jayson’s style of theatre, and this time round he has a very solid concept and story. Laughed my ass off, and my heart was broken. Very few performers have been able to do that for me. Thank you, Jayson, for an amazing theatre experience!!
Maggie
June 27th, 2008The words of others come to the fore (see above comments). Go see Boatload, it’s a boatload of fun (pardon the pun).
Christina
June 27th, 2008What amazed me about this piece is it left an actual impression on me that clung for hours. Usually, even good fringe shows are forgotten more or less within a hour or two, but I woke up this morning still amazed at this show.
Congratulations to the actor, he did an incredible job of drawing us in and moving us around with him as he passed through time and emotion.
If it were a book, I’d buy it for all my closest friends. Bravo.
Amanda
June 27th, 2008Holy crap. If you haven’t seen this play, see it. If you’ve seen it already, see it again. If you’ve already seen it twice, offer to be Jayson’s stage manager and go on tour with him. Hilarious, moving, well-written, wonderful. I’m rearranging my whole Fringe schedule (not an easy feat) just so I can see it again. As I rode the bus home, this play drove home the frustrating thing about good theatre. You can’t take a concrete piece of it home with you. No recordings, no prints, nothing. Just memories. But that’ll have to be good enough. Boat Load– you owe it to yourself to see this show.
Colleen
June 28th, 2008Boatload took me on a ride I’ll never forget. In a heartbeat, Jayson will take you from laughter to complete and utter heartbreak. He is a most endearing performer who draws you in and never lets go. His characters will stay with you. Brilliant show. Just go. Don’t think. Go. This is a DO NOT MISS.
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