Catgut Strung Violin
Tricklock Company
Writer/Creator: Tricklock Company
Anton loves his mother. Anton loves his violin. Anton wants to play for old women, birds, snowmen, and crushed fruit. But now Anton is going to battle. Armed with naiveté, Anton, his violin, and his unlikely friend Miller navigate the trenches of war. This side-splitting story is a hilarious ambush on what we’ve come to expect from camaraderie and combat.
[...] preview performances but the one that most impressed me and convinced me to attend their show was Catgut Strung Violin. Which is good because I might have skipped this one, based on their Fringe guide material. They [...]
My face hurt from laughing so hard at the slapstick physical comedy.
Even more impressive: largely through physical comedy, the actors manage to highlight the dehumanizing aspects of war without being heavy handed or overly manipulative.
Highly recommended!
Catgut Strung Violin
A fringe highlight from the get-go, this masterful dark comedy about war should be mounted outside every arms trade show in the world. Not that it would transform our bellicose side - that seems engrained, suggests Albuquerque, N.M.’s Tricklock Company - but at least it might balance it with compassion. Certainly, Anton, the central, violin-playing character in this three-man show elicits our sympathy. Sweet, naïve, an inveterate blunderer, he’s carted off to fight in a horrific war that defines the word “absurd” and plays heavily on the old oxymoron of military intelligence. Rooted in the physicality of silent film, at moments ironically balletic, Catgut Strung Violin is as surreal as a dream, as real as a bullet to the brain. At Academic Hall until June 28.
— Patrick Langston
[...] quick hop, skip, and a jump and I was in line for the much talked about Catgut Strung Violin.This is a talented bunch of guys and they do what they do very well. There are some wonderful sight [...]
These guys have been studying Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. Their moves are almost ballet, but gut-busting funny.
There’s a lot of buzz surrounding this show, and rightfully so. The physical comedy had the audience in stitches, and even the costume changes and props were used for comic effect. Definitely a show worth seeing.
The Ottawa Citizen’s Top 5 Shows
Patrick Langston (The Ottawa Citizen) picks the Top Five Shows:
Catgut Strung Violin - Venue #2 - Academic Hall
Countries Shaped Like Stars - BYOV #4 - Café Alt
Spiral Dive: Episode One - Venue #2 - Academic Hall
The Accident - Venue #5 - Arts Court Theatre
Inclement Weather - BYOV #4 - Café Alt
[...] Tricklock’s Catgut Strung Violin [...]