Iron Sticks
Brigette DePape
2008 AWARD WINNER - SPIRIT OF THE FRINGE
Mind blowing moves, freakishly strong arms, and a sparkly body suit,; Sophie has just what it takes to become Canada’s Next Top Baton Twirler. There’s just one thing that’s getting between her and the championship trophy – even the thought of performing in front of people seems to turn Sophie’s iron sticks to rubber.
June 22nd, 2008 at 11:24 am
I really enjoyed this show - but I’d like to see more people at it! Yesterday, there were about 5. I already knew that Brigette is a strong performer (two years ago in Winnipeg I saw a peculiar and clever three-hander called “Stuck” of which she was a part, at the age of 16!)… but her writing, it seems, is equally strong.
The biggest surprise for me was that while I expected a show about baton twirling to be full of manic energy, Iron Sticks/Stix was subtle, sublime and introspective. And she’s right - when we fix your gaze on a twirling baton, it doesn’t speed time up…it slows it down.
Please come out and support this talented young performer.
June 23rd, 2008 at 12:30 am
[...] DePape’s show, She Rules with Iron Stix, plays daily (except Monday) at the SAW Gallery venue in the Arts [...]
June 25th, 2008 at 12:06 am
I’ll admit I was the first one to think that this was going to be “the baton-twirling show.” I went in expecting to be entertained, but much in the same way that you’re entertained at the circus - by a skilled performer, with a selection of tricks to startle and amaze.
Brigitte’s show is much, much more than that. I’d already got a sense of the performer she is when we interviewed her a few days ago, and it was enough to let me know that I’d want to come back and see what she put together. And boy, was I surprised. She’s woven a carefully layered story and character in between the baton-twirling, and just when you think you’ve got a handle on the show, it throws something else at you. It’s funny - her delivery and comic timing is very good - but there are some real moments of soulful empathy, where you feel for this character that she’s created. In short, it does everything that good theatre should do, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The woman in the seat beside me, a friend involved with the fringe I can’t name, was moved to tears from this empathy. It was really that good.
June 25th, 2008 at 6:07 am
Yes, this is a good show with many lovely lines about life and
relationships (and longing for relationships). I started out wishing for
a bit more energy and volume (which she is obviously capable of, given
the way she opens the show); but, after getting used to the character,
I’m not so sure now. Maybe it’s about right the way it is.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:34 am
So this one was a surprise!
There hasn’t been much buzz on the street. Nobody I know well had seen it. I haven’t seen any reviews in the Ottawa media about it. I found the interview on the Ottawa Fringe web page to be less than inspiring. There were a handful of people around the BYOV venue, SAW Gallery, when we got our tickets.
I recognized the name, Brigette DePape, from a couple of Winnipeg Fringes, where, at ages 15 and 16, she wrote and performed in a one-hander “In Between” and a three-hander “Stuck”. Both plays got so-so reviews. Typically more praise for her acting than for her writing. The acting prowess wasn’t surprising, considering that DePape had 5 years of acting experience with a Winnipeg children’s theatre company, Fantasy Theatre, in more than 10 productions.
And now she’s touring Ottawa and Winnipeg, with a BYOV in Ottawa, and two shows in Winnipeg. It takes a lot of guts to tour a new play, at any age. I’ve seen 18-year-olds tour, but never in a BYOV. Give the little lady points for courage.
But a time slot in our schedule opened up. Hey, it’s the Fringe. You pays your money and you takes your chances.
The doors opened and the handful of people had turned into 4 handfuls who filed in. Ms. DePape wasn’t going to starve for her art, for one day.
Yet, by showtime, there were few empty seats in this small venue.
“Iron Sticks” was finding its audience.
DePape started in with her characters: a teenage baton-twirler who’s afraid to perform in public competition, and her only friend, her baton. Her baton coach (her mom) has died and left her to coach herself.
Yet she has a dark secret: She lusts for Forest, the only male baton twirler in Canada:
“I want to twirl your dreadlocks in between my fingers.”
When she talks about Forest, the air around her shimmers with heat, and there seems to be a hint of musk in the air.
Where’s that laugher coming from? It surrounds me. It also comes from within me.
DePape’s delivery is dead-pan and tightly timed. I see the hand of director Dave Dawson (who directed Black Sheep Theatre’s production of “The Root of All Squares”) at play. The script is witty, yet appropriate to the age of the main character. Gentle humour is sprinkled throughout, and the audience responds in all the right places.
In the end, the audience applauds and cheers DePape beyond her expectations.
The gamble has paid off.
Only a few more days to catch this sleeper. Put it on your list.
June 26th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Oops!
The sentence should read:
“Where’s that laughter coming from?”
June 28th, 2008 at 2:08 am
Probably the first show I’ll see a second time. I’m just in love with Sophie and her story and her stix. A deliriously wonderful one-gal show that’s funnier, truer, and slightly less baton-twirly (the roof just isn’t high enough) than you thin it will be. She does indeed rule.