Oreo
Silent QUEMB Productions
Writer/Creator: Nadine Thornhill
A delicious comedy about race, identity and vibrators!
“Black on the outside, white on the inside.” Kaye, a woman of colour, maintains that her passion for soft rock and word puzzles do not negate her racial identity. Newly divorced and working at a sex shop, Kaye is determined to find a way to live life inside her own skin.
[...] OREO Nadine Thornhill is one of the smartest and funniest writers I know. Some kind of Norm Foster meets Gilmore Girls. She also won last year’s Best in Venue award for her play The Wedding Night, so you know she can bring the goods. [...]
[...] is Fringe time once again. So far I’ve enjoyed Oreo and Pitch [...]
OREO on opening night was FABULOUS! I thought all of the characters did a great job of playing their parts, especially Kaye’s mom!! Too funny! I enjoyed Nadine’s play last year, THE WEDDING NIGHT, and this year was no less hilarious! Thank you Nadine, and keep them coming!
I had the pleasure of seeing the 11pm show last night. Thornhill tackles a whole bunch of taboo topics and spins them into a deftly written commentary on race, working in an education oriented sex store and the awkwardness of life in general. Thornhill plays the lead, as well as having written the play, and her character Kay is genuinely likable, and as we become privy to her inner thoughts and memories as she deals with her new life as a divorced woman, it is hard not to be taken aback with the honesty involved in the telling of this story.
Oreo is well cast with two of the actors playing multiple parts. Oreo was witty, funny and just that perfect mix of charming and uncomfortable. It makes you laugh, and then makes you wonder whether or not you should be laughing. Oreo is worth at least one viewing.
Ottawa Fringe, Oreo, and Beer Tent Reviews
Written by Wayne Current
Tuesday, 23 June 2009
When it comes to reviewing Ottawa’s Fringe Festival, I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty. I don’t just see theatre, I go drinking with the cast afterwards. When the cast aren’t available, I go drinking with the writer, the front of house people, or my fellow audience members.
I encourage all of you to do the same.
oreo3It is, of course, perfectly acceptable to drink a nonalcoholic beverage during these interactions (though why you would want to do that when beer is plentiful and reasonably priced is a little beyond me). Regardless of what beverage you choose to consume, if you don’t do at least a little mingling after the show, you’re missing out on a rewarding experience.
Ottawa Fringe is all about community, and it’s the easiest community in the world to join. Buy a ticket, see a show, grab a beverage (I recommend the apricot beer), and then go meet some new people and talk about what you saw. Be brave and approach the cast. Actors love praise, so begin by saying: “Hey, thanks for the show.” Then just introduce yourself, and your off!
Here is an example of the kind of mutually rewarding experience that can happen when artists and audience engage with each other. My friend Michael and I attended the June 19th performance of Oreo at the University of Ottawa’s Academic Hall. Michael is a music aficionado whose brain is filled with a staggering amount of musical factoids that take “music geek” to a whole new level.
As it happens, there is a re-occurring reference to Steely Dan throughout Silent Quemb’s production of Oreo. On the way to the beer tent after the show, Michael informed me that Steely Dan got their name from a dildo in William S. Boroughs’ Naked Lunch. Since Oreo is set in a sex shop, we naturally wondered if Nadine Thornhill – the writer and star of the show – was aware of this piece of musical trivia.
About half way through an apricot beer, the cast of Oreo appeared on the scene at the beer tent, and a great conversation was had. As it turns out, Ms. Thornhill was not aware of the origin of Steely Dan’s name, and she was delighted to hear about this serendipitous coincidence.
oreo2So how was the play?
Fantastic! This is Fringe theatre at its best. The incredible script deals with the issue of racial identity in a refreshing, vibrant, and humorous way. As Colleen Sutton, a member of the cast, has said, “Come for the sex and dildos, but stay for the social commentary”. All too often social commentary is delivered with an angry shaking fist of rage, or with the painful earnestness of an after-school special. Ms. Thornhill should be applauded for taking a different path. Finding humour in complicated and sensitive issues is difficult to pull off without trivializing the issue itself, but Oreo succeeds in spades!
All of the performances in this production were solid, but Nadine Thornhill, without a doubt, carries the show. Her commitment and desire to share her script with the audience comes through in her performance as Kaye, a newly divorced women of colour who is “black on the outside, white on the inside”, and determined to find a way to live life inside her own skin while working in a sex shop. She is a joy to watch.
Iyono Ede plays the role of Kaye’s mother, Bea, and her performance is so compelling that I found myself eagerly anticipating her character’s return to the stage. I was not alone. Ms. Ede is clearly having fun in the role, and fun is contagious. The audience ate it up.
Finally, Colleen Sutton’s portrayal of various sex shop patrons is exceptional. She plays three separate characters, which could have easily been portrayed as caricatures, but Ms. Sutton opts to take the more challenging path. She presents the audience with three very distinct characters that come across as separate individuals, rather than cardboard two-dimensional archetypes.
This one is gold. Check it out, and don’t forget to go to the beer tent afterward and engage with others. You might just see me there. If you do, let me know what you’ve seen and what you think of the show. The Ottawa Fringe is a great little community and everyone is welcome to join. All you have to do is buy a ticket.
WHO’S THAT KID WITH THE OREO COOKIE?
Fans of Nadine Thornhill’s past performances and productions will not be disappointed in this most recent exploration of race, sex and love.
If you’re a theatre-goer like myself, it takes a delicate balance between wit, insight and frankness to make me laugh aloud, and OREO did precisely that on more than one account. A firecracker of a play, the audience swoops through a myriad of emotions and leaves you breathless for more at its conclusion. The play’s protagonist, Kaye, is absolutely believeable and a delight to witness as she comes to terms with so many issues that resonate true, and the other characters only complement and drive the story forward.
If you’re searching for a ‘must-see list, mark OREO at the top of your list folks. With all of its whip-lashing, culture-jamming, vibrator-swinging dialogue, you’re sure to be standing and cheering in the end!