8 Responses to “Accident, The”

1. Jonno, on June 19th, 2009 at 4:15 am Said:

   Thought I’d put up a review I got in Montreal for the show.
   http://www.hour.ca/stage/stage.aspx?iIDArticle=17591

2. 2009 Ottawa Fringe Festival recommendations, on June 21st, 2009 at 1:29 pm Said:

   [...] Jonno Katz’s The Accident [...]

3. Jonno, on June 22nd, 2009 at 2:19 am Said:

   Here’s another killer review from Montreal.

   The Accident

   I had heard some sizzling buzz about this piece so I was looking forward to balancing out my day with a second good show. I was rewarded, in spades.

   The Accident is a one man comedy, dance and theatre piece, that tells the story of one young man’s coming to terms with his relationship with his brother. Jonno Katz’s performance absolutely out-of-this-world amazing, playing three characters simultaneously–sensitive conceptual artist Sebastian, his asshole older brother marketing exec Roy, and Roy’s emotionally volatile girlfriend, whose name escapes me for the moment. Jonno is a gifted physical performer, brilliantly miming mundane activities like grooming and eating and bringing them to superb life, switching between three very different characters seamlessly, and adding spot on sound effects of the machinations of daily life.

   This piece takes the shape of Sebastian’s coming of age story, as he concurrently tries to deal with the reverberations of growing up without parents (for some mysterious reason which is revealed later on) and being raised by older brother Roy. Sebastian is one of those human statue mimes, who dreams of creating a grand conceptual art piece: a giant shit machine which consumes food and produces real human-style shit. (a machine which actually exists and was on display here in town not too long ago, in fact). But he needs Roy’s financial backing to making the plan fly. Add to that the two brothers’ relationship to Roy’s girlfriend, and the reverberations begin to deepen and take on new and surprising textures.

   The most remarkable thing about The Accident is Katz’s ability to protray the full gamut of human nuance in sight, sound and motion. The range of facial expressions he uses for each character make them tangible and real. The little sound effects he employs–for pouring and drinking champagne, for example, or skipping a stone on a pond, or a dog running by in the park–highlight the delicacies of sensual awareness. Most striking, perhaps, is his interweaving of dance and miming, creating a universe of frenzied movement and activity.

   The Accident is laugh-out-loud funny and wonderfully well-put together. Katz’s tour-de-force performance makes The Accident without a doubt the best thing I’ve seen at this year’s fringe so far. Stunning.

   After seeing The Accident, I felt incapable of rushing off to another venue to see another show right away. I needed time to sit and absorb what I had just seen. I bailed on the last leg of my four-play relay race, preferring to sit under the cloudy sky and sip unassumingly on an apricot beer. That night I biked down to the pont Jacques-Cartier with some friends to watch the fireworks blow the night sky into oblivion. The violent exchange of light and darkness made a whole lot of sense.

4. Adorkable Thespian, on June 22nd, 2009 at 1:23 pm Said:

   “The Accident” is one of those show that enjoyed while I was watching it. Then I went away and thought about it. And the more I thought about it, the better it seemed.

   Jonno Katz is gifted. It’s that’s simple. Last year’s “The Spy” had me laughing the whole time. “The Accident” had me laughing, gasping, slack-jawed and at times, near tears. Katz creates three fully-realize characters, vivid sets, not to mention some sort of crazy digestive-tract-like machine using himself and sound effects. I saw it all.

   “The Accident” is simple, sometimes hilarious, sometimes sobering story created by an inspiring performer. Go see it!

5. The Ottawa Fringe Festival » Day 4: Week(end) in Review, on June 22nd, 2009 at 1:46 pm Said:

   [...] finally make their debuts, after closing the Montreal Fringe.  Sunday saw the premier’s of The Accident, Grandpa Sol & Grandma Rosie, Jem Roll’s LEASTEST FLOPS, and Satanic Panic (a local show, [...]

6. Tania, on June 23rd, 2009 at 12:35 pm Said:

   Conoisseurs of Katz’s work will appreciate the deeper tone of his newest project. With all the same energy and verve as his previous work, The Accident delves further into the soul through his unique brand of physical theatre.

7. Ottawa Fringe 2009, Day 7: Ain’t Nothing Going To Break My Stride « Movement, on June 24th, 2009 at 12:29 pm Said:

   [...] on the bill was The Accident. This one-man show starts with a lot of promise, mixing up an exhilarating cocktail of movement and [...]

8. The Ottawa Fringe Festival » Day 9: TGIF (redux), on June 27th, 2009 at 12:56 pm Said:

   [...] House, Jem Rolls’ LEASTEST FLOPS, Uncalled For’s Today is all your Birthday’s, The Accident, and Enter, Screaming (among others) all had great [...]

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