Theatre: Gnomes

Date saw the show: August 14 2007
Place saw the show: Alberta, Calgary, Calgary Fringe Festival (www.calgaryfringe.ca)
Production Company: Tin Foil Cup Creative

Director: Jane MacFarlane

Playwright: Neil Fleming
Cast: Jon Johnson, Pauline Brunnen and Jonathan Purvis

4 ½ stars

Reviewed By: Emily Axelson

Garden Gnomes: good, evil or ceramic? Enslaved by Man? Bent on destroying the earth? Or simple lawn ornaments? You decide!

When I first walked into the theatre of Gnomes, the room was completely crowded, and every seat was filled. This led me to believe that it must be enjoyable and entertaining. I was surprised to see that it was that, and much, much more.

Finbar Duckinfield is a collector of garden gnomes; he owns 147 of them, and is about to own his 148^th. He’ll own it the following day as soon as the paperwork is done. All is going well until a girl named Gita shows up and catches him talking to a new gnome which he calls Norman. She explodes in a furious rage, accusing him of slavery of gnomes. She claims to be with the garden gnome liberation society, and she also claims that “Norman’s” name is actually Andrew, and that he is the leader of gnomes. They’re having their argument when a man named Nico Peltonen arrives, ranting on about the charm of the gnomes. He believes this to be a spell that Finbar is under, causing him to buy as many lawn gnomes as possible, so that the gnomes can be in a large group and can take over the world and cause destruction of all mankind. Finbar has to decide who to believe; the strange girl fighting for gnome freedom, or the seemingly insane man warning him about the danger of the gnomes.

Your first impression of this play is that it would be just too strange, and too over the top. I thought this at first, but as soon as it began, I realized that that’s the point. It’s so over the top and peculiar that it’s entertaining. My hat is off to the actors of this production, for not being afraid to act over the top. With a role like that, the only way that you can pull it off is if you don’t hold back in the slightest, and the actors of Gnomes most certainly didn’t. Gita was hilarious as the gnomes’ liberation member, Finbar was fantastic as the confused gnome collector, and Nico was wonderful as the paranoid gnome hater.

The entire play is one giant argument between the three actors, but surprisingly enough, you never get bored. It’s such an outrageous idea, but it’s hilarious! I salute director, Jane Macfarlane for being brave enough to try this idea.