If actor Lindy Zucker wasn’t nervous in the run-up to her first public SummerWalk (part of the SummerWorks theatre festival) she surely was after checking the comp list and discovering that Globe and Mail theatre critic J. Kelly Nestruck would be among the attendees. I hope Zucker’s not holding her breath for a great review; I kept my eye on Nestruck throughout the performance, observing his crossed arms and blasé demeanour. Then again, maybe he just likes to keep his cards close to his chest.
The audience certainly enjoyed the show, laughing loudly and frequently, even when “Uncle Lindy” was “digressing” into existential conundrums. A philosophical walking tour? Actually, yes. Lindy’s one hour “Quit Your Snivelin’ Tour of Life” was inspired by a sticker that suggested, “We do little to improve our situation.”
And so, with false mustache and a vaguely British accent firmly in place, Zucker proceeded to show us around the darkened neighbourhood surrounding the Factory Theatre, pontificating thoughtfully and humourously about what makes us humans tick.
The spectre of death is a prominent co-star. Beneath a grid of warehouse windows Lindy tells tales of allegorical characters who tripped, slipped and raced to their deaths via highly ironic circumstances. When he/she – our tour guide’s gender is purposely indeterminate — queried the audience about how many of us had imagined our own funerals, nearly every hand went up. Thus, Lindy launched into a series of questions about accomplishments, success and the meaning of life.
“It’s existential without being pretentious,” Zucker says hopefully. “I wondered what a tour of life might actually look like. It’s become a kind of adventure tour where we explore the themes that plague my peers, meaning other artists or just people my age (35) where we’re questioning what we’re doing with our lives, where we’re going and why? It’s a bit esoteric but hopefully not so much once you’ve done the tour.”
Mid-way through the walk as Lindy leads us out of a dark alley and onto busy King Street West, she provides each of us with a comic mustache so we’ll be incognito as we confront the real world. The sight gag leaves onlookers pointing, smiling and waving as we make our way past the swish Thompson Hotel; on Bathurst Street, Lindy implores us to dance to a ghetto blaster she’s brought along for the purpose (below). It’s a lot of silly fun.
“It’s definitely a theatre piece but more like one you’re directly involved in, more like a game,” says Lindy.
The show also manages to leave me thinking about the meaning of MY life and what I’m doing to improve my situation in the face of workaday travails. I can’t wait to see what Mr. Nestruck has to say about the show.
WHERE/WHEN: SummerWalks continue this weekend, check website for details.
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