2024 Fringe Festival Review: Theater Night of Theatre

Theater Night of Theatre, written by Rod Peter Jr. and directed by Andrew Young, is a humorous play poking fun at the idea of one-man shows. The play is a preamble to the one-man show that Sebastian Atticus Montague-Augustus Sterling-Wilde Thornebrook (Tich Wilson) decides to put on to get some easy cash. As it turns out, it’s not so easy.

Thornebrook is the butt of every joke. His character is an audio-author, which means he skips the writing part of books and just records himself telling the story. He makes clear that he thinks he is too good to actually read any books or get to know anything about theatre. The play pokes fun at people who think that performances in fringe festivals are an easy feat. It makes clear that it’s definitely not an easy thing to do, even if Thornebrook will never realize that himself.

He has a complete disregard for every part of theatre and no respect for his former cast and crew. The only reason his one-man show is a one-man show is because disaster struck at every turn. First he accused his entire crew of a murder they weren’t guilty of. Then a beehive killed his new cast and crew. So Thornebrook took on every role himself and tells the audience the entire story.

Among his quirks is his habit of mispronouncing words, seemingly to make them sound more sophisticated but ultimately sounding ridiculous. The mispronunciations were sprinkled throughout the play and got some chuckles from the audience. He also over-explains everything, narrating every facial expression and movement before he acted it all out. Things like saying “she trembled” and then trembling onstage or “his eyes widened” before widening his eyes got some laughs from the audience. Wilson did a good job delivering these lines and making Thornebrook’s foolishness even funnier. But by the end of the play, the humour in these running jokes had worn off.

He rambles on for way too long, which is the entire bit of Theater Night of Theatre, and it was amusing for about the first half of the play. By the second half, the entire joke started to lose its charm. Then I was simply waiting for something more interesting to happen.

The script depended on the running jokes and this bit to keep the audience engaged and laughing along. Unfortunately, they lost their edge and went on for too long to have the intended effect.

The real one-man tech crew of Theater Night of Theatre did an amazing job with the sound and lighting. They never once missed a cue. The use of sound, whether it was thunder or dramatic music, made some of the jokes funny. Without the sound, those jokes would have simply fallen flat. Additionally, the lighting had the same effect at moments in the play.

The writer of the play, Peter Jr., committed to the bit of the play well offstage. Programs for Thornebrook’s play were handed out as the audience entered the theatre. It had a biography for Thornebrook and a review he had written for his own play. On top of that, he wrote an entire short story collection “by Thornebrook” that the audience could buy physical copies of. It added humour to the play even after it was over.

Wilson’s performance, Peter Jr.’s commitment, and the crew’s skill can’t be understated. Unfortunately, the play went on for too long and the bit started to lose its charm. If it had been shorter or if the second half of the play was more interesting, the play would’ve been a fringe festival gem.

Theater Night of Theatre is playing at the Fringe Festival until August 25.