Event showcases original theatre

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Toronto's theatre district has expanded to encompass a large portion of the downtown core as the 2008 Toronto Fringe Festival has returned for its 20th year.

The Fringe offers up an eclectic selection of comedy, drama and everything in between, with short plays designed to cater to every interest. The world-renowned festival draws performers and troupes from around the world, and has served as a launching pad of sorts for such acclaimed productions as the Drowsy Chaperone and the One Man Star Wars Trilogy.

This year's festival features its usual array of original works, many of which are already attracting buzz among theatre-goers. Toronto-based White Raven Productions' new piece Binary has carved out a reputation as one of the plays to watch from this year's crop.

Annex resident Ben Noble, one of the stars of Binary, said the play examines a dystopic future in which gender and sexuality are less defined, to the point where they no longer exist. Rather than taking one side or another in the gender debate, Binary aims to make viewers think about the issues revolving around gender identity.

"We're trying to open up a discussion about gender," he said.

Playing characters who were more or less asexual posed some unique challenges for the play's cast, from both a physical and emotional standpoint. Noble said it was difficult to set aside traits that have become second nature to him because those traits are typically associated with men.

"There are gender tags on different kinds of emotions," he said. "Aggression is generally associated with being male, so I had to find different ways to allow anger or aggression to show (in the play)."

Fellow cast member and Annex resident Amy Connolly said simple things such as movement became complex when performed through a genderless filter.

"You have to consider things as simple as physicality," she said. "I have a dance background and I've been told that I have a pretty feminine physicality naturally. I've been in performances where I've expressed femininity differently, but here you're trying to just be human."

Connolly said she and her castmates looked to the commonalities shared by all people to help mine their characters.

"Humans are humans and they all react the same way under duress," she said.

The physical challenges were even felt by local resident and costume designer Marika Schwandt. She designed the costumes out of strips of plastic bags to draw focus to some of Binary's other themes - the loss of natural resources and the fact that much of the waste humans leave will remain for centuries.

Still, her greatest difficulty was in de-sexualizing the diverse cast for a play set in a time where any expression of gender is illegal.

"The largest challenge I faced was dealing with breasts," she said. "The cast has very different body types, and my job was to make everyone look like Ken dolls underneath."

The Fringe is currently on at venues throughout the Annex, with dozens of locations offering up plays for $10 or less. There will also be late night shows throughout the Fringe Festival, which runs through July 13.

For a full listing of Fringe plays, venues and show times, visit www.fringetoronto.com. Tickets and information are also available by calling the Fringe Hotline at 416-966-1062.