Sink your teeth into it

Matthew Spinny as Crow (left) and Scott Shannon as Hoss (right) perform during Tooth of Crime at UNB's Memorial Hall last week. (Diane Cole/for the NB Beacon)

Tooth of Crime (2nd Dance) is a play with music. It was written by Sam Shepard in the 1970s and re-written in 1996.

The play includes music and lyrics written by T Bone Burnett. It was presented by Nasty Shadows Theatre Co. at the University of New Brunswick’s Memorial Hall. The theatre setting provided the audience a more intimate experience with the main floor being used as the theatre stage.

The complicated plot caused a lot of confusion for the audience, with some audience members walking out after the first act.

However, the actors’ performance made the play because they were engaging and made you want to keep watching even though the plot was very weak.

Directed by Nicholas Cole, the play tells the story of Hoss – played by Scott Shannon – who is a top “marker” in rock music and afraid of losing his spot to up and coming gypsies. The genre is science fiction which seems to be the reason the play doesn’t give a clear explanation of what a marker and a gypsy are. Crow – played by Matthew Spinney – is a gypsy trying to dethrone Hoss and take his spot in the rock kingdom.

Crow’s crazy character is portrayed exactly like it should have been by Spinney. He was able to act out scenes by himself while still keeping the audience interested with his unusual dialect and incredible energy.

Shannon portrayed Hoss very well and gave a convincing performance as a drug addict. The emotions were evident in his face and eyes, giving the audience a closer and more intimate relationship with the character. Chemistry between Hoss and Becky – played by Becky Forbes – was natural and unforced. Their transitioning emotions, from an intimate moment to being angry, gave both characters depth and imitated the range and complicated emotions human beings have.

Supporting characters were also portrayed well. Female actresses were able to successfully play men’s roles – Elizabeth Goodyear as Meera and Ref and Rebekah Chassé as Chaser – except when there was singing involved, where it became obvious that the male character is actually female.

The play had a variety of technical difficulties, including sound problems. The music was too loud and drowned out actors’ voices while they were singing. Music director and guitarist, Matt Gray, played guitar in the background of scenes without his amplifier turned on because there wasn’t supposed to be music. Even without the amplifier turned on, the music was still distracting for the audience.

Tooth of Crime goes ahead at the BMO Rehearsal Hall in Saint John, at 112 Princess St., on Oct. 21 and 22 at 7:30 p.m. nightly. Tickets cost $12 for the general public and $8 for students.

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Posted by Jennifer Bishop on Oct 17, 2011. Filed under Features, This Week's Edition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.