Down to the Underwire

So tonight I went and saw Ariel Platt's Down to the Underwire show at Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse. Every year, the Toronto Fringe Festival, which I'm a great supporter of, tends to have a few spoken word shows. A spoken word show at the Fringe is an incredible feat to put on as most sets at poetry/spoken word shows are about 20 minutes. At about 30 minutes, one is likely to say, "fuck this shit, I'm getting a beer." In Fringe festivals, etc., the average show is 45 minutes and up. This creates a serious challenge to a spoken word performer in engaging their audience for the whole set and Ariel manages to use seriousness as well as her great comedic ability and stage presence to leave the audience entertained and not looking at their watch in the shade under 45 minutes.

A recently weekly entertainment magazine reviewer gave this show a poor rating suggesting her poetry lacks emotion and substance, apart from her heart wrenching poem dealing with domestic violence. I have to disagree. I would not want to sit through 40-50 minutes of depressing stories. I want to be entertained, and Ariel does this quite successfully. I encourage spoken word fans to see see the show Thursday at 1:45, Friday at noon or Saturday at 7:30 (after the show you can come to the slam).