Love stories land dead on
I Love You So Much I Wish You Were Dead, written and directed by Brenda McFarlane, with Jeff Clarke, Deborah DeMille, Brigitte Gill, James Gilpin and Murray Oliver. Presented by Far Fetched Productions at the Fringe of Toronto at the Robert Gill Theatre, July 5–14. $8. Rating: NNN
Facts of romantic life jut out like spikes from I Love You So Much I Wish You Were Dead, a series of episodes weaving together the problems of modern love. Brenda McFarlane’s script occasionally remains at the level of sketch comedy, but more frequently — and rewardingly — it dives to a deeper emotional level of subtextual voices and mixed messages.
Commitment, the permanence suggested by getting a pet, fights over forgetting to get the cap back on the toothpaste — all the serious and petty problems of couples crop up and produce strong theatrical shape under McFarlane’s direction. The women — Deborah DeMille and Brigitte Gill — are the most insightful performers, with Murray Oliver slickly dangerous as a hit man to whom most of the characters turn for murderous support.
— JK
