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JOSH’S REVIEW: In The First Place @ Ottawa Fringe 2013

Insight Theatre’s In the First Place is a charming and empowering look at you people’s first relationships, kisses, and sexual encounters. In this day and age, it’s great to hear a group of people discuss both their good and bad experiences in a constructive way.

Should you see it?


 

FourIn the First Place is a refreshingly honest and positive take on young people’s various first romantic and sexual experiences. Often, pieces like this can become a tangent against sex, or the complete opposite even. However, the performers from Insight Theatre don’t fall into this. Instead, they discuss their first experiences openly while mixing in good doses of humour and solemnness. They neither place sex on a pedestal, nor do they make it out to be something horrible, even when it comes to the performers’ more negative experiences. They tell us how they learned from those trying times and became better people for it. For me, that’s truly inspirational.

The Bytown Museum venue is a tad small, but I found it worked to the production’s advantage. It made the experience more intimate, and the lack of an elevated stage helped this further. It is a bit of a trek away from the rest of the Fringe, but well worth it.

It should also be noted that each of the performers wrote their own monologues. Director Luna Allison organized the performers and their monologues. To call them talented would be too little. That they all chose to do this and tell their stories in a positive manner is courageous. Oh, and did I mention that they’re all between the ages of 16 to 19? When I found that out, it blew my mind. Each of these young adults are wise beyond their years, and it makes their monologues all the more enjoyable and valuable to hear.

But these are just my thoughts. Have you seen In the First Place? If so, then post a comment below!

In the First Place runs June 26th, 27th, 28th, and 29th at the Bytown Museum (BYOV A). For more information, please visit our preview page.

 

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