When invited to see a play called Murder on Ossington, it’s safe to say that one expects to see, well, a murder on Ossington. So imagine my disappointment at the play’s curious ending when (spoiler alert) there wasn’t any murder. Actually, there was a murder on Ossington, at one point. It’s what inspired the play, it just didn’t occur during it. So why is Pandemic Theatre’s newest piece called Murder on Ossington? That’s a very good question.
Site-specific theatre is the production form du jour in Toronto (The Toronto Fringe Festival introduced it this past summer to much acclaim) and it works very well to this piece’s advantage: the play takes place in a house on Ossington, and it gives the production a mysterious, if not creepy, allure.
Another gimmick that’s grown in popularity around these parts: withholding the location of your play from the public. This means that only the chosen few who are able to obtain tickets to the show know where it will take place. I suppose it’s to give the audience members, as well as the play itself, a sense of exclusivity. Admittedly, when I received my email from the company a day before the show, I did feel like I was a part of a secret club, and so again, it’s another ploy that works in giving the show an eerie appeal.
But that’s where the spookiness ends for Murder on Ossington. Aside from the face-painted-ghoul of an emcee (played with acidic relish by writer/director Alex Rubin), the production isn’t scary; it’s just weird.
As soon as the fifteen “VIP” audience members are rounded up at the “secret” house on Ossington, we’re thrust inside the living room and split into four groups to watch four separate scenes in the rooms upstairs.
The disjointed scenes are extremely intimate, to say the least. Imagine doing what you do in your bedroom or bathroom and having complete strangers watching you do it up-close-and-personal. It very unnerving during the first two scenes (one concerned a near-sexual-assault and another a man bathing himself), but I eventually settled into my role as a Peeping Tom for the last two scenes (which featured a S&M scene and a couple fighting).
What kept my interest piqued throughout the 60 minute show was my expectancy for this so-called murder to occur. Were any of these dysfunctional characters the murderer or the victim? The play obliges the audience to make a link that isn’t clear, so in this regard, I’m going to go with: neither.
Though the emcee had warned us at the beginning of the show that “every house can kill you,” it turns out he might have been speaking metaphorically. Did he mean that we all die a little doing the things we do? Or did he mean your house can literally kill you? I can’t be sure what the message of the play is, but I’m pretty sure it has something to do with “you never know what happens behind closed doors.”
As the audience leaves outside into the chilly night, confused and bemused at the “did this really just happen?” climax we witnessed, we all asked ourselves: was that it? Is the show really over?
It was.
Conceptually, I have to give credit to Rubin and Tom Arthur Davis, the writing and directing team, for their creativity. Their play really is perfect for this time of year, with Halloween just around the corner. But overall, I can’t help but wonder about the necessity of a piece like Murder on Ossington, as well as the necessity of watching Davis wash his junk in the bath tub.
Murder on Ossington, Pandemic Theatre, secret location. Runs until October 30. For tickets, email tix@pandemictheatre.ca.
