For the past eight years, The Toronto Burlesque Festival (which took place from August 27-30 this year) has hosted the finest local talent and some of the most spellbinding international performers hailing from New York, Japan, and even Switzerland. While most of the TBF showcases have a general theme (the Saturday late-night show was inspired by popular culture and nerd fandom), at least one show is scripted, with each act and character meticulously worked into a larger story. This year, the scripted show was titled “The Lost Toys,” and featured performances that explored nostalgia for childhood through the universal human experiences of love and neglect.
As I watched the show I was reminded of the poignancy of the Toy Story films—that connection was blatantly and gladly completed when burlesque performer and TBF producer Coco Framboise performed as Mr. Potato Head. Even though the Toy Story films are fictional, animated, and geared mostly towards children, the emotional insights the characters experience resonate with audiences of all ages.
The dichotomy between humans and creations that mimic life—such as machines, toys, and dolls—is a fascinating one. “The Lost Toys” questions what makes us human and what makes us conscious thinkers and feelers in the world. Characters such as a singing marionette, an abandoned troll doll, and a broken-hearted porcelain doll best address the ways that so-called objects can show and illustrate emotion in an effective and affective way.
The urgent desire to be loved was elegantly presented by Dew Lily, who sang The Smiths’ “How Soon Is Now” as a marionette whilst tied and suspended from the ceiling. Another vulnerable and powerful act of the night was Knox Harter’s chair dance as a porcelain doll to Princess Chelsea’s haunting cover of White Town’s “Your Woman.” The act culminated with the performer’s bra, covered by a large, glittery red heart, breaking apart to reveal near identical halves of the heart as her pasties. Between each act in the show, the host, known as Sexy Mark Brown, donned an apron and limped across the stage as an elderly toy maker. He interacted mainly with Pixie Trix, who was playing a neglected troll doll whose owner had grown up to raise a family that included children and grandchildren.
As I watched the performers I remembered all the toys and stuffed animals that I played with as a child. In particular, I thought of my stuffed toy dog that I loved to pieces and took with me wherever I went. Inevitably, I grew up and forgot about him, leaving him behind to lose his shine and gather dust. Maybe some day, when I’m cleaning and trying to be a stable adult, I’ll find him again and hold on to him, a surviving reminder to live and love with the candor and vulnerability of a child.
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