Ottawa Fringe 2011: Nancy Kenny on roller skates dreams of being a superhero!

The tandem Tanya Levy and Nancy Kenny obviously works well together . It took  a rather good script and turns it into something that shows off Nancy Kenny’s excellent talents as a comic actress. Together, they  gave the material a lot of comic and  emotional depth and a show that certainly did speak to a lot of people. That  is what caught my attention here.

There is our heroine, still single at  30,  watching TV, munching on popocorn and wondering what  she has been  doing with her life?  Nothing much  really,  except dreaming of strong female superheroes.

Then,  because of her sports oriented sister,  whom the actress mimics with great precision, our heroine  has an epiphany.  She  discovers  the roller derby sport and  enters a world of real female superheroes on roller blades. And even though she has never skated in her life, the  fantasy life becomes  real,  and she blossoms into a new person with the help of a super Hip Hop chroegrapher from Montreal apparently who did a great rhythmic  number with her as she dons her "superwoman"  Derby  Uniform for the first time.  Such precision and finely tuned work is perfect escapism and purely satisfying  entertainment.

It was Intelligent, it was almost uplifting.  Kenny’s  dead pan face that betrayed her excellent comic performance right from the beginning, developped into a gaze that glowed with pleasure.    As the skating got hold of her, her body woke up, became energized and had her zipping around the stage. It took guts because it was obvious that Ms Kenny does not really  compete in those  kinds of events but the  illusion worked because, as an actress,  she was able to distance herself  from this kind of wishful thinking  and still make us  believe that both the actress and her character were  having fun.

What we see essentially then, is an excellent comic actress who knows how to work her face,  control her emotions,  seize all the  the right moments and discipline her whole body.   Her  level of professionalism is obvious.  This is a feel good funny show with serious undertones Go see it.

Roller Derby Saved my Soul plays at the Leonard Beaulne Studio…

Roller Derby Saved My Soul

Broken Turtle Productions

Written and performed by Nancy Kenny

Directed by Tanya Levy.

Reviewed by Alvina Ruprecht

Ottawa, June 20, 2011