Ottawa Fringe 2013. Pilot, a Gioco Theatre production

Four strangers are stranded in an airport due to the fact that their pilot is missing. The only way to depart is to participate (and win) a game set up by the airport authorities. As the game evolves on different stages, the audience comes to know the characters better: the competitive 13 years old Piper, the not so bright Pete and Phil, and deceiving Pascale. "Pilot" surely promises more than it delivers. Its very simple and meaningless story, non-existent direction and mostly amateurish acting failed to create drama, humour or honest connections. Talented and energetic Jaclyn Martinez (as Pascale) used up all her energy on the stage in an attempt to infuse some life into the show that looked more like an inside joke than any kind of play. The naive explanation (trying to be funny?) at the end did not help in any way. The message: "you are stupid Americans, and we can make you believe anything" does not sound very convincing or, at least, factual. It came off more as offensive and rude. Maybe there was a deeper meaning in all this, but it definitely did not come across. The audience helped as much as it could. People applauded when they are told to do so, repeated slogans even laughed from time to time, but all this was not enough to build a decent theatre.

Cast

Pete – Kyle Cunningham

Pascale – Jaclyn Martinez

Phil – Mike Connors

Piper – Ashley Rissler

Game Show Assistent – Sam Dietrich