Ottawa Fringe 2014. Portable #3 a Doubtful French class

No doubt that Alexander Gibson is an effective story teller especially where it comes to his own personal experience but I think this show is mainly about his experiences as a first time elementary school teacher and the obstacles he had to overcome. It is not about teaching French. So don’t be confused. In fact I wish his one man performance had erased all the references to teaching French and just chosen to tell us about  the character’s  experiences with  these children who are funny and disruptive and who constantly challenge him, as the ghost of his mother intervenes in his head and keeps telling him how to deal with it all

What was very distasteful for me was his relationship with the material he was supposed to be teaching. It showed first of all that the character  knows nothing about “second” language teaching. Evan at that early age there are pedagogical techniques that have to be mastered and there is a minimum level of linguistic competence one would expect from a teacher so that he does not ruin the poor sensitive ears of the little ones. At that age they pick up sounds, pronunciation, rhythms and accents so easily. Plus the fact that the story-line  emphasized the negative reactions of his class, which shows no doubt that the teacher  was not doing it properly. I could go into much detail but there is no point. Maybe a show of this kind would fly in a place where there are no francophones around but in Ottawa it is almost an insult to the attempts of serious French teachers who are dedicated to French Immersion, even if the children are very young. Not knowing what you are doing is not funny. its sad!  The  mimicry is fine but there is  something naive and childish about this performance that shows us why it missed the point.

Plays in the Arts Court Library. This year that venue has been rearranged so that we can actually see the performance space beyond the third row. Good job Fringe.