We sat down digitally with YoungW to discuss Mysteries and Lies at this year’s Toronto Fringe Festival:
Mysteries & Lies is a stripped-down, close-quarters Fringe experience designed less to impress audiences than to destabilize them — gently, playfully, and sometimes profoundly. James Alan – an actual magician – creates an unrepeatable, interactive hour; built live, in the room, with you. In an era of deepfakes, AI-generated realities, and “alternative facts,” he is using classical live magic to explore a very modern problem: How easily can human beings be manipulated – even when they know it’s happening? Your choices will leave you lying awake in bed at three o’clock in the morning wondering if the people in charge of the universe are personally messing with you. Directed by James Biss. Running at Sweet Action Theatre. See the show page for dates and show times.
Q&A with director James Biss and performer James Alan
What inspired you to create this project?
This specific show was inspired by the venue. Artscape Youngplace (which contains the Sweet Action Theatre) used to be an elementary school – a red brick building like my own elementary school – and so we gave the show a bit of an academic vibe. The show has a bit of a classroom feel (except with a show called Mysteries & Lies, most of what I’m teaching is not accurate.)What do you hope audiences will take away?
First, I hope they have a wonderful time. I want them to laugh, lean forward, gasp a little, and leave arguing pleasantly about what just happened and how much they thought was “real”. I also hope the show leaves people thinking about the stories we tell ourselves. We all live with mysteries. We all tell lies – sometimes to others, sometimes to ourselves, sometimes just to survive the day. Mysteries & Lies plays with that idea, but playfully, theatrically, and with a wink.What’s next for you both? Anything you want to shout out? We’re interested in building work that crosses boundaries: theatre, mystery, storytelling, magic, literature, and old-fashioned showmanship. We want to make live events that feel rare – the kind of thing you had to be there for.
Tickets are now available for the show which runs from June 30-July 12 at the Sweet Action Theatre (Queen and Ossington, Toronto).
