A night shift for four border guards at the Canadian-U.S. border in Niagara is filled with beefs and clandestine trysts in Omer Shamir’s improvised satire U UP?
The production sparked plenty of laughter, but something wasn’t sitting right with me after the show ended.
On paper, it looks great. The cast and creatives are skilled and accomplished performers, each with a solid background in some combination of comedy, improv and clowning. Together, they make a well-balanced ensemble, without showboaters or weaker links. The show has a clear point of view, and effectively conveys the absurdity and power of the imaginary lines we call borders.
But the vaguely uncomfortable feeling for me stemmed from the production’s desire to satirize the Canada-U.S. relationship, along with our ideas of nationhood and identity, at this particular moment in time. How do you satirize something, I wondered, that is so self-satirizing?
The lesbian love affair between the Canadian border agent (played by Samantha Lee, who gets props for an absurd rapped love song) and the American agent (Saba Akhtar), or the antagonistic bromance between Oliver Georgiou and Siva Pemmasani, would have hit a lot harder if the reality of things weren’t so off the rails. Instead, these relationships feel like something that would occur on any slow Tuesday over the past few years.
Despite my misgivings, the cast’s antics were undeniably funny, and made the show worth seeing, especially for those who love improv and are comfortable with audience participation to the point of immersion. (Yes, you might wind up on stage). But be forewarned, if you are there for the satire, it might not hit as hard as you’d hope.
U Up? plays at Tarragon Theatre’s Mainspace until July 12.
