Lunatic Fringe
(Cochrane, Tom) Performed by Red Rider
Lunatic fringe
I know you're out there
You're in hiding
And you hold your meetings
I can hear you coming
I know what you're after
We're wise to you this time (wise to you this time)
We won't let you kill the laughter
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
Lunatic fringe
In the twilight's last gleaming
But this is open season
But you won't get too far
'Cause you've got to blame someone
For your own confusion
We're on guard this time (on guard this time)
Against your final solution
Oh no
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
We can hear you coming (we can hear you coming)
No, you're not going to win this time (not gonna win)
We can hear the footsteps (we can hear the footsteps)
Hey, out along the walkway (out along the walkway)
Lunatic fringe
We all know you're out there
Can you feel the resistance
Can you feel the thunder
Oh no
Hey!
It seems to happen to me every year that once summer comes, I'm too uninspired to continue the autobiographical Tunesday posts (and as I've concluded before, it's probably because it feels like I'm on a school break and resist the idea of doing "homework" in the summertime). So, while I'll hit pause on the continuing story of me, I am inspired to share a brief story from the past week that ends at the Toronto Fringe Festival - which is the straight-up no-deeper-meaning inspiration for this week's song choice.
Last week, Kennedy's boss offered her two free tickets to the totally sold out Come From Away, and since I was going to be free that day, I was easily convinced to go with her into Toronto to see the musical. And because that evening was to be the first preview of the Fringe show Kennedy is in, I was slightly less easily convinced to stay in the city to see it (only because I knew it would make for a long day, I was working the next morning, and I was already planning to see her play with the whole family a week later). But, stay I did; I am happy to support my kids; anytime, anywhere.
To start with the musical: I did know the basic premise of Come From Away - about the small community of Gander, Newfoundland and the nine thousand air passengers they put up when airspace closed on 9/11 - but it was even better in fact than in my imagination: I loved the Celtic kitchen music vibe to most of the soundtrack and the minimalist sets and multiple characters played by each actor were phenomenally done. What I couldn't have predicted is how emotionally affected I would be through the whole thing: I honestly think that (like countless others) I have some low level PTSD from 9/11 even though it only affected me through what I saw on news reports - when, soon after the play began, characters started hushing each other and telling them to turn up their radios, I was gasping and swallowing to stop myself from crying - the details of the terrorist attacks are never shared, but the reactions of the actors were a gutpunch and I was on the verge of tears through the whole thing. To turn the facts of a cowardly attack on our way of life into a feel-good story of the generosity and decency of ordinary folks was a kind of redemption, and I loved the whole thing.
Kennedy and I then had hours to waste, so we walked around Toronto, went into some shops, and after being offered some sushi samples from a nice looking Japanese restaurant, we went in for an early dinner. We walked towards the CN Tower afterwards and that was when we noticed that there was a Blue Jays game about to start - and although it was the 4th of July, the Jays were to play the Mets and we couldn't believe how many Americans (wearing "North for the Fourth" logoed Mets T-shirts) were in town; it can't be too much fun to go away and miss your country's Independence Day fireworks (but, I suppose, it was all worth it to these baseball fans when the Mets ended up winning; there was something meaningful to me in seeing all of these Americans up here after having seen that play and I wanted to smile at each of them and let them know that they were welcome). We had to move the car by six o'clock (oh, Toronto parking), so we parked closer to Kennedy's Fringe venue and went to a cafe for a cold drink (man, was it hot that day) before heading back to the theatre.
As for the Fringe: I have written before about how Dave's only real professional acting gig (by choice) was the Fringe play he appeared in in 1990 (I Fell in Love with an Eel), and I was interested to read in Eddy Izzard's memoir (Believe Me) that he was a regular at the Edinburgh Fringe before hitting it big; reading in Mindy Kaling's memoir (Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?) that the Fringe show she had written with a friend was her ticket to the big time. So, it seemed natural when Kennedy auditioned for and was cast in her first Fringe show, 2018: A Sex Odyssey. Kennedy warned me that the show is meant to be a sexy sit-com parody about a group of twenty-somethings who are en route to Mars to repopulate humanity as the Earth succumbs to climate change; warned me that the play would involve some adult scenes and language. But, she is an adult, and none of that shocked or offended me; it just wasn't a very funny play. When Kennedy asked me what I thought of it after, all I could honestly say was, "You made the best of some bad material". Turns out, the critics agree: in a review online, Now Magazine calls the play "so bad it's out of this world", and after calling out some of the piece's worst flaws, the reviewer does concede that there are a couple of good performances, including "Kennedy Thompson’s sarcastic Art (that) bring some life to this otherwise sterile and vacuous affair". That's my girl; taking her turn in the lunatic Fringe.
