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Edmonton Journal

Fringe Review: Lousy Parents gets the fur flying

Article content Article content 4 stars out of 5 Article content Article content Stage 4 — Walterdale Theatre (10322 83 Ave.) Article content Hell is other people, the old saying goes — but that phrase doesn't get quite specific enough sometimes, especially when children are in the mix. Kristen Peters stars as Carly Davenport, who runs Sunshine Daycare Home. 'I've always liked kids, even when I was one,' she explains at the onset, making it clear the tension muscling through this theatrical collision of worldviews isn't going to be the kids, who have sadly come down with the rather common modern affliction of head lice. Enter the parents. Well-off Sharon and Tim Callahan (Jill Gamez and Ed Picard) are an asymmetrical pair of hard workers — she on her yuppie career, he on maintaining the household. Meanwhile, Dan and Fiona Whitmore-Murray (Jeremy Schick and Sara Rossman) are exhausting, outfits-matching helicopter parents who follow every trend for the sake of appearances. And Ricky and Raven Frankenstein (Mark Facundo and Marissa Tordof) are those cool rock and roll parents you see now and then, all in black and pretty good-natured, but certainly with their own defensiveness, judginess and hangups. In a classic speed-dating, 12 Angry Men sort of way, all these diverse voices are smashed together by Davenport via the head lice crisis in hopes of transparency and communication, but of course the fur flies. 'Lice is treated with medicine, combing and patience,' the caregiver explains, immediately bashing up against resistance via the Frankensteins' budget concerns, Fiona's fear of chemicals and Sharon's base-level impatience, things quickly getting out of hand as the inevitable blame game gets going across cultural borders and Fiona accuses the Frankensteins — last names changed to buck the patriarchy — of being Satanists. As heads are butted and fights threatened, necks start to get itchy which leads to a satisfying conclusion where the person who deals with children all the time has to step up. You may see yourself in this play, and that's the point — be brave and grow! Article content Article content