Dan Taylor in Matrimony at Edmonton Fringe Festival. Photo credit: Teddi Taylor
Matrimony by Dan Taylor
August 11 – 21 at Knox Church
An interview with Dan Taylor.
Describe your show in five words.
A wedding of plastic sheets
Okay, now that we’re intrigued… what’s the longer description?
It’s a one person show looking at weddings and marriage through the perspective of an officiant and a stand in bride and groom
How did your background as a pastor and a comic contribute to creating Matrimony?
It was a chance to bring the two worlds together. I’ve done a lot of stand up, but I don’t talk about being a pastor on stage that much, so this was a chance to let my pastoral experience doing weddings and marriage counselling drive the show.
In Matrimony, your bride and groom are two sheets of corrugated plastic. Aside from keeping Matrimony a one-person show, why did you build your bride and groom out of plastic?
Corrugated plastic is stronger and more durable than cardboard over a long run, but mostly I wanted to have blank slate stand ins onto which the audience could project themselves. I want us to care about Bride and Groom and their marriage by the end of the show, but I want us to remember that they’re not real. And they’re cheaper and easier to work with than real actors
Why did you want to explore marriage and weddings in a theatre show?
In some ways the venue helped frame the show. Knox Church came up as an available BYOV. A church sanctuary feels a bit strange for a comedy show and it’s tough to make it work, but the same room feels very natural for a wedding. That was the starting point to put them together and the show followed from there.
Anything else you want audiences to know about the show?
Hopefully, we’re going to have a live pipe organist at some of the shows, so try and make it out for the early shows for the full flavour.
The 35th Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival is August 11 – 21. Get your tickets at tickets.fringetheatre.ca.