At some point in our lives, most of us have dreamt of being a celebrity. Whether this tendency comes from sport, politics, music, or movies, we have prepared our egos for the day when the spotlight shines on us, and only us. Some of us will even go to great lengths to have this goal become reality.
Robert Chafe’s Lunchbox Theatre season premiere of Fatboy, successfully tackles the subject of how the burning desire to be a famous star plagues us all. Fatboy depicts just how desperate we can become for a piece of the pie.
Enter Cal, (Christian Goutsis) a young waiter/aspiring actor at the Cavendish hotel. His aspirations for fame seem far off in the distance until one day his fate changes in the washroom, an unlikely setting for this hilarious comedy. Cal discovers a wallet on the bathroom floor, and together with Tyson (Dennis Fitzgerald) and later Brent (Christopher Hunt), struggles with what he has to do with the situation.
The trio eventually learns the identity of the lost wallet’s owner which is, according to Cal, the most famous movie director in the world. Cal raises Fatboy, the director, to superstar status for the benefit of Tyson and Brent. Cal’s convincing attitude about a possible career boost upon the return of the new wallet quickly entices Tyson and Brent to become victims of their own desires for fame. And so the three men anxiously await the return of Fatboy, who will supposedly change their lives in return for the lost wallet.
The characters share amusing and comical anecdotes on the subject of stardom throughout the rest of the play. In a short amount of time, Cal, Tyson and Brent develop a friendly relationship in an offbeat and amusing manner until a new character is introduced. Claire’s addition to Fatboy changes the perspective of the play by bringing these three dreamers down to earth. Unexpected twists and turns continue throughout the play, always with a certain degree of hilarity.
Fatboy is an honest look at the lengths people will go to for fame and fortune. Robert Chafe has written a satirical look at the obsessiveness that can lead people in society to wait in a men’s bathroom for someone that might not come back.
Fatboy is an enjoyable, witty play with a talented and respectable cast. Director Johanne Deleeuw and the rest of the cast and crew at the Lunchbox Theatre have developed a funny hit that delivers laughs even amongst the crinkle of lunch bags and the crunching of apples.