Cactus: The Seduction…: an irresistible energy

The indefatigable Jonno Katz brings his frenetic physicality back to this year’s Fringe with Cactus: The Seduction…, a surreal exploration of the artist’s psyche. Katz wanders through a barren desert with two mysterious companions, in constant pursuit of a distant figure on the horizon. He periodically lapses from this ‘reality’ into a dreamlike ‘fantasy’, during which points he engages the audience in conversation and delivers personal anecdotes.

Katz’s every word and gesture is so packed with contagious fervor that the audience has little hope in avoiding being swept along in whichever direction he pulls them. He coquettishly teases his viewers along with such ease that the irregular shifting between monologue and narrative goes more or less unnoticed. All that matters is that Katz seems to be having a ridiculous amount of fun performing, and to witness such earnest joy is a pleasure unto itself. Seeing a man attempt to – and succeed in – crowdsurfing through a theatre audience is price of admission alone.

Oh, and then there’s the audience participation orgasm. Now you just have to see it, don’t you?

Cactus: The Seduction... is part of the Toronto Fringe Festival. For more information get off here.