This superb production highlights the many strengths of Darren O’Donnell’s [boxhead] while minimizing its potential pitfalls. The original design team from the play’s 1999 premiere is reunited at Buddies in Bad Times, led by Crow’s Theatre artistic director Chris Abraham. The result is split-second timing by cast and crew and a relentless pace that plows through the semi-nonsensical but often funny dialogue. Once you get on this ride, there’s no getting off.

The story begins when a young geneticist named Dr. Wishful Thinking (Adam Lazarus) wakes up to find that he has a box on his head. The actor’s words are electronically enhanced to represent both the high-pitched geneticist and the deep-voiced, disembodied “Narrator”.
The geneticist clones himself, which produces Dr. Thoughless Actions (Andrew Shaver). Like sped-up cartoon gophers, the twin geneticists attempt to create an echo-less yell and to clone time, employing physical humour that might be dubbed metaphysical slapstick. Meanwhile, the twin narrators hilariously lament their decline from godhood.

This show appeals to several senses, and special mention should go to lighting designer Steve Lucas and musician/composer Romana Di Nillo. O’Donnell and company say the play incorporates the logic of dreams, and that’s the best way to approach it. Some people will be exasperated by the mind-bending verbal gymnastics (thank heaven, once again, for Buddies’ killer sound system) but, as in a dream, what you try to grasp tends to slip away, as demonstrated by one of the geneticists in a great comical moment.

This is at least the third [boxhead] production in Toronto and easily the most satisfying. While not exactly hopeful, it does provide welcome laughs for our boxed-in, blinkered existence."