Woah, this Fringe show gets its own post. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Read on…

Ctrl Alt Delete: An Alphabetical Musical is the sort of show you hope to find at Fringe: the diamond in the rough. It’s a cute musical about letters of the alphabet working at a company, and one has to be deleted due to budget cuts. The show is polished, the singing is pretty good, the dancing is fun, the premise is creative, and boyyyyyy can Millie Boon belt. Snaps, girl. The ending lost me a bit, but with some light tweaking, I could see this show getting future iterations. I imagine Ctrl Alt Delete will win a best of Fringe Award (or multiple) – Critic’s Pick, Patron’s Pick…something like that. And it would be deserved.

Art is supposed to make you think, and, well…this one made me think of something. The final song of the show takes a bit of a turn, as the performers speak directly to the audience. They sing about being anti-war (sure, boo war), and building a world that’s inclusive for all. And as I sat there in the dark, I found myself thinking, “do you really mean for all?”

It’s no secret that I’ve felt quite alienated from the Toronto theatre community over the past year or so. I actually wrote a blog post before Fringe began, where in it I contemplated whether or not I even wanted to attend, but I deemed it too-self indulgent to post (even on my own blog).

I don’t know these specific performers or writers personally or professionally, so I don’t claim to put words into their mouths. But to sit in the audience hearing people clap and cheer about inclusivity and belonging knowing full well that this same community made me feel like I need to apologize for even existing – it’s jarring.

The fact is, not everyone is allowed to belong. If you hold beliefs different from what the community has deemed to be ‘correct’, well, just like the premise of the play, you’re deleted. No dialogue, no collective growth or understanding – just deleted.

I’m sorry for ruining a perfectly good play review with a vaguely political tangent. It really is a sweet show. I’ll return to my regularly scheduled content now.