Created by The Templeton Philharmonic, SOCKDOLAGER is a lightning-paced dark comedy set in the late 1920′s. As a site-specific production held in the historic Campbell House, the show immerses its audience in this exciting era of Toronto’s history. With a cast of nine, this stylized and engrossing tale explores the profoundly dark and the profoundly silly.
We began writing and performing sketch comedy as a duo over the past year (including the L.A. Comedy Festival, Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival and the Montreal Fringe) under the name The Templeton Philharmonic. In our sketch comedy, we often play with historical elements such as Edwardian dress. When we decided to create a full length comedy – were excited by the possibility of creating a site-specific piece – particularly in a historic house. We were lucky enough to secure the Campbell House Museum which has some seriously sumptuous interiors as our venue. Once we knew our setting, we began writing the show and we structured the scenes around what rooms we were planning to play in.
As we come from a theatre/comedy background and have fallen in love with sketch comedy and improvisation, we aimed to create a show to combine all three in a send up of the 1920′s era murder mystery. We also loved the idea of each audience member having a unique artistic experience – and with the shifting structure of the script, the sumptuous, unusual setting and the improvisation we hope that’s the case. We hand-picked our stellar cast from Toronto’s comedy community and with their hilarious performances we can guaruntee that the audience will have a great time at the show
The show is incredibly funny/disturbing/interactive. The mood changes depending on what scene you’re watching. You can go from laughing hysterically to feeling super uneasy. You never know what’s coming next. The audience should be willing to go along with the ride. The actors will be upfront and personal, but also respectful and playful. The audiences thus far have been young and adventurous. The more willing the audience is to participate, the more fun it is for everyone.
