Mainline Theatre’s Associate Director Kenny Streule is known around Montreal as an essential part of the theatre and performing arts community. Also known among artists for his involvement as Associate Director of the Montreal Fringe Festival, Kenny has premiered his own one-man fringe-style show “Malunderstood”, a work created as part of the Playwrights Workshop Montreal. Directed by Mainline’s Executive/Artistic Director Amy Blackmore with dramaturgy by Jesse Stong, this show is not to be missed.
Running at just under an hour in length, Malunderstood is a hilarious, charming, high-energy solo show, keeping the audience in stitches from start to finish. Streule shares his awkward, unique childhood in Lac Brome and re-enacts his relationship with his demanding, gruff and overbearing Swiss/German grandmother, who he refers to as “Beaver”.
Kenny Streule – Elementary school photo, in which he tried to be “photogenic”
Streule’s retelling of his life shares everything from a funny “childlike” point of view, from being the “weird English guy” in a French elementary school, sibling rivalry at home, the value of salt & vinegar crispers in the school lunchroom, to running the beep test in gym while contemplating trivialities in life, to dealing with schoolyard friend betrayals, to putting up with his grandmother’s demands, tough-love and criticisms while he discovered his passion for theatre and performance.
As he mentions in his school career-fit test partway through the show, he was suggested to consider a career as a clown. Throughout Malunderstood, it’s evident that Streule is a performer, entertainer as well as a comedian, despite his natural social-awkwardness explained during his childhood. This show packs fun at a laugh-a-minute and keeps the audience smiling from start to finish. Kenny’s multicultural childhood—a mix of French, English, Swiss and German, set him up well for working and living in Montreal. His switching between accents throughout the show together with his physical humour, expressiveness, sarcasm and acceptance of his own life and childhood was entertaining for the audience, while also building a deeper connection with everyone in the room.
Part-way through the show, director Amy Blackmore starts a few questions of dialogue with Streule (as part of the script), revealing even more about his life, as if a few moments of interview, or questions that the whole audience were wondering.
For those who were raised in a small town and have experienced the excitement of crossing one of the bridges into Montreal, Streule’s experiences from learning to drive, to living with extended family in the same house, to fitting the entire family around a small L-shaped table for meals, as all the children grew in size and the family continued to live in the same house, were certainly having the audience drawing connections to their own childhoods. The ending of the story was certainly rewarding, leaving the audience feeling like they were watching the underdog reach their goal, against all odds.
On top of being a great performer himself, Streule also charmed the audience with the surprise addition of a well-crafted, and very funny sock puppet, when retelling stories about his sister’s boyfriend (who had a very “too-cool macho-teenager” attitude). The use of the cartoon-like sock puppet as a prop only furthered the child-like imagery and style of this show and placed the audience even more from Streule’s viewpoint, yet the craftsmanship of the puppet was a great addition to the show. From being a talented Associate Director of Mainline Theatre and the Montreal Fringe, Kenny Streule has demonstrated that his talent is not only in administration/managing an indie theatre and Fringe festival, but also as a playwright, comedian and actor.
Malunderstood is a fantastic one-man story, that’s almost like sitting with your best-friend through 45-minutes of therapy. The production certainly deserves a remount in the next few years, whether on the Canadian or international Fringe circuit, or here locally in Montreal. It is a show that is relatable, authentic and pure honesty about upbringing and childhood, with a high-energy and exuberant delivery by Streule. This is not a show to be missed!
Malunderstood will be running for a few more shows on February 1, 5, 6, 7 and 8 at 8pm and February 2 and 9 at 7PM at the MiniMain Studio of MainLine Theatre (3997 Boulevard Saint-Laurent, Montréal, H2W 1Y4)
General Admission tickets are $18 / $15 students, seniors, Quebec Drama Federation members. Tickets are available NOW by visiting www.mainlinetheatre.ca or by calling 514-849-3378.
