Humdrum collective offers Past Present Future Tense, a movement and text piece about a couple experiencing growing pains and doubts as they reveal the infidelities, lies, and love in their relationship. A cardboard box sits center stage. A whistle from offstage suggests we have entered the play's aesthetic atmosphere. Man (Noel Gaulin) in tuxedo briskly passes from one stage corner to another. He arranges more cardboard boxes in the space. More whistling, then She (Erin Meyer) surprises by popping out of a box. The duo judiciously explore spaces far and wide on stage, opening themselves as vulnerable but nimble dancers of emotional turbulence. Experiments with nonlinear plot through distortions of time and place merge smoothly into a climax of breakage and rupture. Man and Woman destroy the flimsy foundations they have built together by angrily collapsing boxes, gorging on liquor, and aggressive thrusts and forward bends. Using gesture and stillness in physical exploration of pain and passion, humdrum accomplishes the innovation and adventure expected from a fringe festival piece.

- Heather Barfield Col