Awkward Hug
At The Cultch
September 15
Tickets at vancouverfringe.com or at the door (may be sold out)
I don’t come from a family of huggers. Once, as an adult, I hugged my father and he didn’t hug me back. So, it took me a while to get the hang of it.
Writer/performer Cory Thibert didn’t get or give hugs from his parents, either, both of whom suffered from cerebral palsy. It’s not that his parents didn’t love him, they just didn’t hug him. Chances are, their parents didn’t hug them either. So Thibert’s first hug came later in life but it brought me close to tears when he re-enacted it on the Cultch stage in this solo show.
Awkward Hug is one sweet show presented by one sweet performer. And that’s not sweet in any pejorative sense. It’s the kind of sweet you get from sunshine, that kind of warm-all-over feeling.
Certainly, there’s the dark side, too. Cory had a speech impediment as a kid; he couldn’t say ‘r’ so he was mercilessly teased when he said his name was “Co-wee”. And the embarrassment was intense when he was with his mother who walked painfully slowly or when his father regularly walked out of Cory’s shows five minutes from the end (for reasons known only to Mr. Thibert until much later). Cory’s childhood was largely defined by his parents’ condition.
Thank god for Cory’s friend Tony who persuaded him to go to theatre school. He has obviously found his theatrical niche (funny, clever, energetic, open and honest) and if Awkward Hug persuades you to go home and hug your children, your parents or anyone at all, it deserves – at the very least – to be Pick of the Fringe. Hugs back at you, Cory Thibert.