What's Been Said About BitchSlap!
“ Best of the Fest ”
Orlando Sentinel
***** (5 stars) “One very fine piece of Fringe from Canada's GUYS IN DISGUISE. I Absolutely adored it. Cleverly written. Crisply delivered. Beautifully directed. Bitingly funny. Tightly performed. This show feeds that gay gene that innately loves the rivalry between Joan Crawford and Bette Davis and then some. This is Fringe drag that is the icing on the cake that would be worth devouring even if real women were playing the roles. Substance, structure, and great performances all round are the succulent side dishes to this most delectable main fare. This is a Five star production. See it! "
WanzEgram, Orlando
“ They just don't make good Hollywood feuds like they used to. Lindsay is in rehab again? Paris going to jail? Yawn. Give me the bitchfest that was Joan Crawford and Bette Davis any day. Contemporary starlets just don't have the moxie to tussle like the grande dames of old
H-wood did, and Canada's Guys in Disguise pays glorious tribute to the smart, brassy and determined women they were.
Written by Darrin Hagen and directed by Trevor Schmidt, the production mines the long simmering Davis-Crawford fued from the first Oscar to the last movie, stopping by the bitchtastic set of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? along the way. Hagen is delightfully manipulative as Joan Crawford, with her nicey-nice screen persona that barely hides the fiercely desperate woman she really is. Schmidt counters this with a sardonic version of Davis that might just be better than the original. Gently egging on this fight is reigning gossip queen Hedda Hopper (a savvy performance by Davina Stewart), dutifully joting down the classic Davis one liners and Crawford's notorious behind-the-scenes maneuvering.
Guys in Disguise deftly blend brilliant drag performance with razor sharp comedy that make you appreciate the steely mix of glamour and sacrifice that turned Crawford and Davis from movie star and brilliant actress into true icons. ”
Rebecca Swain, Orlando Sentinel
“These Canadian guys are really good. . . a fun, bitchy, tight show combining great acting with relevant video feeds of the best "bitch slaps" ever recorded in Hollywood. Mark this one down to see!”
Michael Hodges, Orlando Sentinel
“Witty…” “…an enthralling game of one-upmanship that ends with slaps and worse.” “…swell silver-screen slapdown.”
Kevin Prokosh, Winnipeg Free Press
“…by far, the bitchiest play at the festival. From the
moment that Darrin Hagen and Trevor Schmidt hit the stage as Joan Crawford and Bette Davis, the catty comments start coming and then they just keep coming. The writing is sharp.” “The two men take on the diva roles with style and aplomb.”
Clare Lawlor, CBC Manitoba
“This is not your playground taunt, gentle listener, but full-bore, high octane insults delivered by two of Hollywood’s greatest divas. The appearance of the two featured players is worth the price of admission. They loom suddenly out of the darkness in full character, looking so much like broad caricatures of the actual stars themselves that you immediately start laughing.
The digs are bawdy, cutting, malicious, caustic, and very, very funny. And fired by these two, you can be sure they are delivered to maximum effect.”
Colin MacLean, Edmonton Sun
***** (5 stars) "I not only love movies, I’m also fascinated with the larger star-making machine that is Hollywood and the sycophantic press that supports it. So, imagine my intense pleasure sitting through a play like BitchSlap!, which brilliantly deconstructs the machinations of the miracle factory nestled in heart of Los Angeles. In particular, this brilliant play by Darrin Hagen puts Tinseltown under the postmodern microscope via a protracted exploration of the careers (and the deep personal rivalry) of Joan Crawford and Bette Davis (played by Hagen and Trevor Schmidt). Fascinating in their own rights, these two stars also morph perfectly into avatars of the uber-staples of the modern movie era: the trope of "star" vs. the archetype of the "actress." Davina Stewart plays a brilliant counter-point as gossip mongering journalist Hedda Hopper, the ultimate purveyor of myth and a real power behind Hollywood’s glittering, albeit cardboard throne."
Gilbert Bouchard, See Magazine