| The StarPhoenix
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan August 2, 2003 Biblical Job gets good rap
In a shower of spit and sweat, two performers rap their way through the Old Testament story of Job. It's a delightfully original scheme, and one that's realized to its full potential by Montreal performers Jerome Saibil and Eli Batalion. Wearing red and black Adidas track suits, the pair pose as MC Cain and MC Abel. They open the show at full-throttle with an extended rhyming acrobatics display - unfortunately, 90 per cent of it went right over my head in the second row. The only line I was sure I understood was "put your spectacles on/ Inspect the Koran." The lines are clearer in the events which follow: Convinced by the evil Lou Saphire, hip-hop label boss J. Hoover reluctantly messes with his employee Job Lowe to test his loyalty. It's an effective metaphor for corporate irresponsibility. Saibil and Batalion don't just play a dozen characters, both male and female, they take turns playing the same ones, which is a brilliant gambol, allowing the audience to see each actor's take on Job, Hoover, Saphire and Job's wife - which Saibil is particularly cute as. Eager to challenge themselves with tongue twisters like "which I wouldn't do if I was not beginning to not case," the two raise the bar even higher by incorporating a vast array of very funny dance moves, all--if you can excuse the term--in synch. Their skill had even a couple of professional actors in the audience shaking their heads in awe. If any of the above sounds the least bit tempting, for God's sake go.
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