Somebody needs to give Anthony Johnston a job! In the theatre, that is; he already has one in the restaurant biz—or had one, if his new one-man show Tenderpits is to be trusted as autobiography. This performance piece, billed as the tale of a boy who believes he's a wizard who emigrates to America, makes the case for Johnston the actor to find employment, for it's a dazzling display of his versatility, charm, and energy. Johnston's credits, in the program, include stints in famous contemporary plays like Equus and The Goat or, Who Is Sylvia? in his native Canada. Let's get him on the boards in some work of that ilk here in the USA.

In Tenderpits, Johnston performs a scene where he plays a waiter to two stuffed animals (very sweet and ingratiating); sings "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid (in a hastily-stitched-together but wholly effective Ariel get-up); recites a raunchy Craigslist personal ad and, later, recounts an even raunchier story about a sex party; lip-synchs to "I Put a Spell on You"; impersonates his sister; breaks the fourth wall by asking people in the audience for money; dons a variety of convincing accents and dialects; and strips down to a diaper (in which he performs most of the show).

I wished that Tenderpits had stayed more focused on one or another of the potentially interesting themes it raises. At first, I thought it was going to be an honest glimpse into Johnston's struggles to become a performer in America after leaving a more secure career in Canada... and then I thought Johnston was going to develop the idea of a being a wizard as a metaphor for being gay.... and then I thought he just might be planning to take that diaper off... (He doesn't.)

So, yeah, this show is on the disjointed/anarchic/chaotic/schizophrenic side; it's a vaudeville more than a play that covers lots of ground and variously demonstrates Johnston's wide range, intelligence, exhibitionism, and chutzpah. Mostly, it's an effective showcase for a performer with skill, talent, and energy to spare, which brings me to my original thesis: casting agents, directors, and producers with an adventurous heart and imagination would do well, seriously, to catch this guy's act.

-Martin Denton, nytheatre.com Feb 24, 2010

Copyright © 2008 The New York Theatre Experience, Inc., published on nytheatre.com

The Canucks have pretty much set up a colony off-Broadway since the New York Fringe Festival in August. Anthony Johnston's Art's Heart , a play he began while studying at Vancouver's Studio 58, won the award for best solo show at that festival, while Daniel MacIvor's His Greatness – about Tennessee Williams at the end of his life – was held over as part of the Fringe Encores series and then extended again.

-J. Kelly Nestruck
excerpt from Globe and Mail October 6, 2009

ART'S HEART wins the Fringe NYC 2009 OUTSTANDING SOLO SHOW AWARD.

Writer-performer Anthony Johnston’s tragicomic monologue centers on Art, a lonely bachelor whose debilitating cardiac condition prevents him from running, horseback riding, lovemaking and—most importantly—acting on his passion for the hunky neighbor he spies on with binoculars from his window. Thanks to Johnston's charming script and spastically soulful performance, the production is full of smileworthy moments and tender chuckles. But it's the petite details that give the show body—like how Art shares all his chagrins de coeur with his roommate and sole life companion, a suicidal red fish named Paul, or how he surmises that his next-door crush, whose acquaintance he's yet to make, is not only French but gay. (Monsieur sports a scarf and drinks homo—short for homogenized—milk.) Although it may sometimes be sappy, there’s no denying that the show has a lot of, well, heart.—Josh Frank

"I don't want everybody to like me. I just want one body to love me." So says the lovable Art, of Art's Heart, a Canadian import now playing in the New York International Fringe Festival. One man shows are a tricky business. The smallest flaws within a script, the tiniest cracks in a performance, and an entire show can be derailed. Art's Heart, possessed of a charming but by no means flawless script, relies on the winning talent of performer Anthony Johnston, who also wrote the piece.

The entirety of the play takes place in Art's apartment, which he shares with his best friend, a fish named Paul. Art, dressed only in boxer shorts, is covered in tomato sauce. It seems he's run afoul of some neighborhood skunks, one of the myriad reasons he seldom leaves his apartment. The larger reason, and the overarching theme of the play (as the title suggests) is that Art has a congenital heart defect which makes loud bangs, sudden scares, running, jumping, or dancing absolute no-nos. Art, it seems, is too soft for life in the big city: one false move and he could suffer from cardiac arrest.

The problem, of course, is that Art has fallen in love with the French man in the apartment across the street, whom he spies on with binoculars. It should be noted that Art has no way of knowing that the man is actually French. He's never spoken to him. Art simply decided he was French because he liked the idea of it, just as he patronizes the XXX video store beneath his apartment. "All love stories!" With nobody to talk to but a fish, Art has retreated into his own imagination. During the course of Art's Heart, the precious world he's created runs smack into reality in ways that are in turn sad, funny, and unexpected.

Johnston is possessed of a rare gift. The audience liked him before he even spoke. He emits a warmth that draws you in immediately. A lesser actor might not be able to sustain the show through the thin plot. This isn't a criticism of the script, by the way. It's a play about feelings, rather than plot points. Thankfully the sentimentality isn't allowed to cross over into the saccharine for long. There is a sort of melancholy just beneath the surface, and director Nathan Schwartz's crisp staging has real claws and keeps the play from becoming so cutesy that it annoys. Also, it cannot go unmentioned, as I'm sure the giggling gay gentlemen who sat in front of me would attest, that Johnston happens to be very good looking, which does little to alienate audiences.

All in all, Art's Heart is a lot like receiving a love note from a secret crush: sweet and funny and scary all at once. Though Art's world might be heightened some, and his circumstances may not be our own, through his short journey we are reminded that we're not so sensitive as we think. When all is said and done, we're incredibly resilient beings. In the end, our hearts can take it.

-Joshua Conkel, nytheatre.com Aug 22, 2009

 Copyright © 2008 The New York Theatre Experience, Inc., published on nytheatre.com