The Cunning Linguist is a one woman show written and performed by Monica Garrido Huerta.  It’s produced by the TCL Collective and Aluna Theatre and directed by Beatriz Pizano.  It’s playing at Factory Theatre until May 11th.  Monica (the character) is a lesbian living with her conservative but fairly affluent and conventionally Catholic family in a small town in Mexico.  She has a direct line to God, a sister who sings in a band in the town’s gay bar and a girlfriend but she’s not out to her family whose gaydar seems to have been made on the Friday afternoon shift.

She decides to move to Toronto; land of the free and gay apparently.  Along with God.  God teaches her about gay sex (see title) by comparing it to eating tacos (thoughtfully provided after the show on opening night).  It’s a high energy and very funny performance.  Monica sings.  Monica dances.  Monica talks to God.  Monica goes to an orgy but isn’t quite sure what to do.  There’s a fair bit of audience interaction,  Don’t worry though.  None of it directly involves gay sex.  There are excellent projections too including sci-fi style text and intriguing low res footage of bits of Toronto.

A fair bit of the show is in Spanish (but with surtitles… thank you COC) and every Mexican/Canadian stereotype is ruthlessly exploited.  Judging by the laughter I think I must have been the only audience member who has’t been to Puerta Vallerta (and probably the only one who has been to Matamoros!).  I think some of the jokes probably went over my head (not very hip, straight, white dude who does’t speak Spanish) but I laughed a lot anyway.

The show is a touch over an hour long and it’s lots of fun.  It’s probably even more fun the further along the lesbian, Catholic, Mexican spectrum you are…

Photo credits: Eden Graham