Justin Shaw in his one-man show, Off-Island Odyssey, at the Blyth Festival. Photo by Keith Tomaseck
By Galen Simmons
There was something both familiar and comforting about listening to Justin Shaw share his life experiences and bizarre Canadian encounters after leaving his childhood home on Prince Edward Island to find his way in the wider world, off island.
Off-Island Odyssey is unique among the lineup of plays at the Blyth Festival this season in that it is a one-man show written and performed entirely by Shaw. Performing alone onstage accompanied only by an old desk covered in crumple paper, books and clothes, and surrounded by stacked suitcases, fences and hay bales, Shaw makes a real connection with his audience through his humour and his uniquely Canadian island charm.
Shaw sets the stage for his stories by sharing pieces of his upbringing – what his life was like growing up on the island in a dominantly Amish, rural community and why leaving home as an islander and venturing forth onto the mainland can be a daunting prospect for both young adults and their parents.
Preceded by a warning about the dangers that may await him on the mainland from his father, a renowned horse breeder with whom he has nothing in common, Shaw shares hilarious and true stories about finding his true calling.
Shaw’s stories cover his move to Montreal to learn acting at art school, finding his way in and out of debt by working the oil fields in Fort McMurray, yearning to pursue his true passion and moving to Hamilton where he gets his first shot at acting and standup comedy, and finally understanding the advice his father was offering the whole time he was away and moving back home to his island.
Throughout it all – from accidentally trying MDMA twice and hosting trivia for the Hell’s Angels to playing a dead body on Murdoch Mysteries and meeting his comedy hero – Shaw comes back to the same lesson again and again: that people create their own islands and “no one but a true islander knows the true distinction between here and away.”
For a show that felt, at times, like a well-written and well-performed standup comedy routine, there remained an emotional core at the heart of the stories Shaw told. Looking back on those first 10 years as a young man on his own, Shaw masterfully connects every joke and story back to larger life lessons – lessons he may not have fully understood at the time, but ones that shaped his outlook on work, love and the world around him.
As someone who also left home to travel across country and find my way in the world, I found Shaw’s stories instantly relatable. Every strange acquaintance, impossible circumstance and stupid mistake Shaw made had me thinking back to my own experiences out on my own – a time in my life that was difficult and lonely but also rewarding as I look back on it from where I am today.
I guess we all have to venture off island at some point in our lives to experience the wider world. For most of us, that journey just underscores what home truly is; it’s the people you love and who love you right back.
Off-Island Odyssey runs on the Blyth Festival’s Margaret Stephens Stage until Aug. 30.
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