Toronto Fringe Review: Arabic School Dropout

Kamal Alaeddine’s solo show Arabic School Dropout begins with the performer walking onto the stage dressed to present a commencement speech. He is introduced as “The Valedictorian of Life.” He’s here to tell you the lessons he’s learned as a half-Lebanese, half-white kid growing up in Alberta during the 80s.

Alaeddine is an unpolished but engaging speaker, he talks to the audience with the intensity of an uncle trying to tell you about his football glory days. He sputters through tales of his troubled childhood beginning with his absentee father. The most interesting parts of his story are about never being accepted by either of his cultures and the effects that had on him. The brunt of the show focuses on the bullying and the subsequent trauma he received from racist schoolmates and the fallout of a too-late diagnosis of attention deficit disorder.

The show is largely undefined; with rants derailing the storytelling and forcing Alaeddine to backtrack and repeat lines. Unfocused, Alaeddine lost track of time and had to quickly wrap up our show mid-story. Arabic School Dropout seemed to be about losing his identity and reclaiming it but he never got to any full-circle moment, so the audience never got a real sense of closure.

Alaeddine is definitely a character, with lots of stories that range from funny to incredibly sad. Overall, there’s a very interesting show that just needs a director and a dramaturgist to help give it structure.

Arabic School Dropout is on now until July 16 at Toronto Fringe. Show times and tickets here.