2 Million Years of Technology

Four stars

Stage 10 (Yardbird Suite)

In the expansive world of the Edmonton Fringe, there isn't a known category for John Sobol. 2 Million Years of Technology is supposed to be a one-man show, but there aren't any autobiographical details, jokes, lessons learned or extended periods of writhing about to make us comfortable.

Instead, this is a tirelessly smart and rigorous blend of performance poetry, history, lecture and political speech -- with a jazz intro.

Sobol begins by walking through the Yardbird Suite while playing the saxophone. As he does, he is careful to make separate eye contact with each person in the room, freaking everyone out. Onstage again, situated like a nervous standup comic, he introduces himself as "John Sobel" and begins alternating between straight prose and free-verse poetry.

The technology of 2 Million Years of Technology is human communication. "Storytelling," Sobol says, "is the killer app of evolution." He begins with oral storytelling, which is the playful part of the show, aligned with improvisation and sound poetry, clairvoyance and genuine human relationships.

The performance turns grim as Sobol outlines the triumph of literacy, and its ugly excesses, over oral culture. He leads into a third and hopeful point in the dialectic, best left unrevealed here.

2 Million Years of Technology seems designed for a late-night jazz room, with jugs of cheap wine on each table, finger-snapping and loud calls of, "Go, man, go!" and "Amen." Set in theatrical silence, the freak-out factor endures.