Tattoo Joint

Ian C. Nelson, Librarian Emeritus, former Assistant Director of
Libraries (University of Saskatchewan) and dramaturge (Festival de la
Dramaturgie des Prairies).

From the cover blurb of this play one begins to get a sense of its
perspective: “A blind tattoo artist named Joint has his reclusive
lifestyle turned on end when a woman of flawless beauty comes to him
[…] to make her invisible.” Lacking a sign in his window, Joint
hasn’t had a customer in his small-town parlour for two years, yet he
opens faithfully each morning and closes promptly at 9 p.m. Meanwhile, a
cop who is searching for the woman (who says her body doesn’t fit her)
is importuned by a widow at a bus stop after the final bus has left.
Throw into the mix an off-the-rails talk-show interview and an
unintended seduction in a library and you have the distinct impression
of situations and dialogue in the style of N.F. Simpson. Act 2
introduces a brief scene with some rough language and an out-of-the-blue
Quebec twist, as well as a suddenly touching moment where a blind child
pokes savagely at his eyes in an attempt to see. With these exceptions
the play generally may be characterized as absurdist-lite and totally
hilarious. It was originally presented at Toronto’s CanStage Berkeley
Street Theatre under the title In Proper Measure.

Jason Gileno is a Toronto writer and a founder of Pagitica, a national
literature and arts magazine. He also founded The Laugh Supper Dinner
Theatre, and has written, directed, and produced three short films.