Company: Little Sparrow Theatre Company, Winnipeg

Genre: Musical

Venue: 29 — One88

"Who are the people in your neighbourhood?"

When I was growing up, Sesame Street asked that probing question. In Corner Of, five performers prompt the same query through song, dance and occasional cell phone conversations that are projected onto the brick walls of the theatre.

The show starts promisingly when all the performers mix, mingle and bump into each other onstage while singing the words, "excuse me." But even though the seasons change and everyone takes turns trying on each other's roles (homeless person, parking cop, frazzled renter, etc.), they don't get to know each other in any meaningful way. As a result, the audience doesn't really get to know them, either.

Corner Of is well-intentioned but it never achieves the goal laid out in the program notes by director Teri-Lynn Friesen to "dig beyond what is happening on the surface."

Also, I'm disappointed that Corner Of didn't keep its promise in the Fringe program of "a cell-phone friendly performance at any Monday or Thursday show to further explore the role technology plays in our encounters." I made a point of seeing a Thursday performance with my trusty smartphone and was disappointed that I wasn't encouraged to do anything unusual with it other than keep it on.