Click Here to read all our reviews from Toronto Fringe 2024.
Rooted: A Musical Poem (A)
Ambitious, substantive, and memorable, this full-scale musical is one of the most polished pieces at the Fringe and definitely deserves a bigger run in a larger theatre. Jewelle Blackman’s book is a bittersweet and deceptively mature Giving-Tree-esque coming of age story and her music is beautiful and memorable, delivered by a stellar cast of people I’ve mostly never seen before (what a rare treat to add so many people to my ones to watch list!).
Girls’ Night Cabin Fever (A-)
This charming comedy was a great surprise, brimming with fun and energy brought to life by an immensely likeable quartet of young actors. Lizzie Moffatt stands out for her sharp physical comedy and timing like a classic sitcom star, perfectly capturing the tone of the piece.
Monks (B+)
This heavily participatory farce is totally wild; joyful, aimless strangeness at its most powerful. Annie Luján and Veronica Hortigüela are compelling performers who lead the madness then ably pull it back right at the very end to carve out a quiet contemplative moment that brings meaning to the distracted nothingness that’s come before. This show won’t work at all for some Fringe-goers but for others it will be their favourite hour in ages.
Sheila the Musical (B)
The execution of this solo musical about a 1950s housewife is as precise as Jay Hill’s striking contour but its messaging feels a little Female Struggles 101 and the comedy isn’t strong enough to make the messaging not the main point. A more complex understanding of the subject matter might make the juxtaposition of content and form land a stronger punch.
Bus Stop (B-)
The hook of this murder mystery is that it takes place on a bus that happens to carry not one but two TV crime solving duos. There’s some interesting stuff about the nature of fame and some aggravatingly reductive stuff about the obvious superiority of theatre to television but ultimately the mystery beats aren’t tight enough, the supporting characters a bit too tropey, and the useful tension of the confined space premise is wasted as the characters come and go freely.
Tape (B-)
Stephen Belber’s complicated play about responsibility, honesty, righteousness, and perspective needs a stronger production with more careful physical direction and nuanced performance to mine its tricky territory with the necessary care and insight. Here it feels as though some of the characters’ traumatizing behaviour is glossed over as if no one ever really noticed it was happening. Jada Rifkin gives a strong performance in a thankless role but all the interesting material tellingly goes to the men who struggle to elevate in any meaningful way.
An Evening at Sea (C-)
This overly simple kids show seems to be two concepts stitched together- the story of a dancer trying to make it into an elite dance troupe, and that of a pirate princess struggling against her mother’s expectations. We’re told but never shown how these concepts connect in the end but the overall effect is still that of cutting between two underdeveloped and unrelated arcs.