The antechamber shows are short, 30 mins pieces, and some of my favourite Next Stage offerings. This year brought two high-energy clown pieces. Leila Live A self-described “real life Persian Princess,” Leila Live (pronounced with a short /i/), offers a 30 min clown/drag cabaret, with singing, puppetry, original song writing, rapping, and of course, lots of laughs. A […]
The Harold Experience This Assembly Improv show invokes the Harold Technique of audience participation to get suggestions from the crowd on which the theme of the show is based. The night I went, actors came down and bantered with the crowd, asking questions and making fast and funny connections between audience members until finally one […]
Jonno Another topical Next Stage piece, Jonno, offers a fictional account of a powerful, well-known radio host sexually assault women in Toronto. Most Canadians will recongnize the play as a thinly veiled fictional reworking of Jian Ghomeshi’s ‘alleged’ of sexual assault and hassment. In the first few moments, actor Jason Deline, playing the title character, starts his […]
Be sure to check out our Full List of Fringe Reviews About Time (A-) The Templeton Philharmonic always deliver creative, hilarious, insightful work. This excellent sketch show that glimpses moments in time from the very start to the hypothetical future is no exception. Highlights include an Oracle of Delphi who speaks exclusively in cliché and […]
Be sure to check out our Full List of Fringe Reviews Butt Kapinski (A) Deanna Fleysher’s one-person show is a parody of both the figure of the private eye and film noir. She has crafted a comedic mystery that is built on her excellent characterization, audience improvisation, and a choose-your-own-adventure type structure to the plot, […]
Be sure to check out our Full List of Fringe Reviews The Diddlin’ Bibbles (A-) The true patron’s pick of the festival, every single person I talked to seemed to recommend this faux-concert by a pair of earnest American dumdums touring their double act of funny songs and cute couple banter to the “very prestigious […]
Be sure to check out our Full List of Fringe Reviews The Seat Next to the King (A) Brilliantly acted by festival breakout Kwaku Okyere and Conor Ling (whom I couldn’t be happier to see back in Toronto after years in the States), the Fringe’s New Play Contest winner is, like many a New Play […]
Be sure to check out our Full List of Fringe Reviews Snap! (A-) I don’t know what I expected from Snap! but it wasn’t to be so charmed by this quirky site-specific show about four ordinary people attending a mandatory anger management programme. Led by Wanda, a facilitator leading her first session, the reluctant attendees […]