Alex Nussbaum’s Handbook to the Future: A Brave New Worrier, a thought-provoking play about the future of humans and technology at the Toronto Fringe Festival, proves that creator and performer Alex Nussbaum really does know about what we humans should worry about in our increasingly online future.
It’s to Nussbaum’s credit that in this his first Fringe production, he makes the stuff of staid futurists a smart laugh-out-loud evening at the theatre.
Fact, faith, blind trust, truth, free will and of course, the usual: who, what, why, when and where is God, are all questions probed in the quick witted Jesus Jello: The Miraculous Confection. It seems almost too obvious to perform this play in a church, but it works just the same. Especially for the Toronto Fringe Festival.
Continue reading Jesus Jello: The Miraculous Confection (Zaw Theatre) 2013 Toronto Fringe Review
Tangled Web Theatre’s Toronto Fringe Festival debut of their inspiring FringeKids! show Handle With Care is remarkable theatre! When you first walk into the Palmerston Library stage you are greeted by a charming woodland scene. It was so much fun to see the children discover the flitting butterflies and the caterpillar inching its way along a branch!
And then the show begins, and you are swept away on a whimsical journey. Bonnie Thomson’s script is full of natural childlike banter, and the three cast members (Bonnie Thomson, Helen Juvonen and Tyler Seguin) are spirited as three kids who stumble upon a mysterious box labeled “Handle With Care.”
Continue reading Handle With Care (Tangled Web Theatre) 2013 Toronto Fringe Review
On Thursday evening I saw A King’s Heart at Factory Theatre. There are two things I need to admit to before I say anything about the show.
One – I chose it because I was seeing a show at 6.30 at Factory and I didn’t want to have to go to another theatre afterwards. It’s actually as good a way as any to choose shows, I’ve discovered some pretty great stuff that way.
Two – I’m an atheist. Chances are that I’m not going to be saved and come to Jesus as a result of a play.
Continue reading A King’s Heart (august Productions Theatrical Inc.) 2013 Toronto Fringe Review
The adoption of web and mobile technologies has revolutionized many aspects of our lives. MSM [men seeking men] presented by lemonTree Creations as part of the 2013 Toronto Fringe Festival examines how gay dating and hook-up culture has been influenced by online platforms.
The show is a piece of stylized dance-based verbatim theatre conceived and directed by Indrit Kasapi and performed by eight dancers; Cole Alvis, Aldrin Bundoc, Corrado Cerruto, Andrew Hartley, Ryan G. Hinds, Louis Laberge-Côté, Cyril Limousin, and Nico Racicot.
The company started with transcripts of online conversations between men who seek other men and used layering and repetition of choreography to create interpretive scenes based on the transcripts and performed to a soundtrack provided by a DJ spinning live (DJ Scooter). Continue reading MSM [men seeking men] (lemonTree Creations) 2013 Toronto Fringe Review