Waking, playing at this year’s Toronto Fringe Festival, is the heartbreaking tale of a man who, after suffering from severe trauma, is left with a working memory of only 45 seconds, and without the capability of forming new memories. In a way it can be seen like an extreme form of dementia or Alzheimer’s, where each day, each passing moment is quite literally brand new. Waking explores the value of family and the loss of self identity.
Rowing by Chrysalis Workshop is playing at the Toronto Fringe Festival, in the site specific venue of a creepy unfinished basement accessed via an alleyway in Kensington Market. In it, a sad group of rowers who has garnered the first loss in their team’s 51 years of existence, attempts to throw a party and livestream it to raise money for charity.
Playwright and director, Deon Denton, tackled an ambitious storyline in 51 minutes. The play deals with Henry (Geoff Mays), a recovering alcoholic struggling to come to terms with his past, who is confronted by his councillor along with his 10-year-old neighbour, to move on from his traumatic history.
What if Lena Dunham had written Little Woman? That’s the basic premise of Martha Rose Productions Inc.’s Women, playing at the Annex throughout the Toronto Fringe Festival. It’s an adaptation, but not a traditional one: the March sisters are all modern girls trapped in the bodies of their 1860s counterparts, and therein lies the gag.
When I was ushered into the Majilis Art Garden to see Bodies Strange at the 2016 Toronto Fringe Festival, it didn’t seem like they were ready to have me. There were some people on the stage, talking and rifling through papers. I felt a little lost, but eventually chose what I thought was a good seat, right in the front row.
The staging is set with the audience in a semi-circle around the actors, but it was clear from the beginning that there was a lack of awareness of the audience, as I spent at least half the play staring at the back of an actor’s head. I was also forced to pull my legs up to dodge frenetic movement, while in the middle of the play my particular seat turned out to be in the splash zone (conveniently left out of the play’s many warnings).
