From Press Release

“What a miserable, miserable worm I am.”

The “Platonov Estate” opens its doors to old friends and old lovers to celebrate the birthday of Platonov, everyone’s favourite intellectual heart-breaker. This reunion is tense from the start, and only spirals further into disaster once the vodka is passed around. How long can Platonov keep hiding from her husband, her lover, and herself before she succumbs to Chekhovian ennui?

This new adaptation of Chekhov’s “untitled play” is our reaction to the traditionalism we learned in theatre school. We’ve been waiting for years to graduate and start breaking rules and this is our
chance. Galvanized by our exposure to classical training, and emboldened by the Toronto indie theatre scene; we want to ask questions and we want to challenge assumptions. We invite you to
question and challenge with us. We are Let Me In and we want to let you in.

Let Me In makes their Fringe debut this summer with The Miserable Worm, a new adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s “untitled play” directed by Patrick J. Horan. This version, adapted and written by
Justine Christensen, gender-bends eight of the original characters, thrusting them into the present day with debauchery, vitality, and a little melodramatic humour.

You’re invited to Platonov’s birthday bash! Bring your own vodka, but we’ll provide the entertainment – as long as you don’t mind laughing at other’s misfortune.

Let Me In in association with The Toronto Fringe Festival presents:

The Miserable Worm

Adapted by: Justine Christensen
Directed by: Patrick J. Horan
Featuring: Justine Christensen, Geneviève DeGraves, Seamus Easton, Philip J. Geller, Emily Howard, Tymika McKenzie-Clunis, Justin Mullen, Michael Ruderman

Details

• The Miserable Worm plays at the Annex Theatre. (736 Bathurst St.)
• Tickets are $12. The festival also offers a range of money-saving passes for serious Fringers.
• Tickets can be purchased online, by telephone (416-966-1062), from the Fringe Club at Scadding Court, and — if any remain — from the venue’s box office starting one hour before curtain.
• Be aware that Fringe performances always start exactly on time, and that latecomers are never admitted.
• Content Warnings: Sexual Content, Mature Language.
• This venue is wheelchair-accessible through a secondary route which requires a staff escort. Check in at the box office at least 20 minutes prior to showtime.

Performances

• Friday July 7th, 04:45 pm
• Sunday July 9th, 06:15 pm
• Monday July 10th, 08:00 pm
• Tuesday July 11th, 02:15 pm
• Thursday July 13th, 09:15 pm
• Friday July 14th, 12:00 pm
• Sunday July 16th, 07:30 pm

Photo of Justine Christensen by Rae Ormshaw

From Press Release:

Awarding Winning Comedy Duo Debut New Revue About Time at Toronto Fringe

Toronto-based comedy duo The Templeton Philharmonic (voted “Best Duo” at the LA Comedy Festival) are set to launch their new sketch comedy revue at the 2017 Toronto Fringe Festival. The show is entitled About Time and it’s well… about time. The sketch show serves as a loosely chronological journey through the ages and explores the existential nature of time itself. The show will run July 7 – 17, at the Tarragon Theatre’s Mainspace.

All the sketches are written and performed by the duo, which consists of Briana Templeton (The Comedy Network’s The Beaverton, and SyFy’s The Expanse) and Gwynne Phillips (PBS’s Odd Squad, and HBO Canada’s Sensitive Skin). The pair made their debut at the Montreal Fringe in 2011, where their self titled show earned them a nomination for the “Just For Laughs Award for Best English Comedy”. Since then, they have honed their chops at the Chicago Sketch Comedy, the New York Sketch Comedy Festival, the San Francisco Sketch Comedy Festival, and the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival (where they picked up the award for “Producer’s Pick”). Last year, they performed at Massey Hall at Incubator, hosted by astronaut Colonel Chris Hadfield. The duo are also contributing writers for The Irrelevant Show on CBC Radio-Canada and co-creators of the CBC web series Womanish.

About Time is not The Templeton Philharmonic’s first foray into the Toronto Fringe Festival. In 2014, the pair wrote, produced, and starred in An Evening In July – a site specific piece performed at the cloisters at St. George The Martyr Anglican Church. The play was inspired by the cult documentary Grey Gardens and had many sold out performances, solid reviews and a remount at the 2015 SummerWorks Performance Festival. Soon after, they premiered the sketch revue Unbridled & Unstable at the 2015 Next Stage Theatre Festival – which earned them an award for “Best Sketch Comedy Or Variety Show“ at the My Entertainment Awards.

The comediennes’ work often incorporates a dark sense of humour, stinging social commentary, and a distinct feminist bent. Their new show will be no exception. It will also take full advantage of their love for period pieces and playing a bevy of zany characters, ensuring that it’s not a production to be missed.

Details

• About Time plays at the Tarragon Mainspace. (30 Bridgman Ave.)
• Tickets are $12. The festival also offers a range of money-saving passes for serious Fringers.
• Tickets can be purchased online, by telephone (416-966-1062), from the Fringe Club at Scadding Court, and — if any remain — from the venue’s box office starting one hour before curtain.
• Be aware that Fringe performances always start exactly on time, and that latecomers are never admitted.
• Content Warnings: Realistic Violence or Gore, Sexual Content, Fog, Mist or Haze Effects, Mature Language.
• This venue is barrier-free. The designated accessible seating is in the middle of the auditorium.

Performances

• Friday July 7th, 10:30 pm
• Sunday July 9th, 06:30 pm
• Tuesday July 11th, 03:00 pm
• Wednesday July 12th, 05:15 pm
• Thursday July 13th, 08:00 pm
• Saturday July 15th, 05:45 pm
• Sunday July 16th, 12:00 pm

Photo of Gwynne Phillips and Briana Templeton by Shannon Laliberte.

From the press release:

Now What Theatre is pleased to announce its inaugural international tour of the play Kara Sevda.

Written by Lisa VillaMil and directed by Kat Haan, the tour began performances at the Ithaca Fringe Festival on April 21, where it won the 2017 Audience Choice Award. The multi-fringe tour includes stops in Tampa (where the production was hailed “an increasingly moving testament to both the good and the evil humans are capable of”), Washington D.C., and Toronto, and will culminate with a month-long run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Continue reading Kara Sevda – Toronto Fringe 2017 Press Releases →