On a distant island awash in magic, an airy sprite and a tortured mortal meet and form a strange friendship. Together, the two negotiate the meaning of freedom while a distant threat looms over the island: Prospero, the infamous magician from Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Theatre Arcturus‘s Rough Magic takes Shakespeare’s The Tempest and gives it the Wicked treatment for the 2017 Toronto Fringe Festival, imagining a potential friendship between The Tempest‘s supporting characters Ariel and Caliban.

Oh, and aerial acrobatics. That part’s important.

Continue reading Rough Magic (Theatre Arcturus) 2017 Toronto Fringe Review →

Magic to the Future, produced by The Great & Powerful Tim and performing as part of the Toronto Fringe Festival, is a magic show with a plot: a hapless magician’s assistant from the future is sent back in time and tasked with saving the world by … putting on a magic show.

Yes, it’s goofy as all Hell but the premise works and the show is actually a lot of fun. Continue reading Magic to the Future (The Great & Powerful Tim) 2017 Toronto Fringe Review →

ECM Theatre’s production of Nourishment is a must-see at this year’s Toronto Fringe Festival. It’s a wonderfully conversational and inviting experience into the many strengths and frustrations of what it means to be a female in 2017. You should go, especially if you’re tired of talking about feminism. Continue reading Nourishment (ECM Theatre) 2017 Toronto Fringe Review →

Boorish, bold… and bushy,  Shirley Gnome: Taking It Up The Notch presented by Heartichoke Arts is a show not to be missed. Playing at the 2017 Toronto Fringe, Shirley’s one-women-comedy-country-cabaret explores love, vaginas, farts, political correctness, and everything in between!

Continue reading Shirley Gnome: Taking It Up The Notch (Heartichoke Arts) 2017 Toronto Fringe Review →

Woody Sed is ostensibly a biography of American folk musician Woody Guthrie, but ultimately it’s a showcase for creator and performer Thomas Jones to mesmerize by embodying the spectacular everyman. The Toronto Fringe Festival show, produced by Two Dollar Shoes, is politically rousing, historically informative, and it just might move you to sing.

Even if you’re not familiar with Guthrie, you’re likely aware of his legacy 50, even years after his death. The author of numerous social justice ballads, including “This Land Is Your Land,” has been acknowledged as an inspiration for musicians such as Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, and The Clash.

Continue reading Woody Sed (Two Dollar Shoes) 2017 Toronto Fringe Review →