A Brief History of Beer is a quirky, interactive, and educational rundown of the great and almighty brewskie. It is currently playing in the Terragon Theatre Mainspace as part of the Toronto Fringe Festival.
Featuring free beer, an energetic duo, and legitimate educational value – there’s a lot to like about A Brief History of Beer. Through a variety of personas and accents, William Glenn and Trish Parry travel through time and space with the audience to explore the rich and genuinely interesting history of draft, and have a lot of fun doing it.
A key aspect of this show is that it is campy – and it embraces it. The premise itself – that we are traveling through space à la Star Trek to learn about cold ones – is ridiculous, and that’s the point. Free beer is handed out at the beginning of the show, and synchronized sipping – as prompted by Glenn and Parry – is used to fuel the beer-powered ship we travel in. This show never takes itself seriously, and it doesn’t need to.
Glenn and Parry themselves are a clever and lively pair that engage with the audience with ease. I lost count of how many times Glenn and Perry jumped into the audience, which is a testament to the amount of audience participation in the show. Pair this with quick improvisational reflexes, and you have a show that is pure, lighthearted fun.
A Brief History of Beer is an entertaining romp that would fit just fine in anyone’s Fringe schedule. It is playing in the Terragon Theatre Mainspace until July 14th.
Details
- A Brief History of Beer plays at the Terragon Theatre Mainspace. (30 Bridgman Ave.)
- Tickets are $13, including a $2 service charge. The festival also offers a range of money-saving passes and discounts for serious Fringers.
- Tickets can be purchased online, by telephone (416-966-1062), from the Festival Box Office at Scadding Court (707 Dundas St. W.), and — if any remain — from the venue’s box office starting one hour before curtain.
- Content Warnings: Audience participation; Unsuitable for minors.
- This venue is barrier-free. Designated accessible seating is in the middle of the auditorium.
- Be aware that Fringe performances always start exactly on time, and that latecomers are never admitted.
Performances
- Friday July 6th, 1:15 pm
- Saturday July 7th, 11:00 pm
- Monday July 9th, 10:45 pm
- Tuesday July 10th, 4:45 pm
- Wednesday July 11th, 3:30 pm
- Friday July 13th, 7:30 pm
- Saturday July 14th, 1:45 pm
Photo of William Glenn & Trish Parry, by Richard Winpenny
I love beer, and was looking forward to this show, but I found it painful to watch. The jokes, the forced audience participation, all missed the mark, for myself at least, and the audience seemed unenthused at the performance which I attended.