Happy Monday! Though for many, it’s the beginning of the work week and therefore more like the Monday Blahs, the upside is that the Toronto Fringe Festival is in full swing. Here at Mooney on Theatre, we once again have committed ourselves to reviewing every show in the Fringe by the end of the first weekend and we have delivered! See our master list for all our reviews and get inspired on what to see next. To get you started, we’ve pulled a few more of our raves for you today.
Featherweight (Theatre Brouhaha)
What it’s about: Upon dying, Jeff awakes in a bar full of ancient gods that will weigh his browser history against a feather to determine if he was a good person… or face damnation. Equal parts ‘American Gods’ and ‘Twelve Angry Men,’ FEATHERWEIGHT asks: what effect does our online life have on others? Will Jeff’s browser history damn him? Would it damn you? From the minds behind BRIGHT LIGHTS (NNNNN) and SHAKEY-SHAKE AND FRIENDS (NNNNN)
Why our reviewer loved it: “Featherweight is an intense high energy immersive show that keeps the audience transfixed throughout. The jokes are fun and great for laughs but when this production gets into the nitty gritty, it gets in there hard.”
How to be FEARLESS! (With Roxy Roberts) (Binocular Theatre)
What it’s about: Meet Roxy Roberts: motivational speaker/self-defence coach. She’s professional. She’s unorthodox. And she’s here to HELP!
Get ready – this is Tony Robbins, meets your aunt who sends you terrifying chain-emails of safety tips, meets the 6-foot-tall girl who’s never been asked to dance. Roxy’s gonna change your life… whether you like it or not.
This ruthless new comedy about teaching fear and courage comes from one of the artists behind past Toronto Fringe sell-outs: Andy Warhol Presents: Valerie, The Dinner Table, and Get Yourself Home Skyler James.
Why our reviewer loved it: “Richardson’s acknowledgement of the audience, of the fact that the people in front of her aren’t faceless ticket holders but are alive and full of feelings, is what pushes the play over the top. Roxy’s investment in our personal safety as her students means that she addresses us directly, which makes us participants in an experience that cannot be duplicated without our presence.”
Paradise Lost (Rabbit in a Hat Productions)
What it’s about: A new adaptation of John Milton’s epic 17th century poem, with spellbinding puppetry, dazzling computer animation, and a hell of a lot of rock ‘n’ roll.
You’ve never seen the story of Adam and Eve like this before.
Why our reviewer loved it: “It’s a beautiful show in every sense of the word: in the poetry being gorgeously orated, in the elegant puppetry, in the colourful visual effects and the clever work that Van Dyck manages to do in pulling it all together as fluidly and movingly as he does.”