After your kids see Sharnoozle!, produced by Sometimes Y Theatre and part of Kidsfest at the Fringe Festival of Toronto 2018, they’re going to have a lot of questions. You might want to read up on Cavemen, King Tut, Joan of Arc, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Christopher Columbus, Marco Polo, Amelia Earhart, and Sumo wrestlers. You’re going to meet them all. Continue reading Sharnoozle! (Sometimes Y Theatre) 2018 Toronto Fringe Review
For their production of Wounds to the Face, Howard Barker’s surreal treatise on identity, director Matjash Mrozewski and the actors from Randolph College have bitten off more than they can chew. Currently playing at the Annex Theatre, this Toronto Fringe offering relies too heavily on its amateur cast to carry a play where strong characters are the main dish.
Continue reading Wounds to the Face (Randolph College) 2018 Toronto Fringe Review
How to be FEARLESS (With Roxy Roberts) — by Binocular Theatre — is a play about a firecracker of a motivation speaker and the self-defense course she creates in response to being harassed and threatened with physical violence. Currently showing at Bell Tower Coffee, this sure-fire Toronto Fringe favourite blends consistently sharp comedy, incisive drama, and a performance from Ali Joy Richardson (in the title role) that accepts nothing less than going for the fences.
From Press Release:
Picture your most memorable family road trip. Maybe it was on vacation. Maybe you were lost. Maybe it was a drive to a family gathering. Maybe you felt squished, put-upon and torn between love for those around you and the desire to be far away. Maybe you’re cringing right now at the thought. The Ties That Bind and Gag brings familial angst and mutual torment to the stage, brought to life and made fresh with a bracing sense of humour and the darkly absurd.
Three generations of a tight-knit family cram into a rental car to drive to a funeral. Neuroses collide, emotions run high, grievances are aired and over-shared, traffic laws are broken.
Buckle up and spend some claustrophobic quality time on a guilt-trip road trip with your nearest and dearest – the people you love and can’t stand or just can’t understand. The ensuing drama’s funny because it’s true and hilarious because it’s heartbreaking.
The play marks the Fringe debut for sister duo Juliet Paperny and Anna Mehler Paperny, with a cast of theatrical veterans and new faces. Juliet’s work at LaRue Entertainment has included Filth City and the award-winning The Amazing Gayl Pile. Juliet’s directorial experience includes “Trying” at Alumnae Theatre’s New Ideas Festival, as well as “The Tempest” and “Madness Machine” at Players’ Theatre in Montreal. Anna is an award-winning investigative journalist who has worked at The Globe and Mail and Global News and is now a reporter at Reuters. Both grew up in love with the stage and are thrilled at the chance to make theatrical trouble.
Everyone’s been there but nobody says it: Sometimes you dislike the people you love. You wrestle with intergenerational differences, with boatloads of guilt amid unspoken (or shouted) obligation. In a hyper-polarized world, what happens when we attempt frank conversations with the people we know intimately, with the baggage we’d rather forget? What happens if you tell your grandmother she’s racist? The Ties That Bind and Gag is here to tackle, with urgency and humour, all the ways family drives you mad. It’s a quintessential Fringe play – energetic and button-pushing – and a must-watch for anyone with anyone in their lives who they need, but need space from. It’s for anyone who’s ever had a family.
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From Press Release:
CIRCUS SHOP OF HORRORS follows one ill-fated woman’s dangerous journey, navigating her way through classic moments of beloved iconic horror films retold in the present day. Fusing together an amazing variety of circus artistry with the grotesque, comedy, drag and gore, this innovative show promises to be a spectacular visual mash-up at the Toronto Fringe Festival!
The ensemble is primarily LGBTQ+, featuring creative content such as dance, aerials, illusions, and combat sequences. The production team is entirely made up of phenomenal women (still to this day a rarity in Canadian theatre). Director/Writer/Producer Justine Cargo(Tough Jews, 6-time Dora nominee; Romeo & Juliet Chainsaw Massacre, Best Of Fringe 2016), Lighting Designer Sarah Mansikka (Stratford Festival, Vancouver Opera), and Co-Producers Kelly Taylor & Melanie Pyne combine their unique specialties to bring Fringe audiences this exciting, ambitious revue! Circus Shop of Horrors is presented by Second Star Productions and sponsored by The Social Capital Theatre (NOW Magazine Best Comedy Venue 2017 Nominee).
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