It’s disconcerting to leave a theatrical production thinking fondly about tormenting the testicles of the playwright – and mean it in a good way. Which may indeed encompass most of my feelings about To Myself At 28, Sky Gilbert’s SummerWorks production: disconcerting, fond, painful, and good.
Continue reading To Myself At 28 (Cabaret Company) 2013 SummerWorks Review
In the sidewalk crush outside the Lower Ossington Theatre on Friday afternoon, audience members coming and going to the SummerWorks box office and two venues, you could tell who had just seen Late Company at a glance: red-rimmed eyes, haunted expression, holding hands. It’s exactly that difficult. It’s even more extraordinary. I am still, hours later, revisiting it and savoring moments of truly transcendent theatre.
Continue reading Late Company (Suburban Beast & surface/underground) 2013 SummerWorks Review
As a writer, I might not have taken the risk that Sugith Varughese has taken with Entitlement: writing a play about writing has rarely been known to be a successful undertaking. As Vargughese’s main character Anish points out, though – in a charming scene about script structure that probably inspired half the audience to go home and download Scrivener – scripts are only ever about one thing. Entitlement, now playing at the Summerworks Festival, is about the gap between how we imagine ourselves and how others perceive us, and it’s a good exploration of the story.
Continue reading Entitlement (Varughese Productions/Appledore Productions) 2013 SummerWorks Review
“I’ll choose this circus show for my last Fringe Festival review,” I thought. “I love circus shows; I’ll be sure to end on a high note,” I thought. More fool I.
There were a few bits of Twisted Beats & Circus Freaks that were enjoyable, but I honestly clapped the hardest when it was finally over.
Simone Lazar, the cortortionist and aerialist of the show is marvelous. She’s funny and deftly understated in her stage business, combined with great skill and grace in her tricks. When she was onstage, I was delighted. Riveted. Dreamily satisfied that there exist in the world teensy tiny women of extraordinary strength who can flex or point their teensy tiny feet and make an entire room laugh. I would happily pay real money to watch Simone Lazar perform for sixty minutes. Unfortunately for us, Lazar was performing for, at the most generous estimate, fifteen minutes. This left us forty-five minutes with her partner, Jesse Horne.
I did not love Jesse.
Continue reading Twisted Beats & Circus Feats (Circadelix) 2013 Toronto Fringe Review
Let me confess and be honest: I did not expect to like this show. I picked it up late in the process in the interest of being a good sport, but I was dreading the moment in arrived. “Oh, look,” I thought. “Another white guy looking to make money off First Nations spirituality. I bet there’ll be a talking stick.” I have never been so happy to be wrong. Solo: A Boy’s Journey playing as part of the Toronto Fringe Festival is surprisingly good.
It starts a little slow, with some new-agey fourth-wall-breaking I could have lived without. Never mind. Tell yourself knock-knock jokes for the first five minutes if you have to, but do not get soured early on this show. Things are just about pick up nicely.