We Knew Each Other Once Before (now playing at the Toronto Fringe Festival) is a collection of experimental, abstract videos curated by Dante Green and created as part of a 3 week collaboration undertaken by Green and the students of Sheridan College’s Musical Theatre class of 2022. Each of the videos has some sort of tangential relationship to the theme of connection, which is the thread that ties them together. Taken as a whole, I found the experience to be like scrolling through an Instagram feed, filled with beautiful images focused on aesthetic, pretty little ukulele ditties, and slam poetry-style reflections on missed connections. If you like those things, you’ll enjoy the show. Continue reading We Knew Each Other Once Before (Sheridan College and Open Door Theatre Collective) 2021 Toronto Fringe Review→
Golvareh’s UnTuned (playing now at the Toronto Fringe Festival) is a compelling character study of a 40-year-old Iranian-Canadian music teacher struggling with his fears of inadequacy during the COVID-19 pandemic. On his 40th birthday, Massoud (Amirhosein Taheri) takes phone calls with six different women and each phone call gives the audience a little more insight into his life. (It’s kind of like a more realistic version of Fellini’s 8 ½ and Arthur Kopit’s Nine). The seemingly improvised dialogue and fantastic performances from the whole ensemble cast make watching this intimate portrait of a man a really enjoyable experience.
Deaf Spirit Theatre’s ComMUTE (playing in this year’s Toronto Fringe Festival) is a highly enjoyable series of short plays written by Deaf playwrights about Deaf characters played by Deaf actors. This collection of plays embodies everything I love about theatre. Over the course of the hour-long runtime, there are plenty of moments of laugh-out-loud hilarity, thought-provoking social commentary, and poignant human storytelling. Something for everyone!
The Death and then Life of Douglass Perish (playing at the Toronto Fringe Festival) is a goofy absurdist play that is more wry smiles than belly laughs. The plot is simple: After being told by his doctor that he has been dead for three weeks, Douglass Perish returns home to his wife, Lilian, and his best friend, Glenn, to break the news. Undeterred by the fact that Douglass is still walking among them, Lilian and Glenn plan Douglass’ funeral and begin to move on.
Phenomenal performances in Randolph Academy’s Toronto production of rock musical Spring Awakening
It’s no secret that Spring Awakening – Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater’s rock musical about the trials and tribulations of sexually repressed teens in 19th century Germany – is one of my favourite plays of all time. So, when I was given the opportunity to review the Randolph Academy’s production of the play – cast with actual teenagers – I was delighted.
After seeing it, I’m kind of torn about how I feel about the Randolph Academy production. On the one hand, there are several really phenomenal performances in it and I loved the multi-harmonied sound of the full cast in some of the group numbers. On the other hand there are an equal number of moments where the staging is flat (and so are the singers).
Golvareh’s 
Phenomenal performances in Randolph Academy’s Toronto production of rock musical Spring Awakening