Was he or wasn’t he? Was that a surrogate or was it Clark with a bucket and a tiny monitor on his head? I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only person in the audience watching Graham Clark’s Not Here (Laugh Gallery), playing at the Toronto Fringe Festival, who was wondering the same thing. And who still didn’t have an answer when the show ended. Maybe he was there. Maybe he wasn’t. Continue reading Graham Clark’s Not Here (Laugh Gallery) 2017 Toronto Fringe Review
All posts by Sam Mooney
Madeleine Says Sorry (Prairie Fire, Please) 2017 Toronto Fringe Review
At the end of the two-hander Madeleine Says Sorry (Prairie Fire, Please), playing at the Toronto Fringe Festival, Madeleine Brown, the playwright and one of the actors, said to the audience, “If you liked it or didn’t like it, tweet about it. That’s all that matters.”
Oh that I could just tweet 140 characters, go ahead and write my next review, and go to bed, but my editor expects an actual review. Continue reading Madeleine Says Sorry (Prairie Fire, Please) 2017 Toronto Fringe Review
Bad Dog Theatre Presents: Animated! (Bad Dog Youth Academy) 2017 Kidfest Review
My grandsons were supposed to come with me today to see Bad Dog Theatre Presents: Animated (Bad Dog Youth Academy), playing at Toronto Fringe Festival Kidsfest 2017, but they got a better offer and are going to see it on Monday with their Mum. Luckily I was able to talk to three young people after the show to get their reactions. They all loved it and said they would recommend it to their friends. Judging from the reactions of the kids in the sold out audience, they all loved it too. So did I. Continue reading Bad Dog Theatre Presents: Animated! (Bad Dog Youth Academy) 2017 Kidfest Review
soaring in liquid skies (FraGu Productions) 2017 Toronto Fringe Review
Sometimes comedy needs a measure of heartbreak to make it perfect. Or maybe heartbreak needs comedy to make it bearable. Either way, comedian Franco Nguyen’s solo show, soaring in liquid skies, (FraGu Productions) playing at the Toronto Fringe Festival, is the perfect mixture of both. Continue reading soaring in liquid skies (FraGu Productions) 2017 Toronto Fringe Review
The Balding (Yarn Productions) 2017 Toronto Fringe Review
Jeff Gandell’s one-person show, The Balding, produced by Yarn Productions and playing at the Toronto Fringe Festival, is a wonderful tale of one man’s preoccupation with losing his hair and his virginity. And his belief that if he doesn’t lose his virginity before he loses his hair, he never will. Continue reading The Balding (Yarn Productions) 2017 Toronto Fringe Review
Death Meets Harlequin (Unspoken Theatre Company) 2017 Toronto Fringe Review
I took my grandsons – Max, eight, and Desmond, almost six – to see Death Meets Harlequin produced by Unspoken Theatre Company playing at the Toronto Fringe Festival. They both really enjoyed it although during the show I would have bet that Desmond didn’t like it at all. He used my hand to hide his eyes for at least half of the performance. You never can tell with kids. Continue reading Death Meets Harlequin (Unspoken Theatre Company) 2017 Toronto Fringe Review
Review: King Arthur’s Night (New World Theatre and Luminato)
A unique take on the Arthurian tale, on stage in Toronto as part of the Luminato Festival
New World Theatre’s production of King Arthur’s Night had its world premiere on Friday at the Berkeley Street Theatre as part of Luminato. The work was commissioned by Luminato and written by Niall McNeil and Marcus Youssef who play Arthur and Merlin respectively. McNeil is a 35-year-old playwright and actor living with Down syndrome. Youssef is the artistic director of New World Theatre. Together with director James Long and composer Veda Hille, they’ve created a wonderful and unique work. Continue reading Review: King Arthur’s Night (New World Theatre and Luminato)
Review: The Lady in Shoes From Hell (Shoe Fits Productions)
Everything works in The Lady in Shoes From Hell, now on the Toronto stage
Burke Campbell’s play, The Lady in Shoes From Hell, had its world premiere at Red Sandcastle Theatre on Tuesday evening. It’s a very funny mystery/thriller, complete with car chases and flaming fireballs, set in Texas in the 1950s. I wasn’t sure it could work in such a small space, but it does. It works really well. Continue reading Review: The Lady in Shoes From Hell (Shoe Fits Productions)
Review: MILF Life Crisis (Perfectly Norma Productions)
Big laughs at MILF Life Crisis, now playing on the Toronto stage
If I hadn’t committed to reviewing Anne Marie Scheffler’s one -person show MILF Life Crisis at the Red Sandcastle Theatre on Wednesday evening, I wouldn’t have gone out. It was a crummy day and I really didn’t want to do anything. That would have been a shame because I would have missed seeing a very talented woman in a very funny show. Continue reading Review: MILF Life Crisis (Perfectly Norma Productions)
Review: Dinner with Goebbels (The Estelle Craig ACT II STUDIO)
Powerplays over dinner play out on the Toronto stage
Better, I think, to watch Dinner with Goebbels than to actually have dinner with the Nazi Minister of Propaganda. What about dinner with Karl Rove, the creator of the War on Terror? Or Edward Bernays, Sigmund Freud’s nephew, know as the father of public relations? You can see the three of them in an imagined dinner in The Estelle Craig ACT II STUDIO‘s production at Aki Studio. Continue reading Review: Dinner with Goebbels (The Estelle Craig ACT II STUDIO)