Samantha is both a writer and a fan of the arts and has been able to find numerous ways to pair the two. Aside from being an editor here at Mooney on Theatre, she's a photojournalist for Been Here Done That, a travel, dining and tourism blog that focuses on Toronto and abroad and previously for Lithium Magazine, which got her writing and shooting about everything from Dave Matthews Band to Fan Expo. She's passionate about music, theatre, photography, writing, and celebrating sexuality -- not necessarily in that order. She drinks tea more than coffee, prefer ciders over beers, and sings karaoke way too loudly. You can follow her on various social media including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Like the Brechtian play, this production features a series of vignettes exploring life in 1930’s Socialist Germany from the lives of average workers to families close to the government trying to keep their heads above water. In between in vignette, magic, burlesque and musical interludes are there to entertain.
Theatre Mischief‘s A Girl Lives Alone, playing at the 2018 Toronto SummerWorks Festival, is somewhere between a horror movie and a comedy; somewhere between Law and Order and Friends. Using many of the tropes that made vintage horror radio shows so enticing, in particular, the use of live sound effects, this show will make you hoot with laughter and keep you on the edge of your seat.
It takes the form of a live podcast that explores the idea of borders that divide and unite humanity. Through the use of recorded elements, virtual reality, text, audience participation, dance, and music, this experience is lively, exciting and unlike anything you’ve experienced before.
The Extinction of Hong Kongers, playing as part of the 2018 SummerWorks Festival, is an intriguing look at the history of Hong Kong, a Chinese-British port island that is slowly, gradually, losing its identity. Performed with miniatures and puppetry and utilizing recycled and found materials, this unique production is presented in a combination of English, Cantonese and Mandarin.
We’re heading into the final stretch for the Toronto Fringe Festival with only 6 more days left to see as many shows as you can. What have you seen already and what are you still curious to see? Have our reviews inspired any of your decisions on what to check out? Do you agree with our reviews? Leave a comment if you have your own opinions about the shows you’ve seen.
If you’re still debating on your next pick, let us help guide you with a few more daily rave highlights.
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.
The Girl in the Photograph, written by Joel Pettigrew and directed by Victoria Urquhart playing as part of the 2018 Toronto Fringe Festival, is all too relatable. Too almost uncomfortably relatable, which I guess is why this play hits so many notes, both pleasant and not so much, and why it will stay and haunt me for a very long time. This is a tale of forbidden attraction — she’s 14 and he’s older, charismatic and dangerously slick. He knows exactly what to say at any given time to coerce, manipulate and charm his way into whoever he wants.
When reading the website blurb for Thought Experiment Production‘s 4’33” in Baghdad, playing as part of the 2018 Toronto Fringe Festival, I wasn’t sure what this show actually was. Having seen it, I’m still not quite sure? Something about an “immersive and interactive academic striptease” which is certainly clickbaity enough if you ask me. Intrigued, I went. And then I left slightly baffled.
We’ve wrapped up Day 2 of the Toronto Fringe Festival and have another 50 shows reviewed and under our belt! That means many more rave reviews that we can’t wait to tell you about! Check out our list of shows reviewed and keep reading for a few more Daily Rave highlights.
