From deep, deep within the dark zones of the Toronto subway system, a (literal) underground revolution is brewing, fronted by a metropass counterfeiting ring that puts Toronto’s commuters in mild danger of delay. There’s only one team capable of putting on the breaks: the (technically disbanded) TTC transit police. These Special Constables, if you will, are here to save the city at the 2017 Toronto Fringe Festival—but the conspiracy goes even deeper than you might think. Continue reading Special Constables (Greenline Theatre and Circlesnake Productions) 2017 Toronto Fringe Review →

The Moaning Yoni, presented by Joylyn Secunda and playing at the Toronto Fringe Festival, follows the story of Zoë and her anthropomorphic ‘Yoni,’ which Secunda brilliantly characterizes as a brash, Jewish, loud-mouth vagina. Nicely played with her pink/red billowing costume to really stick the landing.

Continue reading The Moaning Yoni (Joylyn Secunda) 2017 Toronto Fringe Review →

In Sundry Languages produced by Toronto Laboratory Theatre playing at the Toronto Fringe Festival is a creative collaboration that explores themes of belonging, exclusion, language, culture, and race. The six cast members speak six different first languages and come from six countries of origin. They are all now “Canadian”, but this identity does not come without complexities, tensions, and pain. Continue reading In Sundry Languages (Toronto Laboratory Theatre) 2017 Toronto Fringe Review →

Weirder thou Art produced by Physically Speaking playing at the Toronto Fringe Festival emerges from the Bouffon school of theatre. Bouffon, the French word from which the English word “buffoon” originates, is a form of clowning that emphasizes jester-style mockery of human foibles, and can include slapstick comedy, exaggerated bodily features, farce, burlesque, and satire.  Continue reading Weirder Thou Art (Physically Speaking) 2017 Toronto Fringe Festival →

Walking out of Nithy, Ace Detective (playing at the Toronto Fringe Festival), I overheard a grown-up talking to another, with about five kids between them: “That wasn’t what I was expecting. That was… that was certainly something.”

It’s a well-acted show with a lot of heart. But I have to say, as concerns the plot and thrust of it, I’m in about the same place.

Continue reading Nithy, Ace Detective (Jump Star) 2017 Toronto Fringe Review →