Ferocious Smirk Productions brings Doomed, a solo performance created by and starring Jorge Moreira, to the 2016 Toronto Fringe Festival at the Factory Theatre Mainspace.

Jorge Moriera  recalls growing up in a Portuguese family in Toronto and how he progressed into adulthood, all while learning how to manage A.D.D.

When reading up on the show, I was intrigued. I haven’t watched many shows that discuss learning disabilities and, as someone with one as well, I was excited to see what kind of performance could come of it. I had never really thought about it before, but the idea of being represented felt great! If only for the sake of knowing that people with similar disadvantages are not being controlled by them.

Unfortunately, I felt let down.

Continue reading Doomed (Ferocious Smirk Productions) 2016 Toronto Fringe Review →

I saw the show Inaudible Garbage by Little Boy Lost productions at the Robert Gill Theatre for the 2016 Toronto Fringe Festival. Inaudible Garbage is an experimental piece directed by Stephen MacDonald, exploring ideas of theatre and solitude. It begins with a gas station bathroom, and the rest is difficult to explain.

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This will sound cliché, but this re-invented and modernized version of  Waiting for Godot kept me, well, waiting for a lot more. The production company, Huh. What’s That?,  is presenting  Waiting for Waiting for Godot at the Al Green Theatre (750 Spadina Ave) as part of this year’s  Toronto Fringe Festival lineup.

Continue reading Waiting for Waiting for Godot (Huh. What’s That?) 2016 Toronto Fringe Review →

A Lover Improper, playing at this year’s Toronto Fringe Festival, is one woman’s personal tale of acknowledging, accepting, finding, and enjoying love and sex. One-person shows of a personal nature are always either a hit or a miss and it comes down to how engaging the story teller is. In this case, Arianne Shaffer is endearing, uplifting, and a lot of fun to watch.

Continue reading A Lover Improper (Templeton Productions) 2016 Toronto Fringe Review →

YellowZoned is a one woman show put on by You, Me and Us at the Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace for the Toronto Fringe Festival. It’s an emotional and realistic look at how anxiety manifests itself as a mental illness. It’s performed, written and directed by Alia Etienne.

What worked best for this production was how true it rang. At first you’re not quite sure what it has to do with mental illness, as Etienne begins on a passionate tangent on the disservice of designing ugly shoes. As she moves around the stage, her mannerisms start to feel familiar. The way she jumps from one story to another, her emphatic gestures, the words she uses feels as though she is speaking to me earnestly, privately.

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