How do people anchor their emotional well-being when those around us are also suffering from various illnesses? Kildare Company’s Hanger, playing at St. Vladimir Theatre as part of the 2015 Toronto Fringe Festival, attempts to engage with questions of mental health in an unhealthy environment. Where ambition met weakness in the text, I still found myself thoroughly engaged by the material in the play.

Continue reading Hanger (Kildare Company) 2015 Toronto Fringe Review →

Kenneth Collins’ play You Are Not Alone at the Toronto Fringe Festival is a sometimes-poignant, often goofy story about teenagers finding love and acceptance among their peers at a Catholic boarding school. Although I found it a little after school special-y at parts, I would describe it as kind of like the really great episodes of Glee or Degrassi that kept me watching those shows season after season.

Continue reading You Are Not Alone (Paprika) 2015 Toronto Fringe Review →

I never expected to see improvisation at the Toronto Fringe Festival’s FringeKids! Now that I’ve seen Corral Blue Can’t Dance, I’ll be looking for it—though it only composed one part of this multifaceted kids’ variety show by Off Model Studios. Continue reading Corral Blue Can’t Dance! (Off Model Studios) 2015 Toronto Fringe Review →

Ooohs and aaahs are in no short supply during Soaring Above Reality for illusion after illusion at the George Ignatieff Theatre. This production by Guinness World Record-holders and magicians Lucas Wilson and Kelly Defilla is part of this year’s Fringe Festival in Toronto–FringeKids! to be precise.

Wilson is an excellent story-teller with a compelling stage presence, while Defilla is a crowd-pleaser because of her exaggerated facial expressions and theatrical body language. We were charmed by every act, from the floating table to the coat hanger trick to their human Tetrus. Continue reading Soaring Above Reality (The Illusionist) 2015 Toronto Fringe Review →

Tonight’s almost full-house bodes well for Rachel Blair’s two-hander, A Man Walks into a Bar, playing at Tarragon Extra Space as part of the Toronto Fringe Festival. Blair has written a true to life, well-paced, feminist show. Don’t let the feminist label scare you. The play is quite funny. Proof that feminists do have a sense of humour. Continue reading A Man Walks into a Bar (Circle Circle) 2015 Toronto Fringe Review →