Fringe Festival

A collection of everything to do with the Toronto Fringe Festival, including reviews, features, press releases etc.

My High-Heeled Life: Or, How I Learned to Keep Worrying and Love My Stilettos (Sparking Fuse Productions) 2013 Toronto Fringe Review

My High Heeled Life Toronto FringeMy High-Heeled Life: Or, How I Learned to Keep Worrying and Love My Stilettos is a solo play written by and starring Katharine McLeod. This piece, being put on by Sparking Fuse as part of the Toronto Fringe Festival is being shown at the Tarragon Theatre.

I find I am eyeing her outfit the moment I walk in. It’s hard not to, with her red lips that we notice as she takes a peek at the audience and her beautiful black suede pumps to top off a tight black dress. She has her back towards us, adding a sense of mystery and intrigue.

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Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare BASH’d) 2013 Toronto Fringe Review

Much Ado About Nothing FringeShakespeare BASH’d is back at Fringe this year with another site-specific Shakespeare piece at the Victory Café, this year it’s Much Ado About Nothing.

This incredibly entertaining 90 minute piece is set in a post-war celebration, while maintaining the traditional Shakespearean language people are familiar with. The shortened version doesn’t take away from the original and the changes are barely noticeable.

Many people know the story well. As a child, the film was one of my favourites and I watched it over and over.

If people aren’t familiar with the play, however, they need not worry as they will be able to follow along.  The piece flows very nicely and, other than a few line flubs, it feels comfortable and seems natural.

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Prettiest Little Theatre North of San Francisco (The Wedded Magpie Company) 2013 Toronto Fringe Review

You never know what you’re going to see at Fringe. I knew that when I went in to see The Prettiest Little Theatre North of San Francisco and was left wondering throughout the show.

This one woman show, written and performed by Bronwyn Jones, is a bizarre, freaky, ghoulish story about a little girl’s experiences growing up at the Palace Grand Theatre in Dawson, Yukon. Her narration is punctuated by the myriad of ghostly voices who came to the Yukon in search of gold, the original builder of the theatre and many of the quirky performers working at the theatre.

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Fringe for Free! Toronto Fringe ticket giveaways for shows playing on Wednesday, July 10th

fringe-for-free-contest31If you’ve been following, you know the drill by now. This stuff is fo’ free. Maybe the show you’ve been waiting for will pop up in this batch! Keep in mind that we now have a review in for practically every show (with the remainders trickling in soon!) so be sure to check out what we have to say about these pieces. Be choosy if you like. Or, apply for them all. These picks are for two free tickets to shows on Wednesday July 10th. Fringe for Free!

The shows are: 

Piece of Mind – To be entered into the draw for a pair of tickets to the 4:15pm show at Robert Gill Theatre (Venue 9) please send an email to contests@mooneyontheatre.com with the subject line “Piece of Mine Contest” by 7pm on Tuesday, July 9th, 2013.

Stolling Player  – To be entered into the draw for a pair of tickets to the 12:00pm show at Tarragon Extra Space (Venue 2) please send an email to contests@mooneyontheatre.com with the subject line “Strolling Player Contest” by 7pm on Tuesday, July 9th, 2013.

Handle With Care – To be entered into the draw for a pair of tickets to the 6:00pm show at Palmerston Theatre (Fringe Kids!) please send an email to contests@mooneyontheatre.com with the subject line “Handle With Care Contest” by 7pm on Tuesday, July 9th, 2013.

Shakespeare, M.D. – To be entered into the draw for a pair of tickets for two “free diagnoses” at Shed Show (Alley Plays) please send an email to contests@mooneyontheatre.com with the subject line “Shakespeare, MD Contest” by 7pm on Tuesday, July 9th, 2013.

The Soaps – To be entered into the draw for a pair of tickets for the 4:00pm show at George Ignatieff Theatre (Venue 6) please send an email to contests@mooneyontheatre.com with the subject line “The Soaps Contest” by 7pm on Tuesday, July 9th, 2013.

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Stop Kiss (gun shy theatre) 2013 Toronto Fringe Review

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My last show to review for the Toronto Fringe Festival and it’s Sunday evening, 10pm at the Tarragon.

Sundays have always been my favourite night of the week. They’re underrated, cool, for they’ve got that post-party, post-weekend daze to them. If I went on dates I would always choose Sundays. Because you want everybody at ease, right? None of that, ‘So, what kind of music do you listen to?’ over steak and muffins kind of awkward.

In lieu of a date: Stop Kiss by gun shy theatre, which, oddly enough, felt like a nice, uncomplicated rendezvous.

So tell me all about it, you beg? Okay.

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