The Truth* (playing at the 2018 Toronto Fringe Festival) is a clown play about colonialism. A vast new territory opens up, rich in resources and readily-accessible. We meet the rulers of the four nations jockeying for position, and we explore their motivations and histories, and we get to see what happens when these interests collide.

The result is genre-straddling, drawing on tropes from children’s theatre, melodrama, propaganda and patriotic history in order to suggest new perspectives on old stories.

Continue reading The Truth* (A Muse Zoo) 2018 Toronto Fringe Review →

I don’t know what I was expecting when I first read the description of One Left Hour: The Life and Work of Daniil Kharms, playing as part of the 2018 Toronto Fringe Festival. The description says “a battle between absurdity and realism” and really, this show is exactly that. Maybe somehow I expected more realism than abstract and absurdity. I was wrong. Continue reading One Left Hour: The Life and Work of Daniil Kharms (Good Old Neon) 2018 Toronto Fringe Review →

The Two of Us, produced by Red Drapes Productions, was originally written by Croatian playwright Tena Stivicic and translated by members of the company. This Toronto Fringe production marks the North American premiere of the acclaimed play. The script is full of witty, sardonic one-liners and unique cultural allusions that speak to the strength of the script’s translation.

The story primarily revolves around the relationship between Anja and Lena, tracing their dynamic from a chance meeting at a nightclub, and following them over time as they become inseparable. Anja and Lena are both drifting through post-war life when they meet and find solace with each other while engaging in persistent substance use and navigating problematic love lives. As the two get closer, they realize that they are connected far more closely than they originally anticipated. In director Svjetlana Jaklenec’s words, the play is “…an ode to the resilience of those who go on” after unspeakable tragedy; namely the Yugoslav Wars.

Continue reading The Two of Us (Red Drapes Productions) 2018 Toronto Fringe Review →

Al Lafrance: I Think I’m Dead (playing at the 2018 Toronto Fringe Festival) feels like it could be a crystallizing show for people with insomnia, depression and suicidal ideation. In this one-man set, delivered with the pace and precision of a military tattoo, he walks us through 15 years of grappling with mental health, and how he uses multiverse theory to understand himself and the world around him.

Continue reading Al Lafrance: I Think I’m Dead (Thunder Blunder) 2018 Toronto Fringe Review →

The Honeymoon Period is Officially Over by Gemma Wilcox Productions at the Toronto Fringe Festival is a one-woman show that seems like something much bigger. Gemma Wilcox manages to create over 20 characters, at least three intersecting story lines, and multiples settings out of nothing more than a bare stage, a low bench, and herself. It’s quite impressive and magical to watch. Continue reading The Honeymoon Period is Officially Over (Gemma Wilcox Productions ) 2018 Toronto Fringe Review →