If you were following the Fringe coverage, you already know that I surprised myself by liking One Woman Show a lot. So did a lot of other people. I figured since it was the patron’s pick, and managed to get one of the much coveted ‘Best of the Fringe’ spots and opens tonight at Diesel Playhouse , that it was worth re-visiting.
So, why did people like it?
It’s a good question. One Woman Show is a parody of one-woman shows, written by three men with a man playing the Eileen , the ‘woman’ who’s show it is. Sounds a bit scary, doesn’t it? When I first read about this show I rolled my eyes and figured it was going to be painful. Happily, the show proved me wrong.
I’m not sure what I’m going to do with myself this week, I’ll have to re-learn what life is like with the luxuries like sleep. But, I’m here to tell you, sleep is a small price to pay for the excitement of Fringe.
With the end of the 20th Toronto Fringe Festival I thought I’d take a moment to provide you with a quick round-up of some of the highlights from this year.
Read on for a listing of each blogTO Fringe writer’s favourite show, and the listing of what shows are playing at Diesel Playhouse during ‘BEST OF THE FRINGE.’
(and yes, at some point I do intend to do a Mooney on Theatre overview that is specific to here, but for now I’m re-posting this)
I think I’d go see Barry Smith read the phone book as long as he had a Powerpoint presentation with it. He’s a Powerpoint genius. He also had the foresight to save the home movies and tape recordings he made when he was a child. Thank you Barry.
American Squatter is an autobiographical monologue that follows Barry the child from his home in Mississippi to his new home in Southern California to his life as a squatter in London in the late 80s. Sort of a coming of age with the help of skateboarding, drugs, and music monologue interspersed with home movies and videos.
Editor’s Note: In the review of Sherlock Holmes & The First English Gentleman by Sam Mooney she mentioned that she saw the show with "My 82 year old mother and 15 year old niece are fringing with me for three days" – Fredde Clarke is the 82 year old mother she was referring to.
I came from Eastern Ontario to see 4 plays in the Toronto Fringe Festival – The only one I specifically chose that I really wanted to see was A Girl Named Ralph. I certainly was not disappointed.
The piece was so obviously true life. Makes one feel both happy, and a little sad. It was not a long play, but a most enjoyable one.
The fade outs could have been much shorter, either just a dim out, or stop action while Ralph came in to speak. I enjoyed the players and have no real criticism of any of the acting.
Review by Lauren Hatchard (Megan Mooney’s 15 yr old cousin)
A deep plunge into the pool of laughs and hysterics. Teaching the Fringe goes into and analyses a letter from an appalled fan.
Using voices, facial expressions and twinges of words and irony, the show satisfies your laugh craving. The only thing I didn’t like about this play was that it was a tad drowned out. Otherwise, a must-see for those who are looking for an amazingly timed, easy laugh.
If you were following the Fringe coverage, you already know that I surprised myself by liking One Woman Show a lot. So did a lot of other people. I figured since it was the patron’s pick, and managed to get one of the much coveted ‘Best of the Fringe’ spots and opens tonight at Diesel Playhouse , that it was worth re-visiting. 
