Reviews of theatre, dance, opera, comedy and festivals. Performances can be in-person or streamed remotely on the web for social-distancing.
In Jesus Freaks, the crisis in the Vatican finally reaches boiling point. The church is facing financial disaster, with less than a year before it goes completely bankrupt. What can be done to save it?
The answer: stage a Second Coming. Not the Second Coming, but a Second Coming. Get some theatre-school dropout to dress up as Jesus, wave his hands around and bless some stuff; you know, reinvigorate the faithful, do a few magic tricks, smile for the cameras. That’ll fix things, right?
Right?
Offensive to Some by Tickahdeeboo Productions is the one-woman show gracing the Annex Theatre for Toronto’s Fringe Festival. The seats were packed and the the crowd was pumped for the star Suzanne Roberts Smith to hold our attention. It’s a difficult task, commanding the attention of an audience for an hour, but Smith made it look like a piece of cake.
The play was written by Newfoundland and Labrador playwright Berni Stapleton. Stapleton was inspired by Catherine Mandeville Snow who was the final woman in Newfoundland to be hung for killing her spouse. Stapleton created a modern version of Snow. Smith plays the contemporary representation of a woman driven to murder her husband, along with a Newfie accent.
Continue reading Offensive to Some (Tickahdeeboo Productions) 2013 Toronto Fringe Review
Emily, played by Jacqueline Byers, sits in front of the projection screen watching dancers stretch, jump and turn. The dance sequence on the screen grabs all her attention. Nothing else seems to matter. As an audience member walking into the Randolph Theatre, this image of Emily in the front of the screen is the first thing I see. Intrigued by what will happen next, I sit down comfortably to watch Here presented by Fulcrum Theatre as part of the Toronto Fringe Festival.
Video on a projection screen, some good lyrical dancing and a little suspense is a great way to start a show and get the audience’s attention right away. The story is centered on the character of Emily (who incidentally really resembles the actress, Keira Knightley). Emily is a small town Sudbury girl who dreams of being a dancer when suddenly an accident changes her fate forever. When she finds out she can’t dance, Emily is forced to face reality and start again.
Continue reading Here (Fulcrum Theatre) 2013 Toronto Fringe Festival
The Socratic Theatre Collective‘s Toronto Fringe Festival performance of Terry Pratchett’s Monstrous Regiment is the group’s second performance of a dramatic adaptation of a novel from Terry Pratchett‘s long-running Terry Pratchett‘s Discworld fantasy series. The success of this adaptation proves that the Collective clearly knows what they’re doing.
What has given Pratchett a devoted fanbase is his ability to take a fantasy setting, infuse its with his knowing humour and not a little wordplay, and deal with serious issues. In the novel Monstrous Regiment, the 33rd book in the Discworld series by publication, Pratchett takes a look at gender, war and cultural change generally through the person of Polly Perks. Continue reading Terry Pratchett’s Monstrous Regiment (Socratic Theatre Collective) 2013 Toronto Fringe Festival
JACK YOUR BODY is an intense, hour-long dance extravaganza by Mix Mix Dance Collective at the Toronto Fringe Festival. JACK YOUR BODY takes its lead from the 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning and embraces diversity and celebrates personal authenticity.
The show opens with a walk-off where two dancers per round present their realness for the audience’s vote just like in the documentary. Gender, race and identity are at the fore of this celebration and we as audience are immediately invited to participate.
Continue reading JACK YOUR BODY (Mix Mix Dance Collective) 2013 Toronto Fringe Review