Reviews of productions based in Toronto – theatre includes traditional definitions of theatre, as well as dance, opera, comedy, performance art, spoken word performances, and more. Productions may be in-person, or remote productions streamed online on the Internet.
Tight, witty and expertly realized, you’ll be hard pressed to find a show of greater professional caliber in this year’s fringe then A Freudian Slip of the Jung. As a psychology undergrad in a former life, I was impressed by both the
intelligence AND the accessibility of the material.
Ok, so it won’t change your life, but this silly – almost farcical – slick comedy is a good time for beginning to end. The writing is funny and playful without falling prey to too many Freudian jokes – and when they do it, they do it very well.
Baseball is the quintessential Father and Son sport. Last night I caught “Dale Beaner and the Turtle Boy”, a show that explores relationships between father and sons.
The more offbeat plays make for the best late night viewing, in my opinion, and this was a perfect 11:00 pm play – it begins with a child star throwing a first pitch and then murdering a seeing eye dog, punching disabled children and then making out with said dog.
Tightrope is the traditional story of running away to the circus turned backwards – it is about a performer who’s trapped at the circus. She is the daughter of the Ring Mistress and the Lion Tamer and this is our glimpse into her world.
The metaphor of the tightrope is a little bit weak and contrived, and the truly emotional parts of the piece lack a little luster, but overall this is a solid performance. The plot is somewhat more complex than others I’ve seen at Fringe this year.
The bad news about Jack Grinhouse’s show “The Complex: a Toronto Tale” is that you will leave knowing that you have just watched the future of Toronto. The good news is that you will leave knowing that you have just watched the future of theatre in Toronto.
A tale of Four Rooms, wound together in a Robert LePage –esque type of movement piece, “The Complex” sees a stellar cast creating characters bound together by their own paranoia. With a backdrop of a summer fire on Canada Day – the play winds in and out of present time and uses some truly creative and effective staging to take us in an out of each apartment in the complex.
Who knew that Tammy Faye Baker was a champion of gay rights? Not this audience go-er. But a new appreciation of the sweet and broken Tammy Faye is what I left with after watching Shannon McDonough’s “An Evening with Tammy Faye”.
Years ago I met McDonough after a show and, I have to say, she is not a thing like the late Tammy Faye. The transformation – impersonation? – is truly stunning. Tammy’s story is one that you might expect – coming from a broken home fixed only with a more broken and insensitive fire and brimstone ministry.
