Toronto Theatre Reviews

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.

Bugger the Butterfly! (Or My Sci-fi, Hollywood Adventure) – Toronto Fringe 2017 Press Release

From press release

Ever wondered what happens after we figure out time travel? Hollywood would have us think it’ll all be evil-doers and paradoxes. But what if it’s crass exploitation for cheap thrills? What if it becomes as lowbrow as reality television?  Bugger The Butterfly! ponders a world where time-travel, like so many other miracles of technology, has become banal. Celebrity–filled, boozy, irreverent, and just a little bit gay, Bugger the Butterfly! answers Cher’s question for the ages – what would you do ‘if you could turn back time’?

Pencil-Neck Theatre is proud to present Bugger the Butterfly!, their new production by the author of past Fringe hits: Gypsies, Four Ways ‘Til rain, SERVICED, BASH, and 2009’s multiple award winning A Singularity of Being. Bugger the Butterfly! is a smart, speculative comedy about our futurein time-travel. Written by award-winning author T. Berto, Bugger the Butterfly! features Kenny Grenier as Diego, our hero from the future, and Gordon Harper as an early Peter O’Toole. Bugger the Butterfly! is the seventh Fringe production of playwright T. Berto, FIRST PLACE WINNER of both the 2000 and the 2009 Toronto Fringe Playwriting contest.

Performances

  • Thursday July 6th, 06:30 pm
  • Saturday July 8th, 04:00 pm
  • Sunday July 9th, 07:30 pm
  • Tuesday July 11th, 10:15 pm
  • Thursday July 13th, 05:45 pm
  • Friday July 14th, 04:00 pm
  • Saturday July 15th, 01:45 pm

Details

  • Bugger the Butterfly! (Or My Sci-fi, Hollywood Adventure) plays at The Theatre Centre’s Franco Boni Theatre. (1115 Queen St. W.)
  • Tickets are $12. The festival also offers a range of money-saving passes for serious Fringers.
  • Tickets can be purchased online, by telephone (416-966-1062), from the Fringe Club at Scadding Court, and — if any remain — from the venue’s box office starting one hour before curtain.
  • Be aware that Fringe performances always start exactly on time, and that latecomers are never admitted.
  • This venue is accessible.

Photo of Gordon Harper and Kenny Grenier by Anto Zerducci.

Falling Angel – Toronto Fringe 2017 Press Release

From press release

RealSpace Theatre presents Falling Angel, a contemporary vaudevillian style comedy written by Erica Wood, Co-creative Director of RealSpace, in collaboration with RealSpace founder and fellow Creative Director, Bruce Hunter – at the Toronto Fringe Festival.

Caroline Azar, dramaturg and consulting director, who has been working with RealSpace Theatre since its inception, describes Falling Angel as “a wonderland of the mind. The gardens of the CAMH park attract souls enmeshed in the absurdism of heavenly co-existence.”

“Falling Angel reminds us of the deceptive nature of what we call reality; not everyone is what they seem and after the sun goes down, just what colour is the grass on the other side anyways?” asks Wood. “During a time of so much change in the world, it seems ever critical to re-examine our perceptions of each other and connections to each other.”

The diverse cast is comprised of actor/ comedian/clown, Stevie Jay, Second City alumnus, Jamillah Ross, and classically trained, Erica Wood. Andrea Ouellette (Centre of Gravity) stage manages and costume designs. “The process has been marvelously collaborative – this is a dream team to work with on this production, at this venue,” says Wood.

Falling Angel mixes things up from previous RealSpace productions in non-traditional spaces – including the 2010 Fringe hit, The Getaway, that took place in a moving van and the zombie hit show Dine Her – and immerses audiences in the core of the city in the park at Queen & Shaw. Audiences will be seated on picnic blankets, benches and whatever is handy, and integrated into the action. The short running time (45 minutes) allows audiences to enjoy this outdoor production coming from or going to another Fringe show. Bring a picnic and join the flock!

Performances

  • Wednesday July 5th, 06:30 pm
  • Thursday July 6th, 06:30 pm
  • Friday July 7th, 06:30 pm
  • Sunday July 9th, 06:30 pm
  • Monday July 10th, 06:30 pm
  • Tuesday July 11th, 06:30 pm
  • Wednesday July 12th, 06:30 pm
  • Thursday July 13th, 06:30 pm
  • Friday July 14th, 06:30 pm
  • Saturday July 15th, 06:30 pm

Details

  • Falling Angel plays at Shaw Park (CAMH). (1001 Queen St. W.)
  • Tickets are $12. The festival also offers a range of money-saving passes for serious Fringers.
  • Tickets can be purchased online, by telephone (416-966-1062), from the Fringe Club at Scadding Court, and — if any remain — from the venue’s box office starting one hour before curtain.
  • Be aware that Fringe performances always start exactly on time, and that latecomers are never admitted.
  • Content Warnings: Sexual Content, Audience Participation, Mature Language.
  • The Fringe Festival considers this venue to be wheelchair-accessible. Note that this production plays outdoors, and audience members may not be provided with seating.

Photo of Stevie Jay, Erica Wood & Jamillah Ross by Jon Blacker

Review: Confederation Part II: Scandal & Rebellion (Soulpepper Theatre/VideoCabaret)

Photo of Linda Prystawska, Richard Alan Campbell, Richard Clarkin, Greg Campbell, Kevin Bundy in Confederation Part IIIn time for Canada 150, Soulpepper continues their exploration of Canadian history, on stage in Toronto

Unlike our American neighbours, Canadians aren’t always the most enthusiastic to create mythologies from our own history. Which is what makes VideoCabaret’s Confederation series, presented in association with Soulpepper, all the more magical.  Whether you’re well versed in Michael Hollingsworth’s cycle of plays known as The History of the Village of the Small Huts, or completely new to the experience, the segment of Canada’s history depicted in Confederation Part II: Scandal & Rebellion, will refresh your view on how Canada was made. Continue reading Review: Confederation Part II: Scandal & Rebellion (Soulpepper Theatre/VideoCabaret) →

Review: Confederation Part I: Confederation & Riel (Soulpepper/Video Cabaret)

photo from Confederation part 1Soulpepper Theatre presents a revealing look at Canadian history on stage in Toronto

It’s hard to sell me on any history lesson, having barely skimmed by it in high school, but if the cast of Confederation Part I: Confederation & Riel was teaching the class I’m sure I would have passed with flying colours. Not only because the colour scheme of the piece was eye catching and beautiful, but because the performance kept me engaged through the entire two acts, at fifty minutes each.

Continue reading Review: Confederation Part I: Confederation & Riel (Soulpepper/Video Cabaret) →

Alone in this Together – Toronto Fringe 2017 Press Release

From press releasephoto of sketch troupe Not Oasis

LET’S BE ALONE IN THIS TOGETHER

TORONTO –  Hot, up-n-coming Toronto Sketch comedy troupe Not Oasis is bringing their unique blend of absurd, heartfelt, provocative, and delightfully dark comedy to the 2017 Toronto Fringe Festival with a brand new show “Alone in this Together”.

The highly diverse troupe –  they are Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Chinese, Bangladeshi, Gay, Straight, Bi, Brit, so basically they couldn’t be more Torontonian – are developing the show as a follow up to their acclaimed Second City Conservatory grad show “We Can’t Even Even”. Once again the troupe will be directed by Second City Alumnus Nigel Downer.  “Aw shit I’m directing them AGAIN?” said Downer when asked why he agreed to sign on with Not Oasis for a second show “I thought I deleted their phone numbers”.

The show touches on many current hot button issues as well as topics you’ve likely never even thought about. “That’s the beauty of writing comedy from so many unique individual perspectives” says troupe member Anne McMaster “you get scenes about stuff we all care about like racism and homophobia but you also get weird stuff like scenes about bra padding, lost yogurt and Tetris that make you think ‘oh yeaaaaaah that IS weird!’ ”.

Not Oasis formed at the Second City Training Centre in 2015 and has been building buzz ever since they made the finals of the Big City Improv Festival’s Total Knock Out Tournament. The troupe has since appeared at the 2016 Big City Improv Festival and the 2017 Toronto SketchFest. Their monthly show “Hat Trick Comedy” at the Social Capital theatre runs the third Saturday of the month.

Not Oasis develops sketches through free-form and narrative improvisation, as well as premise-based improv. Sketches are tested and re-tested in front of live audiences, until they are baked to perfection.

Not Oasis Productions

in association with The Toronto Fringe Festival Presents:

Alone in this Together

Written by and starring King Chiu, Katherine Fogler, Jennifer Ashleigh Lloyd, Anne McMaster, Chris O’Neill, Nico Rice, Shohana Sharmin

Directed by Nigel Downer

Stage managed by Chris Middleton

Musical direction by Jordan Armstrong

Facebook: notoasis

Twitter: @not_oasis

#NotOasisAlone

Instagram: @not_oasis

Opens July 6 runs to July 16 

Tarragon Extraspace – 30 Bridgman Ave, Toronto, ON

Performances:

Thursday, July 6 6:45pm

Friday, July 7 2:45pm

Saturday, July 8 5:30pm

Sunday, July 9 8:30pm

Tuesday, July 11 9:45pm

Friday, July 14 1:45pm

Sunday, July 16 12:15pm

Please note that there is absolutely no latecomer seating.

Tickets: 

Purchase online: fringetoronto.com

By Phone: 416-966-1062

In Person: During the festival at our main box office at the Fringe Club at Scadding Court – 707 Dundas Street West.

photo of Nico Rice, Shohana Sharmin, Jennifer Ashleigh Lloyd, King Chiu, Anne McMaster, Chris O’Neill, Katherine Fogler by Katherine Fogler Photography