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.
Momentum Dance Toronto brings a unique dance experience to the Toronto Fringe Festival in the form of inspired by works of visual still art. Off Canvas is an hour-long exploration of art — what creates art, what expresses art, and how to look beyond the canvas (and beyond the dancer) to find inspiration and create.
Continue reading Off Canvas (remounted) (Momentum Dance Toronto) 2014 Toronto Fringe Review
Of all the Toronto Fringe Festival shows I’ve attended thus far, Potosi is the only one I’ve seen in a literally full house. The Tarragon Mainspace was packed for this show, viewers no doubt drawn in by the posters that have sprouted across the city, each reminding all who see them that Potosi is the winner of the Fringe New Play Contest. In short, this show had some very high expectations to live up to, and as a play, it definitely achieved that much.
Continue reading Potosi (Good Old Neon) 2014 Toronto Fringe Review
This Ain’t The Yellow Brick Road is Jake Steele’s life story. It begins four years ago, with his recovery from a brain tumour which robbed him of his memory: he had to re-learn everything – from elementary self-care, to how to process emotions, to who he was. His Toronto Fringe Festival show explores how he grew and developed into a new person, how he relates to the old one, and his adventures as he comes into — or, perhaps, overcomes — himself.
At least, that’s what Jake Steele says.
Continue reading This Aint The Yellow Brick Road (Steele Solutions) 2014 Toronto Fringe Review
Eli inherited his father’s grocery store, the titular Happy Foods. He’s not happy, but that isn’t the point; Eli lives a life of overlapping and interconnected obligations (to his family, to his community, to his employees…) and his father’s legacy is just one component. As the people in his orbit begin to find their own legs and pull in new directions, Eli’s way of life — and the assumptions he’s made about the way the world works — will come under threat. This Toronto Fringe Festival show explores the agony, the debris, and the aftermath of his new normal.
Continue reading Happy Foods (Present Perfect) 2014 Toronto Fringe Review
It’s a hell of a thing to wind up on the front page of the Toronto Sun with the words “DEVIL” and “TERRORIST” printed under your face…especially if you’ve got a job interview later that day. But Lwam Ghebrehariat has a knack for turning pitfalls into upsides, or at the very least getting a good laugh out of them.
Lwam is Eritrea’s Greatest Hockey Player is the true story, told in stand-up comedy at the Toronto Fringe Festival, of one man’s journey through the not-so post-racial wonderland of Canada, a journey that took him from his childhood home in Alberta to the Tarragon Theatre Solo Room. Continue reading Lwam is Eritrea’s Greatest Hockey Player (Lwam Ghebrehariat) 2014 Toronto Fringe Review