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.
Musical adaptations are far from a new concept. In fact, most musicals these days are adaptations of popular movies, books or plays. The Common Ground: A Musical Dissertation, currently playing at the Toronto Fringe Festival, expands the art into new territory by putting a theatrical spin on – you guessed it – a scientific dissertation.
In this case, Ken McNeilly transformed his 400-page thesis on the struggles faced by the children of LGBT-identified parents into a musical. And it’s the show’s academic roots that both anchor it in powerful truths while restricting it from becoming the rallying cry for children of LGBT-identified parents that it could become.
For this year’s Toronto Fringe Festival, the Randolph Academy has chosen Euripides’ The Trojan Women. Featuring students in their final year at the Academy, this rendition of the classic play is set in an apocalyptic near future to illustrate a point — history repeats itself.
The Art Of Traditional Head-tying is written and performed by Kanika Ambrose and is playing at St. Vlad’s theatre as part of the 2014 Toronto Fringe Festival. The Art Of Traditional Head-tying begins when Rosie returns to her home country Dominica to teach a series of workshops on the dying art of traditional head-tying. Not only are we audience members to Rosie’s experiences during her visit home, but we are also members of her workshop.
Spilling Family Secrets (GoodSide Productions) is THE date-night show at the Toronto Fringe Festival for anyone who is currently in love, or anyone who would like to be in love but could use a couple pointers first. I myself am currently in a long distance relationship, so writing—emails and texts, mostly—figures heavily in my romance. I’ll be taking a leaf from Sam and Brownie Freedman’s box of love letters for sure, because this solo theater performance left me breathless and teary-eyed in the way all good love stories must.
Among the many offerings at the Toronto Fringe Festival this year toronto dance troupe Half Second Echo offers up the opportunity to see bizarre, bird-like life on an alien world, a killer rendition of Jefferson Airplane’s White Rabbit, a “Misfits Anonymous” meeting, and the Shatner-esque narration of a fictional documentary and more, all presented through the lens of dance in Out to Lunch, playing at Tarragon Mainspace.
True to its Star Trek muse, Out to Lunch insists on going into uncharted territory, sometimes to its peril, but it emerges as a lively piece of theatre that captures the daring, exuberant spirit at the heart of Fringe.
