Fruit Fruit Mouth Mouth (Illume Collective) 2015 Toronto Fringe Review

molly thomas, lexi pedneault and philip turkiewicz in photo by shauna sloan

Whenever I’ve been swept away by a story, I often play the “what if” game with myself. I conjure up all sorts of variations for the characters and their situation—switching genders, time periods and whatnot—in order to explore, internalize and understand it. That’s what Illume Collective does with Christina Rossetti’s poem “Goblin Market” in Fruit Fruit Mouth Mouth, currently playing at the Factory Theatre Mainspace for the Toronto Fringe Festival. Continue reading Fruit Fruit Mouth Mouth (Illume Collective) 2015 Toronto Fringe Review

Deadmouse : the Musical – Toronto Fringe 2015 Press Release

“[A] comedy about a mouse who aspires to be a house DJ but is discriminated against for being a mouse!”

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Excerpt from press release:

Deadmouse: The Musical is a comedy about a mouse who aspires to be a house DJ but is discriminated against for being a mouse. Joel Zimmermouse must team up with his best friend, David Goudda, and his flame, Cat, to overcome speciest discrimination and the mouse hating House DJ Avicheese. It does not feature the music of Deadmau5 but instead features more traditional Musical Theatre songs.

Deadmouse will be directed by the Dora Nominated Dale Miller.  It features Chris Baker, who has appeared in a number of television shows including Supernatural, Daniel Abrahamson, writer of the hit show “Funny Business”, Stratford and Mirvish Veteran Jewelle Blackman, and Sarah Horsman from the Canadian Premier Cast of Freckleface Strawberry.  Rafe Malach, the primary writer of the show, co-wrote the music for “A Simple Twist of Faith” which received a NNNN review in Now Magazine and was picked as one of Now Magazine’s Outstanding Fringe productions last year.

Showtimes:

July 3rd, 8:45pm-9:45

July 4th, 1:45pm-2:45

July 5th, 1:15pm-2:15

July 7th, 8:45pm-9:45

July 9th, 9:15pm-10:15

July 10th, 4:00pm-5:00

July 11th, 12:30pm-1:30

Venue: 
Al Green Theatre

Tickets for all Fringe productions are $10, $12 in advance. Tickets can be purchased online, by phone (416-966-1062, business hours only), in-person from the festival box office located in the parking lot behind Honest Ed’s, (481 Bloor West), or — if any remain — from the venue box office (cash-only), starting one hour before showtime.

The festival offers a range of money-saving passes for committed Fringers; see website for details.

Be advised that Fringe shows always start exactly on time, and latecomers are never admitted.

Photo by Kurt van der Basch.

Hansel and Gretal – Toronto Fringe 2015 Press Release

“Hansel & Gretel must let go of their smartphones and tablets and learn to work together if they’re going to reach the Enchanted Gingerbread House and win the Amazing Hunger Race!”

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Excerpt from press release:

In Cow Over Moon’s modern twist on the classic fairy tale, Hansel & Gretel must let go of their smartphones and tablets and learn to work together if they’re going to reach the Enchanted Gingerbread House and win the Amazing Hunger Race. They might need a little help from the audience too!
For almost twenty years, Cow Over Moon has been creating modern updates on classic fairy tales through a collective creation process involving improvisation, music, and lots of laughs. Hansel & Gretel was directed by Toronto Fringe General Manager Lucy Eveleigh, who was also formerly the Artistic Producer of Cow Over Moon.
Hansel & Gretel features an all-star cast including award-winning comedians Faisal Butt (winner of Sirius XM’s Top Comic in Canada who recently opened for Russell Peters), and Gene Abella (Canadian Comedy Award winning member of sketch troupe Asiansploitation). Playing the role of Gretel is up-and-coming singer/songwriter Michelle Thibodeau. Michelle recently sang for Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, as a finalist on the Toronto TV Show Over The
Rainbow, a search contest for Dorothy in Mirvish’s production of The Wizard of Oz.

 

Showtimes:

Friday, July 3: 10:00am – 11:00am
Saturday, July 4: 11:00am – 12:00pm
Monday, July 6: 12:45pm – 1:45pm
Tuesday, July 7: 6:30pm – 7:30pm
Thursday, July 9: 1:30pm – 2:30pm
Friday, July 10: 4:45pm – 5:45pm
Sunday, July 12: 2:30pm – 3:30pm

Venue: 
George Ignatieff Theatre, 15 Devonshire Place

Tickets for all Fringe productions are $10, $12 in advance. FringeKids shows offer $5 tickets for kids. Tickets can be purchased online, by phone (416-966-1062, business hours only), in-person from the festival box office located in the parking lot behind Honest Ed’s, (481 Bloor West), or — if any remain — from the venue box office (cash-only), starting one hour before showtime.

The festival offers a range of money-saving passes for committed Fringers; see website for details.

Be advised that Fringe shows always start exactly on time, and latecomers are never admitted.

Photo provided by Cow Over Moon.

Yeats: A Ceremony of… Innocence? – Toronto 2015 Fringe Press Release

“Poetry and proposals meet politics!”

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Excerpt from press release:

Boy writes poetry. Boy meets girl. Boy tries to win girl. Boy founds a theatre, and helps shape a country. Poetry and proposals meet politics.

If you missed seeing it in Sligo or Donegal, Ireland, Daniel Giverin brings his tour de force performance as William ButlerYeats to the 2015 Toronto Fringe Festival.

Tormented by unrequited love, W.B. Yeats, poet and co-founder of Dublin’s Abbey Theatre, sought understanding through spirituality and magic. A CEREMONY OF…INNOCENCE? explores his career and art through his infatuation with Maud Gonne, English-born revolutionary, actress and proto-feminist.

Daniel Giverin (DEGRASSI, THE MUMMY III) portrays Yeats as a man in love, desperately trying to keep his illusions alive in the face of all reality. His failure results in some of the most beautiful, and honest, love poetry ever written.

Bring a boyfriend; bring a girlfriend. Heck, bring both!

 

Showtimes: 

Thurs. July 2nd6pm
Sun. July 5th5pm
Mon. July 6th10:30pm
Tues. July 7th6:45pm
Thurs. July 9th1:45pm
Fri. July 10th12:30pm
Sun. July 12th4:30pm

Venue: 
Robert Gill Theatre, 214 College St.

Tickets for all Fringe productions are $10, $12 in advance. Tickets can be purchased online, by phone (416-966-1062, business hours only), in-person from the festival box office located in the parking lot behind Honest Ed’s, (481 Bloor West), or — if any remain — from the venue box office (cash-only), starting one hour before showtime.

The festival offers a range of money-saving passes for committed Fringers; see website for details.

Be advised that Fringe shows always start exactly on time, and latecomers are never admitted.

Photo by David Patterson.

Deepest and Darkest – Toronto Fringe 2015 Press Release

Based on real teenaged feelings […] a story about growing up and figuring out how to be important!”

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Excerpt from press release:

Toronto ON – Vancouver-based company Theatre Plexus proudly presents the Toronto Premiere of DEEPEST DARKEST by Caitlin McCarthy, running July 3-12, 2015 at the Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace with the Toronto Fringe Festival. Tickets to this production are available from $12 at www.fringetoronto.com.

Directed by Katrina Darychuk (This is War – Rumble Theatre) with production design by Rae Takei(Mr/MissCobalt 2015), Deepest Darkest is a fun, violently sexy coming-of-age tale. Featuring Studio 58 and University of Toronto Graduate Caitlin McCarthy (House of Yes, What You’re Missing),Deepest Darkest is a story about growing up and figuring out how to be important. And SECRETS! Audience members are invited to confess something anonymously on a piece of paper before the show and these secrets – big or small, deep or trivial, are incorporated into the story. Confessions are optional but very, very encouraged.

 Deepest Darkest premiered under the title Saudade at the 2014 Victoria and Vancouver Fringe Festivals, where it was critically well-received. Performer and playwright Caitlin McCarthy was called a“firecracker” (Marble Theatre Review, Victoria) and “brilliant” (Plank Magazine, Vancouver). Janis La Couvée, in Dispatches from the Victoria Fringe, shared that Deepest Darkest “..resonate[s] on a deep level”. Theatre Plexus was founded in 2013 in Vancouver with a mandate to produce intimate stories in small spaces that feature strong female voices. Other productions include the sold-out run of the play 8 Girls Without Boyfriends and currently, rehearsals are underway for a June 2015 production of Scratch by Toronto playwright Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman. Upcoming, Theatre Plexus will produce a collective creation with the working title I Hope You Get Laid, Bitch, which will deal issues of complicity and consent.

DEEPEST DARKEST performs July 2-13 at Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace, 16 Ryerson Avenue Toronto. Tickets are priced from $12 and are available at www.fringetoronto.com. For more information on the production or the company, visit www.theatreplexus.com.

 Showtimes: 

July 03 at 07:30 PM  buy tickets
July 04 at 11:30 PM  buy tickets
July 07 at 08:00 PM  buy tickets
July 08 at 06:00 PM  buy tickets
July 09 at 02:15 PM  buy tickets
July 11 at 09:15 PM  buy tickets
July 12 at 01:00 PM  buy tickets

Venue: 
Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace

Tickets for all Fringe productions are $10, $12 in advance. Tickets can be purchased online, by phone (416-966-1062, business hours only), in-person from the festival box office located in the parking lot behind Honest Ed’s, (481 Bloor West), or — if any remain — from the venue box office (cash-only), starting one hour before showtime.

The festival offers a range of money-saving passes for committed Fringers; see website for details.

Be advised that Fringe shows always start exactly on time, and latecomers are never admitted.

Photo by Rae Taki.