“[O]ne-woman drama, performed by Jessica Gardiner, that places historical text alongside fictional accounts to generate an original tale of nineteenth-century Toronto life.”

Excerpt from Press Release:

“The Clues Are All Around You”

A drama set in nineteenth-century Toronto.

It is a hot day in July 1898 and hostess, Mrs James Berry is “at home” to a much-anticipated caller. As she guides her guest through the rooms of her family home, past, present and future converge to tell a strange story of life on the banks of the Don River. At Home is a one-woman drama, performed by Jessica Gardiner, that places historical text alongside fictional accounts to generate an original tale of nineteenth-century Toronto life.
JIG is a new Toronto-based theatre company that produces new dramas on a per-production basis. We are particularly interested in developing performances that derive from verbatim text and found sources.

Showtimes:

Friday July 3, 8:45PM

Saturday, July 4, 11:00PM

Sunday, July 5, 6:15PM

Wednesday July 8, 12:00PM

Thursday, July 9, 11:15PM

Friday, July 10, 1:45PM

Sunday, July 12, 4:00PM

Venue: The Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse (79 St George Street, Suite 302)

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, starting one hour before showtime. (Cash-only.)

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.

 

“Joanna Murray-Smith’s exquisite play that explores love, loss and the frenzied passing of time.”

Excerpted from Press Release:

Naked Goddess Productions is proud to present the Canadian Premiere of Joanna Murray-Smith’s captivating play NINETY at the Toronto FringeFestival, July 1-12, opening July 2nd.

Directed by Mercy Cherian (Split Decision, The Rice Girls, Spike Heels) and starring Nicole Fairbairn (Performer in Toronto Fringe showsRadioactive Drag Queens from the Year 3000(NOW Magazine Critic’s Pick) and Drowning in Wasabi) and five time Jessie Richardson nominee William MacDonald (Zadie’s Shoes, The Caretaker, Macbeth).

NINETY is a portrait of a failed marriage. Isabel, an art restorer, has asked for ninety minutes of time from her former husband, now a hugely successful film star, before he marries another woman. It is an exploration of love, loss, and the frenzied passing of time.

Playwright Joanna Murray-Smith’s plays are widely performed around the world, including productions on Broadway. She is an award-winning Australian playwright, and one of only three playwrights in Australia who makes a living from her writing. Many notable actors including Meryl Streep, Sam Waterston, Kyra Sedgewick, Laura Linney, Rachel Griffiths and many others have performed her plays.

‘Joanna Murray-Smith’s latest play gives ample evidence of why her work is so successful overseas…Ninety represents a synthesis of Murray-Smith’s most salient talents as a playwright: a gift for comedy and a flair for intimate drama that gets under the skin of the middle class.’ — The Age newspaper

The play is an intimate character study of a divorced couple who come together one last time to examine their complicated journey with each other, to get to the core of their failings individually and within their relationship. It is an autopsy of a marriage intermingled with flashbacks of joyous levity and poignant moments. As they go back and forth in time, they peel back layer after layer of the thick protective shell they have built around themselves, finally unveiling the truth.

The play examines the delicate dance of relationships, the healing process after loss and all the words people choose to keep sealed up inside, often until it is too late. It looks at the subtle and miraculous moments that pass by and how it is sometimes easy to overlook how precious and extraordinary they truly are.

Venue:  Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace (16 Ryerson Avenue)

Showtimes:

Photo by Dahlia Katz.

 

 

 

“A play about fighters’ blood, losers’ sweat and actors’ tears.”

 

Excerpt from Press Release:

Stephanie Carpanini (SITI company, Rarely Pure Theatre) and Matthew Gouveia (Nightwood Theatre,  Shakespeare Link
Canada) perform in BOUT; A play about fighters’ blood, losers’ sweat and actors’ tears.

A failed artist tries to find meaning in her life through competitive boxing. She decides to prove herself by competing in the Silver Gloves. Inexperienced, unfit and messy-Jackie is a warrior, but she doesn’t know it yet. This wilful wannabe fighter gambles everything in the biggest battle she’ll ever fight. Manny is her coach and
he cranks it out of her. If ever two fighters were made for each other, these two are. This is the story of putting
on our gloves, knocking out our truths, taking hits, pound after pound, round after round until we hear our bell. Do we throw in the towel?

A brand new company, SATS Theatre, has been selected as one of 15 site-specific groups in this year?s Fringe
Festival. Performing at Sully’s Boxing Gym, the oldest boxing gym in Canada, it is a space that breathes much
heart and history and has had many boxing legends skip around in its ring, from Muhammad Ali to Lennox
Lewis.
Girl meets ring. Girl loves ring. Girl leaves ring.
“She’s every nobody who wanted to be somebody,
She’s every person who never settled
For anything other than the best.
She’s every woman who never had a chance.
Until now.”
-BOUT

Showtimes:
July 01 at 10:00 PM
July 02 at 10:00 PM
July 03 at 10:00 PM
July 04 at 10:00 PM
July 05 at 10:00 PM
July 07 at 10:00 PM
July 08 at 10:00 PM
July 09 at 10:00 PM
July 10 at 10:00 PM
July 11 at 10:00 PM
July 12 at 10:00 PM

Venue: (Site Specific) Sully’s Boxing Gym (1024 Dupont 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, starting one hour before showtime. (Cash-only.)

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 Chantale Renee.

“[A] tragi-comedy about faith, sex, identity and ritual.”

Excerpted from press release:

When death looks you in the eye, whom do you turn to? Your psychologist? God? … Or Lance Armstrong?

Fresh from critical success as part of the The Coopers Malthouse resident artist initiative, Salvador Dinosaur Presents the ‘The Orchid and the Crow’ – a tragi-comedy about faith, sex, identity and ritual, created and performed by Daniel Tobias and directed by Christian Leavesley.

Reflecting on Daniel’s real life (and almost death) experiences, The Orchid and the Crow is a solo performance that features original songs from the award-winning writers of Die RotenPunkte – the lipstick-smeared, tantrum-loving, sonic collision that has gone down a storm at various international Festivals.

At eight days old Daniel’s secular Jewish parents chose to have him circumcised. Having not read the fine print in the Old Testament, this unknowingly triggered God’s ongoing contract with the Hebrews. In return for following his rules, God promised to look after the Israelites.

At 29, Daniel is an atheist, single and living the life of a bohemian artist in Melbourne. And lo, God was not pleased! Appalled with Daniel’s lifestyle choices, God makes an example of him and appears on earth to smite him with stage four testicular cancer. Stage five is death.

As Dan prepares for his upcoming treatment he is left in a spiritual vacuum. He is reaching for faith in something, but he’s certainly not going to find it in a deity who has already stolen one of his balls. Instead, Daniel finds salvation in an unlikely modern messiah, seven-time winner of the Tour de France and testicular cancer survivor Lance Armstrong.

Showtimes: 

• Thu 2 Jul–8:15pm
• Fri 3 Jul–3:00pm
• Sun 5 Jul –3:00pm
• Mon 6 Jul –10:15pm
• Tue 7 Jul –10:30pm
• Fri 10 Jul – 11:30pm
• Sat 11 Jul – 5:45pm

Venue: Al Green Theatre (750 Spadina Ave)

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 Andrew Wuttke

“OkCupid. Match.com. Plenty of Fish. eHarmony. Tinder. A comedy about people meeting people and sometimes, almost, maybe, sort of, falling in love.”

Excerpted from press release:

OkCupid. Match.com. Plenty of Fish. eHarmony. Tinder.  Dating in the 21st century is complicated.  A comedy about people meeting people and sometimes, almost, maybe, sort of, falling in love.  “She Said Yes” follows Liz as she navigates dating websites, apps, and “traditional” meet-cutes, and all of the hilarious situations that come with using today’s dating technology.

After a few years of the single life and some pretty comedy-driven real-life dates with many quirky messages, Virginia was inspired to share this experience on stage, and that’s how Liz’s story began.  When Dv8 Productions was drawn in Fringe’s lottery, she knew it was time.  Though the story of dating and the search for love is universal, the options for how to meet new people, especially in a new city have evolved.  It’s time for the traditional love story to have its modern retelling.

The cast features Jamie and Jon Champagne, stars of Teletoon’s “Double Play” (and identical twins), together portraying over 30 of Liz’s romantic candidates. Using their background in sketch and improv, they bring each unique character to life in She Said Yes, just like they do on TV.

Audiences should watch “She Said Yes” to see what it means to connect with each other in a technological age, to find the comedy in these everyday situations and to be able laugh at our shared experiences in the crazy world that is not only dating, but dating on your own terms.

Showtimes:

• July 2, 9:15pm
• July 5, 7:00pm
• July 6, 1:00pm
• July 8, 11:00pm
• July 9, 1:45pm
• July 10, 9:45pm
• July 12, 3:30pm

Venue: Tarragon Theatre Extraspace (30 Bridgman Ave)

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 Calwyn Shurgold.