The play Killcreek, playing at the Randolph Theatre in this year’s Toronto Fringe Festival dramatizes the story of Rick (played by Romaine Waite), his wife Maddy (played by Angela C. Brown), and her recovering alcoholic brother Daryl (played by Dan Cristofori).

Set in the 1950’s, drama ensues when the mining company in their small town reopens, Rick goes back to work there, and Daryl proves to be a financial and emotional strain on the family household. I enjoy and commend theatre that broaches difficult subject matter, but the inconsistent tone of Killcreek kept me from connecting to the traumatic events that unfold. Continue reading Killcreek (Beautiful Gem and bojit Productions) 2013 Toronto Fringe Review →

The Very Very Girl, it turns out, is a show about which I had a lot of feelings. It seems designed to evoke feelings, so that feels fair – people around me finished the show in tears, mothers hugged their daughters and a few men held their programs strategically over their crotches. I left a little let down.

Continue reading The Very Very Girl (Gayatri Productions) 2013 Fringe Festival Review →

A woman returns home to see her estranged mother after her grandmother has fallen into a coma. As a comet passes overhead the eerie voice of a boy who disappeared over fifty years ago is heard intermittently on a radio. Who is the boy and how will his return affect the fate of the three women? The Truth About Comets is an atmospheric two-hander presented by The Quickening Theatre as part of the Toronto Fringe Festival. Continue reading The Truth About Comets (The Quickening Theatre) 2013 Toronto Fringe Review →

Fort Isabel, presented by Blood Orange Theatre & Deviant Productions at the Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace is haunting and sincere.

The venue itself creates a very specific dynamic between audience and performer. It is narrow and high.  No matter where you are sitting, you are essentially looking down on whatever is happening and whomever it’s happening to.  In such a position, characters always seem trapped and scrutinized.  This is entirely appropriate in the context of this particular story. Continue reading Fort Isabel (Blood Orange Theatre and Deviant Productions) 2013 Toronto Fringe Review →

I waited in anticipation outside The Tarragon Theatre to see The Adventures of a Professional Corpse presented by Bent Spoons as part of the Toronto Fringe Festival. Adventure, goofiness, tomfoolery, it is all in the title. Heading into the theatre I expected at least some those different scenarios.

With hopes high, I walked into the main space at Tarragon to find the stage littered with ladders transformed into all sorts of different props. I knew this was going to be a DIY production, maybe a diamond in the rough. Continue reading The Adventures of a Professional Corpse (Bent Spoons) 2013 Toronto Fringe Review →