For the Love of Pie, produced by La Pelle en d’sous d’la Chapelle, is a playful tragic comedy in the Tarragon Solo Room at the Toronto Fringe Festival.
Continue reading For the Love of Pie (La Pelle en d’sous d’la Chapelle) 2017 Toronto Fringe Review
Part-Musical, Part-Comedy, Part-Drama is a “fun night out” at the Alumnae Theatre in TorontoThe Night Joe Dolan’s Car Broke Down, currently on stage at The Alumnae Theatre, is part musical, part comedy, and part drama as per director Michael Hiller’s program notes. I was intrigued to see how all of these parts would coalesce, and enjoyed how everything came together for an entertaining show.
Set in a small pub in County Cavan on St. Stephen’s night 2007, the show opens with the characters celebrating the assumed birthday of local bar regular The Horse (Ian McGarrett). Dramas are slowly revealed throughout the first half, with bartender Barney (Stephen Flett) finding himself in a particular mess because of his separate dalliances with two of the bar’s patrons. Continue reading Review: The Night Joe Dolan’s Car Broke Down (Toronto Irish Players)
The Realistic Joneses is “funny” and “quirky”, on stage at the Tarragon Theatre in TorontoThe opening night of Will Eno’s The Realistic Joneses, currently at the Tarragon Theatre, had me laughing with its quirky dialogue, feeling for its desperate characters, and wondering exactly how many words make up a life. Judging by the triple-encore ovation at its conclusion, I would hasten to guess everyone else in the Tarragon Mainspace enjoyed it as well.
Continue reading Review: The Realistic Joneses (Tarragon Theatre)
I was excited for The Circle, currently on stage at the Tarragon Extraspace, as I thought it was going to be a modern Breakfast Club experience. While the two stories share a couple of characters and themes, The Circle is a darker look into modern teenage life with the characters’ need for home, acceptance, and familial belonging at the forefront.
The Circle brings together teenage archetypes Amanda the genius (Vivien Endicott-Douglas), Ily the drug dealer (Jakob Ehman), Mutt/Tyler the mess (Brian Solomon), Kit the runaway (Nikki Duval), Will the kid with ADHD (Daniel Ellis), and Daniel the son of a priest (Jake Vanderham) for a garage party that isn’t supposed to be a “party”. Continue reading Review: The Circle (Tarragon Theatre)
Birdtown & Swanville presents an episodic play of mystery, myth, misery, and survival in TorontoBirdtown & Swanville’s Even This Old Town Was A Forest, playing at The Theatre Centre, is a performance-driven tale of mystery, myth, misery, and survival. It’s funny though so don’t let those last four words turn you off.
Even This Old Town Was A Forest gives us the story of sisters Mary and Becky as they travel from England to 18th century Toronto – with Mary’s fiancé William, and Becky’s husband Jonathan – to build a new life. Once there, the group meets Abequa, a First Nations girl who has an odd ailment and has literally lost her father. The group must face the elements if they hope to survive, but they are also taunted by a monster who is forever in their midst. Continue reading Review: Even this old town was a Forest (Birdtown & Swanville)