A Man Walks Into a Bar – Toronto Fringe 2015 Press Release

“[A] sharp meta-theatrical two-hander that skewers the dialogue surrounding men, women, and feminism.”

A Man Walks into a Bar - Jon Robertson

Excerpted from press release:

A woman, with the help of a man, tells a joke: A man walks into a bar and meets a waitress. As lines between the performers and the characters blur, a tense and funny standoff about gender, power, and selling sex emerges. Playwright Rachel Blair has created a sharp meta-theatrical two-hander that skewers the dialogue surrounding men, women, and feminism. Influenced by modern movements #YesAllWomen and #NotAllMen, A Man Walks Into a Bar is an argument with itself.

A Man Walks Into a Bar brings together Rachel Blair and dramaturg Andrew Cheng, who recently collaborated on Blair’s The Comfort Women as part of the Banff Playwrights Colony. Director David Matheson instructed them both in York University’s Devised Theatre program. A Man Walks Into a Bar brings together an entire collective of Theatre @ York alumni.

Rachel Blair won the Fringe New Play Contest in 2008 for Wake, which also received Patron’s Pick and Best of Fringe. Her last Fringe play This is About the Push was named a Best Production by Now Magazine. She was shortlisted in 2012 for Tarragon Theatre’s RBC Emerging Playwright Competition and was recently a member of Tarragon Theatre’s Playwrights Unit. Director David Matheson is currently Professor of Acting at Sheridan/UTM and Artistic Director of Dora nominated Wordsmyth Theatre. David’s past Fringe highlights include Best of Fringe’s [sic] and Patron’s Pick Bluebeard. Dramaturg Andrew Cheng is a Canadian Screen Award nominee. Lighting Designer Siobhán Sleath was nominated for the Pauline McGibbon Award in 2014.

Showtimes: 

  • Wed July 1, 6:30pm
  • Fri July 3, 1:15pm
  • Sat July 4, 7pm
  • Sun July 5, 3:30pm
  • Mon July 6, 8:30pm
  • Wed July 8, 12pm
  • Sat July 11, 5:15pm

Venue: Tarragon Theatre Extraspace (30 Brigman 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 Jon Robertson