All posts by Allison Gerson

Review: She Stoops to Conquer (Guild Festival Theatre)

She Stoops to Conquer is great outdoor theatre in the Toronto east end, a summer must

She Stoops to Conquer, currently being presented by Guild Festival Theatre, embodies many of the things I love about summer in Toronto. While others may head to the cottage, I am happiest travelling around the city to watch theatre outside. Both the setting, Guild Park in Scarborough, and the company were new to me. And I was happy I got the chance to expand my theatrical and geographic horizons. Continue reading Review: She Stoops to Conquer (Guild Festival Theatre)

I ate the sandbox (ProductionsByKJ) 2017 Toronto Fringe Review

I ate the sandbox produced by ProductionsbyKJ and playing at the Toronto Fringe Festival is a great example of what the Fringe is all about. It’s a one woman show written and performed by Khadijah Jamal, and it is her acting debut. Jamal attended the festival last year for the first time in ten years. It inspired her to write a script. When she saw an ad for the Fringe lottery on her Facebook feed, she took a chance, entered, and was accepted. This show is the result. Continue reading I ate the sandbox (ProductionsByKJ) 2017 Toronto Fringe Review

Seasons (Sol Express) 2017 Toronto Fringe Review

Photo of Melissa Marshall

Seasons produced by Sol Express playing at the Toronto Fringe Festival is not your typical Fringe show. Most of the performers are members of L’Arche Toronto, a community of people with intellectual disabilities who live and work together. In Seasons, they explore life through the lens of the four seasons in an hour of movement, music, poetry, film, and clown. It’s an incredibly moving work.

Continue reading Seasons (Sol Express) 2017 Toronto Fringe Review

Lantern Tales from the Ottawa Valley (Tales from the Four Winds) 2017 Toronto Fringe Review

Photo of Norman PerrinLantern Tales from the Ottawa Valley produced by Tales from the Four Winds  and playing at the Toronto Fringe Festival is an hour of storytelling and fiddling.  The show opens on a blank stage holding a table, two chairs, and two mugs.  A fiddle starts to play a folk tune and then Norman Perrin and the fiddler, Dr. Tom Hamilton, enter.  Perrin invites the audience to join him for a cup of tea while he spins yarns inspired by the lives of his ancestors in rural Ontario.

Continue reading Lantern Tales from the Ottawa Valley (Tales from the Four Winds) 2017 Toronto Fringe Review

Life’s a Betch (Sketch Betch) 2017 Toronto Fringe Review

Photo of Nora Saliken, Miguel Gauthier, Eitan Shalmon, and Katherine O'Brien

Life’s a Betch is a sketch comedy show performed by Sketch Betch at the Toronto Fringe Festival. The troupe is made up of four performers who met while studying at the Second City – Miguel Gauthier, Katharine O’Brien, Nora Saliken, and Eitan Shalmon. They were joined on stage by musical director and keyboardist Carmen Braund, who provided the perfect background music for each scene.

Continue reading Life’s a Betch (Sketch Betch) 2017 Toronto Fringe Review