by Lucy Allen
The Fringe tent definitely feels different when it’s January and -15 degrees outside, but that didn’t stop the crowds from lining up for the first night of the Next Stage Festival, host to eight new and reworked shows. My first show of the festival this year was Screwed & Clued Theatre Company’s Quite Frankly. To get the obvious joke out of the way: Quite frankly, it’s worth seeing.
Written and performed by Justin Sage-Passant, Quite Frankly is a one-man show telling the story of a socially awkward man, named Frank, unable to ever quite integrate into normal situations of his society. Specifically, it focuses on his relationship with his constantly over-bearing and needy mother, who he cares for.
The moment that Sage-Passant shuffles uncomfortably onto the stage staring uncertainly and wistfully at the audience you’re immediately endeared to him. From his eye twitches to his slow methodical way of speaking, every detail of the character is explored and Sage-Passant does a wonderful job of bringing each and every one to life.
Continue reading Next Stage Festival: Quite Frankly- Screwed & Clued Theatre Company
by Lucy Allen
In 1969 John Lennon and Yoko Ono declared they would stay in their hotel bed in Montreal for one week to promote peace around the world and to stop violent wars. Thirty years later, the world is just as violent, but draft89’s production John/Yoko Bed Piece, currently playing at the Toronto Centre for the Arts, hopes to reintroduce this message of peace by recreating the couple’s famous week. Continue reading John/Yoko Bed Piece- Draft89 Theatre Collective
by Lucy Allen
There are few people who don’t know the names of Orson Welles and Lawrence Olivier. Orson’s Shadow, currently playing at Theatre Passe Muraille, seeks to delve further into the minds of these titans, and while it certainly starts to scratch the surface, it doesn’t seem to go much further than what we’ve seen on screen. Continue reading Orson's Shadow- Pilot Group Theatre