All posts by Madeleine Copp

Madeleine Copp saw her first show when she was four years old and it was love at first sight. She pursued a bachelor’s in theatre production and design and English literature, culminating in a love for flexible, innovative, and diverse theatre artists that challenge all our preconceived notions of the stage. Her thesis, Printed Voices: Women, Print, and Performance pushed for new interpretations of closet drama from the early modern to modern period in the hopes of seeing more female playwrights included in the performance canon. Since graduating, Madeleine continues to seek out unexpected, startling, and challenging works that leave her angry, speechless, and wonderfully confused.

My Big Fat German Puppet Show (Invisible Inc.) 2015 Toronto Fringe Review

photo of My Big Fat German Puppet Show

What, precisely, do zombies, Germans, and muppets have in common? After seeing My Big Fat German Puppet Show by Invisible Inc. playing at St. Vladimir’s Theatre as part of the Toronto Fringe Festival, I still can’t tell you. I can, however, say that if you are a fan of puppets, humour, and physics, this may be the show for you.

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Carrie’s Little Lambs (Blotter Productions) 2015 Toronto Fringe Review

photo of carries little lamb dave mcginnis

There is only so much a person can take when they are forced to listen to unending misinformation under the guise of education. In Carrie’s Little Lambs by Blotter Productions playing at the Factory Theatre Studio as part of the 2015 Toronto Fringe Festival, the audience is primed for a religious showdown. Too bad the play never quite delivers on its promise.

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The Hollow Square (kith&kin) 2015 Toronto Fringe Review

Photo of the hollow singers

Toronto is a city whose history is sometimes hard to grasp, often existing as little more than plaques on stone. In The Hollow Square by kith&kin playing at St. George the Martyr Anglican Church in The Music Gallery as part of the 2015 Toronto Fringe Festival, the audience gets to take a journey back in time that I found compelling, ethereal, and incredibly experiential.

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Hanger (Kildare Company) 2015 Toronto Fringe Review

Promotional photo for Hangar

How do people anchor their emotional well-being when those around us are also suffering from various illnesses? Kildare Company’s Hanger, playing at St. Vladimir Theatre as part of the 2015 Toronto Fringe Festival, attempts to engage with questions of mental health in an unhealthy environment. Where ambition met weakness in the text, I still found myself thoroughly engaged by the material in the play.

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Review: First Time Last Time (Aim for The Tangent Theatre and The Big Smoke Collective)

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First Time Last Time, on stage in Toronto, features strong performances, weak writing

In the dramatic form, how do we present someone’s life? Does such a story need a beginning, a middle, and an end? Aim for the Tangent Theatre and The Big Smokey Collective’s First Time Last Time playing at the Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace delivers some life, but too much story.

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