And then it happened… (playing at the Toronto Fringe Festival) is a sketch comedy collaboration between two friends and a director, Kris Siddiqi. Despite getting the worst possible time slot for their opening (midday on a rainy Friday), these two performers (Zohaib Khan & Anesti Danelis) made the most of a lousy house and got off to a pretty good start.
Continue reading And then it happened… (Aspiring Landlords) 2017 Toronto Fringe Review
In Recall (playing at the Toronto Fringe Festival), the government has developed a series of tests which it believes can identify “pre-violent” people. This is well-trodden sci-fi territory, as old as Asimov.
Recall pushes the technology to the periphery, focusing instead on a cluster of characters: a subject, an accessory, an investigator, a bystander, and a wildcard. These characters are thrown together in various configurations, and as information flows between them, the story sneaks up behind us.
Continue reading Recall (Seven Siblings Theatre) 2017 Toronto Fringe Review
Walking out of Nithy, Ace Detective (playing at the Toronto Fringe Festival), I overheard a grown-up talking to another, with about five kids between them: “That wasn’t what I was expecting. That was… that was certainly something.”
It’s a well-acted show with a lot of heart. But I have to say, as concerns the plot and thrust of it, I’m in about the same place.
Continue reading Nithy, Ace Detective (Jump Star) 2017 Toronto Fringe Review
In Traffic Jams (playing at the Toronto Fringe Festival), Thalie — a songwriter struggling with an artistic block — has staked out a position at the middle of a traffic island, refusing to budge until she completes her indie album. As we get to know her, though, we learn that there’s a lot more going on here than a stalled creative process.
Continue reading Traffic Jams (Resilience Theatre) 2017 Toronto Fringe Review
In his wisdom, the Great and Wise Vladimir Putin (democratically-elected leader of the free world) has dispatched Vasily Djokavich: Russia’s #1 State Approved Comedian on a cultural exchange to the Toronto Fringe Festival. He has brought many laughs, many tears, and also possibly potato! (There is not actually potato: is old Russian joke!)