All posts by Stephen Lubin

Review: Drink of Choice (Alma Matters/HollyWould)

Bartender holds a jar of rice. Drink of Choice is a choose-your-own-adventure story about dating as an an asexual

A storytelling show with an orange-peel twist, Drink of Choice, plays at the Factory Studio Theatre. This Fringe Festival Patron’s Pick is co-produced by Alma-Matters and HollyWould productions.

Drink of Choice is a choose your own adventure storytelling show, created and performed by Holly Wyder. The show is set in a bar, ‘Ex Machina’, in which Wyder’s nameless bartender shares stories based loosely on experiences from her life. These stories largely revolve around her experience navigating the dating world as someone who is asexual. Continue reading Review: Drink of Choice (Alma Matters/HollyWould) →

Review: Haunted High Park & The Baldoon Witch Séance (City of Toronto/Eldritch Theatre)

Man in skull makeup plays a ukelele. Eldritch Theatre pairs old fashioned ghosts with historic walking tour in an eclectic Halloween pairing

If you’re interested in plenty of laughter and scares this Halloween season, check out Haunted High Park at Colborne Lodge. On from now until October 30, this ghostly evening provided a great experience that delighted my guest and I.

Haunted High Park is a two-part event; the first being a performance of The Baldoon Witch Séance by Toronto’s Eldritch Theatre Company. I’ve reviewed a performance by Eldritch before and went into this a big fan; little has changed. What caught me off-guard, though, was the fantastic the haunted walk we went on afterwards. Continue reading Review: Haunted High Park & The Baldoon Witch Séance (City of Toronto/Eldritch Theatre) →

The Archive of Missing Things (Zuppa Theatre Company) 2019 Summerworks Review

Image of a Building for The Archive of Missing Things

Zuppa Theatre Company’s The Archive of Missing Things is being put on as part of  Summerworks 2019 at The Sanderson Library (327 Bathurst Street). It is an interactive theatre piece taking place in the library with other patrons there. This show an open-concept, it’s performed throughout the library rather than on a stage. It has a digital component as well as live action which all melds together incredibly.

I’ll say here that I think The Archive of Missing Things is one of the most incredible experiences with performance art that I’ve had in recent memory. There’s a great deal of mystery and intrigue woven in and thus, I do think the best experience one can have is going in blind as I did. If you want, stop reading now and just go experience this wonderfully thoughtful show.

Continue reading The Archive of Missing Things (Zuppa Theatre Company) 2019 Summerworks Review →

I’m A Genius Does Anyone Here Know Me? (Lois Brown) 2019 SummerWorks Review

Photo of Lois Brown in I'm a Genius Does Anyone Here Know Me

I Am A Genius Does Anyone Here Know Me is a piece of performance art, melded with storytelling. Created by Lois Brown and composer James O’Callaghan, it’s taking place as part of Summerworks  2019, and you can catch it at the Longboat Hall in The Great Hall.

Though this show isn’t the kind of thing I normally gravitate towards, it was a very satisfying experience. I also think it fulfilled what it set out to do, engage the audience in its sonic improvisations throughout. Continue reading I’m A Genius Does Anyone Here Know Me? (Lois Brown) 2019 SummerWorks Review →

Fox Woman (Palabra Flamenco) 2019 Toronto Fringe Review

Photo of Denise Yeo in Fox Woman Palabra Flamenco

If you are in the mood for either flamenco dancing, beautiful guitar playing, or storytelling at this year’s Toronto Fringe Festival,  look no further than Fox Woman, produced by Palabra Flamenco and playing at the Toronto Fringe Festival in the Streetcar Crowsnest Studio. And if you weren’t in the mood for these things, you should be.

Fox Woman begins with performer Denise Yeo recounting a Siberian folk tale of a lonely hunter and the titular Fox Woman. Her tone is delicate and inviting, and this first telling of the story is quite bare bones. There’s none of the dancing or music that will come in this flamenco storytelling show. In retrospect, I feel like this decision to tell the folk tale twice helped it to resonate with me on a profound level when she next danced to it.

Continue reading Fox Woman (Palabra Flamenco) 2019 Toronto Fringe Review →