Venus & Adonis, produced by Theatre Oculus, is playing on-demand at the 2021 Toronto Fringe Festival. Based on the Shakespeare poem of the same title, the dance work runs 25-minutes. Venus, the goddess of love, attempts to seduce Adonis. Her love is unrequited, as in the original story he would rather go hunting. The company asks: What happens when the goddess of love is scorned in her own realm?
The piece opens with the sounds of birds chirping and the sight of white dresses flowing in a light summer breeze. The cast of 12 dancers moves to a recorded poem by Kelsi James. Depictions of love and desire are shown in a montage of solo shots of whimsical improvised contemporary movement set against the beautiful outdoor backdrop.
Late-night overthinking and intrusive thoughts… Google rabbit holes of illnesses you do not have… Insomniac, produced by Blue Glass Theatre, playing on-demand at the 2021 Virtual Toronto Fringe Festival, follows one woman’s late-night rants about her trouble sleeping and the contrasting and often unhelpful sleep aid advice found on the internet, like don’t look at your phone but use this sleep app! Or, make a cup of herbal tea, but avoid any bright lights at night… How is one to do so when pouring scalding hot water?!
Dance of Torn Papers, produced by Nowadays Theatre, is a 360˚ experience of two short works by playwright and director Mohammad Yaghoubi, playing on-demand at the virtual 2021 Toronto Fringe Festival. The double bill is a combined 30 minutes, with two different video options of watching in either English or Farsi, or with subtitles of each language for either video.
The 360˚ VR experience gives audiences the ability to be in the room, to choose where they want to look with the direction of the mouse, making you intimately a part of the experience. Past virtual reality shows I’ve seen leave the camera in one spot, but in this work, the actors move the camera with them to different places in the room, creating an even more lifelike ambience to the performance.
bloodrite (Other He/Arts) takes on the history of Countess Elizabeth Báthory, one of history’s most notorious serial killers who reportedly enjoyed torturing young girls and drinking their blood in the 1500s. Over the years, Báthory has served as the inspiration for many a vampire tale. Hers was a gruesome and bloody life, one that we often remember with a blurring of history with horror-fantasy (while Báthory was arrested for these crimes, for example, claims that she bathed in blood seem to have been exaggerated). As such, it’s fascinating material for adaptation. Continue reading bloodrite (Other He/Arts) 2021 Toronto Fringe Review→
