Reviews of theatre, dance, opera, comedy and festivals. Performances can be in-person or streamed remotely on the web for social-distancing.
The Death and then Life of Douglass Perish (playing at the Toronto Fringe Festival) is a goofy absurdist play that is more wry smiles than belly laughs. The plot is simple: After being told by his doctor that he has been dead for three weeks, Douglass Perish returns home to his wife, Lilian, and his best friend, Glenn, to break the news. Undeterred by the fact that Douglass is still walking among them, Lilian and Glenn plan Douglass’ funeral and begin to move on.
Asylum, produced by New Story Productions, is playing on-demand at the virtual 2021 Toronto Fringe Festival. The punchy theatre-dance work is only seven minutes in length. It follows Amir (played by Armon Ghaeinizadeh) in his process of applying for asylum in Canada. Amir first left Iran precariously on a school visa to join a dance program in Canada. This piece focuses on the middle ground of first leaving Iran and the possibility of being forced to go back to a culture that has a long and complex history with dancing, and where anything outside of heterosexual marriage is punishable by law.
Continue reading Asylum (New Story Productions) 2021 Toronto Fringe Review
Today is the day many of you have been waiting for: the Digital Toronto Fringe Festival launch.
As with so many things these days, Fringe looks a little different this year. Not just the festival itself, but the Mooney on Theatre coverage too.
Continue reading Digital Toronto Fringe Festival Starts Today
Like many individuals and sectors at this time, playwright and performer Samson Bonkeabantu Brown and director Tsholo Khalema, on behalf Theatre Passe Muraille, had to convert 11:11 from its intended stage format to a live-stream performance hosted on YouTube Live. As the creative team noted during the Q & A that followed the opening night performance, this apparent disadvantage became an advantage that allowed them to incorporate some of the best elements of live theatre and film in the finished production. Continue reading Review: 11:11 (Theatre Passe Muraille)
The Mad Ones is a virtual musical about the internal struggle before a Big Life DecisionThe Mad Ones, a virtual musical by Russo Richardson Productions, is an emotional story about embracing a big life decision and the internal struggle leading up to that. Filmed remotely and presented as a Zoom call inside Samantha Brown’s mind, this performance managed to successfully utilize the limitations of producing a show during a pandemic to their advantage.
Continue reading Review: The Mad Ones (Russo Richardson Productions)