As I pivot from the Fringe to Toronto Summer Music I thought I’d lay out a few thoughts about this year’s Toronto Fringe. Obviously this is based on my sample of eight shows out of the huge number on offer but some of my thoughts seemed to be confirmed by conversations over the course of the week.
Me with cast and crew members of Regarding Antigone
Lucian, Plato and the Secrets of the Pussy was my eighth and last show at this year’s Fringe. It wasn’t on my original list but I heard good things during the week so I added it. I’m glad I did. It’s written by Jules Spizzirri and Sydney Scott and directed by Alyssa Featherstone. It’s playing (there are two more shows) in one of the Fringe’s larger spaces; the Michael Young Theatre at Soulpepper.
Quiltro-Art by Tyra Hayward
Yasmine Agocs’ Quiltro, being presented by Basil Page Productions at Soulpepper as part of the Fringe is rather more than it seems. Here’s the blurb:
“What would you do if you could experience the memories of your ancestors? Following her parents’ divorce, 13-year-old Nina runs away to join a group of stray dogs in her town. On her journey of self-actualization and acceptance, the looming, ominous presence of a dangerous cryptic creature stalks her, preying on the fear within her deep, dark memories.”
Sara Masciotra-Milstein’s Me and You and the Highland Coo presented by Happy as a Clam Productions presented in the TD Finance Studio at Soulpepper as part of the fringe sounds light hearted enough. Jackie and Charlie, a couple of Canadians who have just got their Masters at Aberdeen plan a road trip in search of a highland cow plushie while waiting for their visa applications to clear. But there is trouble at home. Jackie’s father is in the last throes of cancer and Charlie’s brother hasd serious mental health problems. They decide to ignore text messages because if something important happens “they” will call (no they won’t says my personal experience).
Confessions of a Redheaded Coffeeshop Girl is a one woman show written and performed by Rebecca Perry. It’s currently running at the Alumnae Theatre as part of the Fringe. Perry plays Joanie Little, a recent anthropology graduate with a Jane Goodall fixation and a job in a coffeeshop. Applying her anthropological skills to the shop’s customers she takes us. on a tour of her urban jungle. There’s her silverback boss, the “large black coffee” penguin, her promiscuous peacock ex and Sue the wild turkey jogger; among others.
Divine Monster, by Elena Kaufman, directed by Mary Dwyer, is currently playing in the RBC Finance Studio at Soulpepper as part of the Fringe. Martha, a young, lesbian Canadian rock singer has just split up with her girlfriend on the Paris leg of a backpacking trip. She finds herself in Père Lachaise, chez Sarah Bernhardt, late at night. It’s one of the rare nights when an ancient ritual might free Bernhardt from her incorporeal existence if the right “victim” can be found. Martha, who has basically decided that she is a failure with no future might be the ideal candidate. At least she can see and talk to Sarah though not the other ghosts who lurk around.
Hoody is a tongue in cheek reworking of Little Red Riding Hood. The schtick is that the characters have all fallen out of a copy of Perreault’s Once Upon A Time and ended up in Toronto. In the process they have changed form so that LRRH is now a very large man (Graham Knox) and the Wolf is now a woman called Lu (Lu, loup geddit?) with an unfortunate addiction to human flesh. It’s written by Dawna Wightman (who also plays Lu) and presented by Hoody Ink in the Solo Room at Tarragon as part of the Fringe.
My first venture to the Fringe this year was a very good one. The Sky Is The Limit Theatre’s Regarding Antigone playing in the Solo Room at Tarragon is one of the best fringe shows I’ve seen. It’s a one woman show written and performed by Banafsheh Hassani and directed by Art Babayants dealing with all the ways one can die tragically in a brutal, authoritarian state; beaten up by cops, stray bullet, “disappeared”, driven to suicide etc.
July in Toronto is really all about two festivals; the Toronto Fringe Festival and Toronto Summer Music.
The Fringe runs July 2nd to July 13th and there are more than 100 shows on 20+ stages. There’s a huge range of performance styles; drama, comedy, clowning, musicals, stand up etc. Most shows run an hour or less and the standard ticket price is $18.75 though there are plenty of discounts plus multi show passes as well as free events at the Fringe Hub which this year is at Soulpepper with events also across the street at Old Flame brewery. Quality varies a lot. Some shows are excellent; Monks last year would be a case in point, but others a re a bit meh. But that’s the point really. You can see what looks interesting to you. All the details are here.
The Toronto Fringe Next Stage festival opened on Wednesday evening at Buddies in Bad Times with Keir Cutler’s Civilized. It’s a one man tour de force in which John Huston plays a senior bureaucrat from Indian Affairs during the Laurier government who has returned from the dead to explain to contemporary Canadians why the Residential School System was entirely necessary and a Very Good Thing.
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