I’ve technically put the theatre review side of this site on hiatus while I take maternity leave but the prospect of completely missing out on Toronto Fringe made me too sad so I made myself a one-day sample platter of shows taking place in and around the new festival hub at Soulpepper’s distillery district venue. […]

Some uncomfortably personal context: I just had a kid. Attempting to be realistic about the amount of time this website takes to run, I was planning to start maternity leave right around now and cut theatre reviewing from our coverage entirely for the rest of the year. But, when my son arrived two months early, […]

Before we announce the winners of our 2024 Critics’ Pick Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series.   One of our favourite productions of the 2024 Toronto Fringe Festival, Desperate Measures featured a funny and fresh script co-created by Rachel Moore & Catherine Teichman. We spoke with the Outstanding New Work-nominated playwrights to hear […]

Before we announce the winners of our 2024 Critics’ Pick Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series.   I saw 40 plays at the 2024 Toronto Fringe Festival and my very favourite was a deeply strange clown two-hander about Albertan rats. Creative, heartfelt, and executed brilliantly, Rat Academy is a perfect example of […]

The Shaw Festival’s mainstage programming this year runs the full gamut from the best in the biz to completely disappointing.   At the top of the heap, the most reliable man in Canadian Theatre- Crow’s Theatre artistic director Chris Abraham- takes on the ridiculous farce of One Man, Two Guvnors. It’s a nonsense script full […]

 

Click Here to read all our reviews from Toronto Fringe 2024.    Artificially Intelligent (A-) Anesti Danelis is one of the most consistently funny and engaging comedians in Toronto and his latest solo show is yet another reliable hit. His self deprecating charm, musical talent, and clever writing are all showcased well in this meta hour […]

 

Click Here to read all our reviews from Toronto Fringe 2024.    Patty Picker (A) Written by Evan Bawtinheimer, One For One Collective’s production brings us the story of Patty, a teenage girl who gets bullied and ostracized when the school learns a shameful secret. Bawtinheimer’s story examines a prevalent theme in teenage maturation without veering […]

 

Click Here to read all our reviews from Toronto Fringe 2024.    Rooted: A Musical Poem (A) Ambitious, substantive, and memorable, this full-scale musical is one of the most polished pieces at the Fringe and definitely deserves a bigger run in a larger theatre. Jewelle Blackman’s book is a bittersweet and deceptively mature Giving-Tree-esque coming of age […]