Kelly Bedard

When the Court House Theatre closed in 2017 and the Shaw Festival downgraded to just three formal venues, the easy assumption was that the festival would accordingly shrink. On the contrary, the expansion of programming in the Jackie Maxwell Studio Theatre has kept the average mainstage number around 10 or 11 every summer while current […]

  Kelly Bedard

Click Here to read the rest of our reviews from Toronto Fringe 2023.    Fatal Charade (A) The best show I’ve reviewed so far this Fringe, this dark comedy about a criminal sentenced to death by theatre in Ancient Rome balances a compelling dramatic premise with bright humour and well-defined character arcs. Reflected in Leslie Rennie’s […]

  Dom Harvey

Click Here to read the rest of our reviews from Toronto Fringe 2023.    Frankenstein(esque) (A) Many reimaginings of an iconic work coast on the original’s charm while their own contribution droops off the text, just happy to be there. Silent Protagonist Theatre’s Frankenstein(esque) is a worthy homage to Mary Shelley’s classic but also so much […]

  Mark Kreder

Click Here to read the rest of our reviews from Toronto Fringe 2023.    Aliya Kanani: Where You From From (A-) Trying to describe Aliya Kanani to a perspective audience member is a fun challenge. The first word that springs to mind is chaotic (in the best way). Once she takes over the stage, she […]

  Kelly Bedard

Click Here for a full list of our 2022 Toronto Fringe reviews.    At the Table with Keith Brown (A) I hate to be tricked but I love hyper-specific skills that can only be mastered with good old fashioned decades of practice. So magicians often present a bit of a problem for me. What works […]

  Kelly Bedard

Click Here for a full list of our 2022 Toronto Fringe reviews.    Gay for Pay with Blake & Clay (A-)  In Gay for Pay, noted gay actors Daniel Krolik & Jonathan Wilson play less noted gay actors Blake and Clay who are teaching a seminar to straight actors aspiring to play gay roles. It’s […]

  Kelly Bedard

The awkward reality of the moment is that right now, mere weeks (sometimes days) after many of Toronto’s mainstay artistic institutions finally reopened their doors, ’tis somehow once again not the season to be promoting live in-person experiences. It’s Christmas, we’re all vaccinated (you are vaccinated right? RIGHT?!), and it’s been forever since we’ve been […]

  Dom Harvey

Every improv performer or fan has seen a troupe do the best they can with a weak or unpromising prompt. Moonstruck sidesteps that problem by drawing on the weird and wonderful world of dreams, quickly constructing a mini-universe and series of scenarios based on a wacky dream, nightmare, or something in between of an audience […]