Crowning Monkey, with Rachelle Elie. Stand-up Comedy clown solo Reviewed by Ryan Pepper MAL helps us all feel the magic, with the help of corny dance numbers and a lot of butt jokes. A world premiere by Rachelle Elie, MAL is a solo show that tries to bring magic into people’s lives. The magic …
Once upon a time, in a coffee shop probably around the corner from you, a young woman spends her days in a state of ennui. Not depression, let’s be clear, no, Faris is feeling ‘lukewarm’ about life. But this is a tepid existential crisis no one in her circle has the power to alleviate. Not …
The Last Spartan, Produced by Jamine Ackert, Written and performed by Pierre Brault Imagine a state in which one of the most important trials takes place around the role of art in society. Where lawyers and prosecutors debate the value of art to the social order. Got a picture? Probably not. So, think Sparta, …
PrettyUgly Theatre Productions. By Hannah Gibson-Fraser and Jodi MirdenDirected by Alain Chauvin. Cast: Hannah Gibson-Fraser, Jodi Morden and Dan DeMarbre. Bold, sassy, smart, sexy and very funny, Rachel and Zoe delivers. As the lights come up on the inevitable centre stage piece of furniture, the bane of so many minimal Fringe sets, don’t be fooled. …
Often, it is the perspective of pets which proves to be the most humorous and oddly insightful. The story of a family dog adjusting to the arrival of a new puppy in House Rules is definitely no exception in this regard. The show, a new work created and directed by Mark MacDonald, is …
Reviewed by Ryan Pepper Some dramatists create love letters to the things they admire. …like nobody’s watching doesn’t give the audience a love letter but an unhealthy delusion to the Tom Hanks classic Cast Away, and to castaway movies in general. This Robinsonade solo show by Jake Simonds is a cerebral production about the nature …
Reviewed by Ryan Pepper Heirloom Toys Circus is an exciting piece of circus, physical theatre, and impressive acrobatics with flips and aerials that will leave you amazed. The show offers a series of acrobatic vignettes, loosely held together by a story of a toymaker and his creations. The show markets itself towards children, and …
Reviewed by Ryan Pepper. Ottawa theatre legend Pierre Brault returns to Fringe Fest with a comedic solo show about an ancient Spartan who just wants to enjoy art, and maybe create some too. Kaphalos is an amateur historian in a society that hates writing, and a disgraced Spartan warrior, one of the 120 Spartiates to …
They bill this as a burlesque cabaret but it goes far beyond that form because it actually tells us of the entire life of this remarkable Afro-American woman, played by Tymisha Harris. Harris does not really imitate Josephine but rather captures her multiple styles of dance and singing, various forms of theatricality and the …
Re-visiting Shakespeare is a perennial theatrical exercise, and Richard the Third’s malevolent reign in the play bearing his name supports many such experiments. Particularly as the play features such grandly betrayed and suffering women. Dipping into this territory is playwright Sarah Haley’s Anjou. In a world both Shakespearean and somewhere in the geography of modernity, …