culture
Toronto Fringe Festival 2012 Reviews: Wednesday, July 4
Wednesday at Fringe included subversive lessons in history and ethics, plus gay LARP-ing, and fairy tail. (Yes, that's a porn pun.)
Daniel Pagett and Tim Walker in Kat Sandler's Help Yourself. Photo by ZAIDEN.
The Toronto Fringe Festival kicked off at the Fringe Club behind Honest Ed’s on Wednesday. There was an opening ceremony, a spirited poster run, and free ice cream for the overheated crowd. While many shows won’t start until Friday (see our preview guide), opening night still had plenty to offer.
The No Bull$#!% History of Canada
The House of Style
Friday, July 6, 1:15 p.m.
Sunday, July 8, 9:45 p.m.
Monday, July 9, 4 p.m.
Tuesday, July 10, 10:15 p.m.
Thursday, July 12, 6:15 p.m.
Friday, July 13, 5:15 p.m.
Saturday, July 14, 1 p.m.
Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace (16 Ryerson Avenue)
Canadian history has a reputation for being dull, but The No Bull$#!% History of Canada, a one-man show by Montreal’s Kyle Allatt, is anything but. As it turns out, our nation’s history is hilarious. Allatt makes our first Prime Minister into Begbie from Trainspotting, and explains that the famous Battle of the Plains of Abraham actually took a little over fifteen minutes. He also proves that a disrespect for democratic process is a core Canadian value—one of our first Parliaments exploited a legal loophole to avoid an election altogether—and that sixth Prime Minister Sir Charles Tupper was possibly the biggest jackwad ever. All of these facts, which are completely accurate, are delivered in a mixture of deadpan lecturing and ridiculously over-the-top character work. Our history may be filled with drunks, opium addicts, and lunatics, but this play still makes you proud to be Canadian.
Gay Nerds
Misnomer Theatre Company
Friday, July 6, 5:15 p.m.
Sunday, July 8, 3 p.m.
Tuesday, July 10, 5:45 p.m.
Thursday, July 12, 4 p.m.
Friday, July 13, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 14, 4 p.m.
Factory Mainspace (125 Bathurst Street)
Gay Nerds is a fairly high-risk show. Almost entirely dependent on the old play-within-a-play device and offering up a new pop-culture reference roughly every 90 seconds, it runs the risk of being a little too clever. Thankfully, the show manages to stay on the right side of the line. Eventually, it morphs into a hilarious-yet-touching story about friendship, love, and an easily-pushed-around man growing a backbone. Robert Keller earns audience sympathies as Ralphie, a shy LARPer and failed screenwriter who just wants to be left alone. Ryan Kerr is uproariously funny as Ralphie’s aggressively outgoing housemate, Sam.
Help Yourself
Theatre Brouhaha
Wednesday, July 4, 10:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 7, 5:45 p.m.
Monday, July 9, 7:45 p.m.
Tuesday, July 10, 9:45 p.m.
Thursday, July 12, 12 p.m.
Friday, July 13, 4:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 14, 3:30 p.m.
George Ignatieff Theatre (15 Devonshire Place)
The winner of the Fringe’s New Play contest, this is the only show in the Fringe that was picked by a jury, and it’s clear why: playwright Kat Sandler has a gift for sharp, witty dialogue, full of clever references and one-liners that had the opening night crowd in stitches and breaking into spontaneous applause. Help Yourself also boasts strong performances from Daniel Pagett, who plays Donny, a master manipulator who makes a living convincing people they can do whatever they want; Tosha Doiron, who plays Donny’s girlfriend, Samantha; and especially Tim Walker as Ted, a client of Donny, who Walker imbues with a note-perfect mix of insecurity, moral conflict, and surprising insight.
What Help Yourself is lacking, however, is a plot worthy of its dialogue and characters. Sandler tips her hand far too early, and also misses several dramatic opportunities. Donny convinces Ted to do a bad thing, and there are predictably tragic consequences. It’s a fine trip to take, and a great showcase for both the actors and for Sandler’s zingers, but it’s not a great play—not yet.
The Princess of Porn
Me and Snow White Productions
Photo by Mountain Man Media.
Saturday, July 7, 11 p.m.
Monday, July 9, 4:45 p.m.
Wednesday, July 11, 9:15 p.m.
Thursday, July 12, 1:45 p.m.
Friday, July 13, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 14, 7:30 p.m.
Randolph Theatre (736 Bathurst Street)
Six fairy-tale princesses are disillusioned with their happily ever afters, and so, with the aid of their bawdy fairy grandmother, they set off in search of new stories. What they come across are the former kingdoms of Love and Information, now rebranded as the kingdoms of Porn and Babble (re: social media). A forbidden romance between the Princess of Porn and the Prince of Babble becomes the framework of a musical, with the harem of lost princesses singing chorus and meddling when possible.
Though full of ribald physical humour and a faithfully charming performance by Christian Jeffries as the smartphone-addicted Queen of Babble, the script is lacking and the performance leans heavily on its racy premise. Snow White serenading a sex toy is good for a chuckle, but there’s not much else to this scandalous twist on Disney’s classics.
This post originally stated that Gay Nerds will run on July 12 and July 14 at 4:30 p.m. That is incorrect. It will run on July 12 and July 14 at 4 p.m. All other showtimes are correct.