culture
Toronto Fringe Festival 2012 Reviews: Friday, July 13
Because we're still Fringing (and you should be too), here are two new reviews for shows both playing tomorrow, the last day of the festival.
Toronto Fringe Festival patrons talk shows and plan schedules in one of the VisualFringe tents behind Honest Ed's.
It’s the final weekend of the Toronto Fringe Festival, when everyone’s rushing to catch the buzzed-about shows before they close. For many of the strongest selling hits, there are extra opportunities to catch them, via both the Patron’s Picks shows (each of which have an added performance on Sunday night) and the Best of the Fringe holdover series which were announced on Thursday. In the meantime, you can peruse Torontoist‘s own best reviewed shows of the festival to date, or check out this pair of late-in-the-fest reviews—both have shows on Sunday.
Like a Dog
Your Good Friends
Andy Trithardt, Peter C. Wylde, & Jennetta Lamb. Photo by Matthew Gorman.
Wednesday, July 4, 9:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 7, 8:30 p.m.
Monday, July 9, 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, July 11, 1:45 p.m.
Thursday, July 12, 10:15 p.m.
Friday, July 13, 9:15 p.m.
Sunday, July 15, 4:30 p.m.
The Robert Gill Theatre (214 College Street)
A doctor (Andy Trithardt) puzzles over a mysterious old man (Peter C. Wylde) who, by all rights, should be dead, and a new mother (Jennetta Lamb) finds herself unable to leave the same hospital. Death and reality-defying paradoxes slowly unspool over the course of this new play by Matthew Gorman, in which Trithardt’s doctor flirts (a little inconsistently) with the fourth wall. But the show works best as a vehicle for Wylde, a veteran actor and teacher renowned for his oratory style (and familiar to many theatre artists who’ve studied in the GTA). His character, Peter, is remarkably present in scenes with his game younger co-stars, notably in a hospital cafeteria interaction with Lamb’s morose mother.
Breaking Velocity
Nutmeg is the Spice of Life
Megan Phillips. Photo by Gaetan Beatty.
Wednesday, July 4, 8:15 p.m.
Friday, July 6, 10 p.m.
Saturday, July 7, 8:30 p.m.
Monday, July 9, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, July 10, 6:45 p.m.
Thursday, July 12, 9:45 p.m.
Friday, July 13, 5:15 p.m.
Sunday, July 14, 5:45 p.m.
Tarragon Theatre Solo Room (30 Bridgman Avenue)
Triple-threat performer Megan Phillips’s promising career was curtailed years ago when a car accident left her “40 per cent disabled” with a mobility injury. In the Vancouver-based actress’ one-woman show, she recounts her long recovery—a recovery of self-worth as much as anything—as her injury prevents her from pursuing her childhood dreams. Phillips is surprisingly spry given the show’s revelations, and keeps a pace that would tire many able-bodied folk; she also has strong collaborators, who composed original backing tracks for her to sing to, and choreographed a few character numbers. Almost all of the shows in the Solo Room this year feature performers talking about their post-theatre school experiences; while Phillips’s isn’t necessarily the standout among them, her show’s worth a slot in your Sunday schedule.