The Toronto Fringe Festival is now underway at various theatres and other locations in Toronto. This is one festival that I look forward to every summer because it gives us a chance to explore more than just theatre…
To entice you, I’ve compiled a list of 10 plays that I’ll be taking in this year.
Rovero and Juliet*
“The Bard’s greatest tragedy as it was orginally intended – with puppets and a happy ending! Can two feuding families – the Muttagues and the Catulets – be brought together by love? Find out in this hilarious adaption of Shakespeare’s classic, featuring an all-puppet cast of characters”. This, I have to see.
Showtimes: July 6 11:00am, July 7 2:15pm, July 9 11:00am, July 10 4:15pm, July 12 11:15am, July 13 7:45pm
Venue: Palmerston Theatre
Honest Aesop’s Fables*
“Find out what happens when the storyteller loses control of the stories and the characters run amok”. Sounds like fun!
Showtimes: July 6 12:45pm, July 7 5:45pm, July 8 2:45pm, July 9 4:15pm, July 11 5:15pm, July 12 01:00pm, July 13 4:15pm
Venue: Palmerston Theatre
A Midsummer Night’s Dream…A Puppet Epic!*
A light-hearted retelling of William Shakespeare’s classic A Midsummer Night’s Dream…with puppets! …A tale of love, magic, mischief, and fun in the tradition of the Muppets and Wishbone. Oh, what fools these puppets be!
Showtimes: July 6 5:30pm, July 7 7:30pm, July 9 2:30pm, July 10 11:15am, July 11 7:00pm, July 13 6:00pm, July 14 1:30pm
Venue: Palmerston Theatre
*These plays are part of FringeKids! a series of plays for children, parents, and anyone childlike.
Love is a Poverty You Can Sell 2: Kisses for a Pfennig
Step into the immersive world of a 1920′s Berlin cabaret for a night of song, story, and sin! This sequel to the 2010 ‘Best of Fringe’ smash hit features music from across the decades, a stellar cast of bohemian riff-raff, and a live ten piece orchestra.
Showtimes: July 5-7 7:00pm, July 9-14 7:00pm
Venue: Bite, 423 College Street
Morro and Jasp: Go Bake Yourself
One battle cry, a dash of sibling rivalry, a generous serving of heart, and a blend of Martha Stewart and Hell’s Kitchen, garnished with danger and delight. Full of munchies, mess, and mayhem, Go Bake Yourself is a culinary masterpiece you won’t forget.
Showtimes: July 7 4:00pm, July 8-11 8:00pm, July 12 4:00pm, July 12 8:00pm, July 13 4:00pm, July 13 8:00pm, July 14 4:00pm
Venue: 918 Bathurst Street
jem rolls Attacks the Silence
With one sweet popsong, a mighty happy downer, some personal fiascos. And enough chummy insults for everyone.
Showtimes: July 7 8:15pm, July 8 1:00pm, July 10 7:30pm, July 11 4:00pm, July 12 12:00pm, July 13 6:15pm,
Venue: George Ignatieff Theatre
Polly Polly
Polly stares at the movies and hates her life. Then. A voice starts to narrate for her, as if she was worthy of an audience. A stranger with a beautiful alto and an uncanny knowledge of Polly’s soul calls: ‘I’m Polly Eschfield’, she says. I’m you. Find me’. A cinematic adventure into an existential crisis.
Showtimes: July 7 9:45pm, July 8 4:00pm, July 9 10:15pm, July 11 6:15pm, July 12 5:15pm, July 13 8:00pm
Venue: Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace
This Play Is Like _____
This play is about being incompatible with an environment; be it a public space that someone might have smeared peanut better all over, a remote village smothering you with its traditions, or a home with a communication barrier.
Showtimes: July 6 12:00pm, July 7 8:45pm, July 8 3:00pm, July 10 11:00pm, July 12 1:45pm, July 13 9:15pm
Venue: Randolph Theatre
Liza Live!
Featuring music and memories from one of the most dynamic female stars of the last 60 years, Liza Live! is a hilarious and heart warming look into the life of a woman who when the going got tough, the tough hit the stage!
Showtimes: July 8 3:15pm, July 9 10:15pm, July 12 4:30pm, July 13 2:15pm
Venue: Annex Theatre
It’s Always You: A Musical
The day is now. 4:03. Over and over in infinite alternate realities. 3 people. Bill, Elaine, Ted. Elaine married Bill and they now have a grown child. Or not. Elaine married Ted and Ted lost his friendship to Bill. Or Bill and Ted stayed friends and both lost Elaine. Surely there’s one reality where all three managed to live happily ever after?
Showtimes: July 7 5:00pm, July 8 4:30pm, July 9 8:15pm, July 11 2:00pm, July 12 7:00pm
Venue: Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse
There are many, many more shows to take in, so feel free to venture out of your comfort zone. This list is but a suggestion for you… The Fringe also includes the following: visual fringe, alleyplays, tent talks, FREE concerts, fringe after dark, and more!
For full festival listings, ticket information, and showtimes visit fringetoronto.com. See you at the theatre!
Via Hye’s Musings