The Buzz – Reviews

Let’s Kill A Dragon

SensibleChuckleTheatre—John Hirsch Mainstage

5 adventurers, 4 flesh and blood with one knitted doll, work to complete a grand adventure and avoid falling prey to adventure guild HR for poor performance in the field. Essentially a series of comedy skits in different locations, we follow the crew’s adventure to the dragon they need to ultimately take out in order to save their jobs. Playing larger than life characters, heavily steeped in tropes and strong accents, the delivery and writing is fun, if occasionally dragging with bits held for too long. Also, just a personal gripe, but I’m not a fan of AI art being used outside of the context of insane memes, and its usage to fill out the backgrounds was a bit much for my tastes. Extremely watchable and fun, any fans of wacky comedy and silly fantasy adventures would do well here

Josh Fidelak

The Ethan in the Room

Stark Raving Productions—Théâtre Cercle Molière

What a powerhouse of a show! I did not quite know what I was walking into when I arrived, and the show is excellent in its absurdity and comedy. The script gets into some important discussion of gender roles and identity but Ethan Stark has created something much more than that here. This show begins with the greatest mic drop of a land acknowledgement I have ever heard, and delivered a VERY essential message that had me gripped and several people crying. I am blown away by the brilliance of this work and I know that Stark is only beginning. My only regret, which I know is shared by a few others as well, is that we wish we’d seen it sooner so that we could have recommend it to our friends earlier in the festival. There are still a few performances left so make sure you get your tickets.

Calantha Jensen

Absolute Magic with Keith Brown

Keith Brown—PTE – Cherry Karpyshin Mainstage

Keith Brown is an excellent magician whose warm personality really draws in the crowd. There is a lot of great magic with lots of crowd participation in this family friendly performance. The crowd was oohing and aahing, with a few “What”s, and “How”s after a number of the more perplexing revelations. There is even a very uplifting and inspiring story about chasing your dreams.

He has also setup a website FringeMagic.ca to help promote all the magic acts at this Fringe.

Murray Hunter

Kore

Chronically Ch(ill) Productions—Planetarium

The story of Persephone, entirely modernized and re-imagined. The story itself, like all Greek mythology always includes the themes rampant in that canon, abuse, misfortune, family trauma. But in this retelling from the perspective of the underworld queen herself, Demeter was no weeping mother, gnashing her teeth at her daughter’s cruel kidnapping, but instead the source of trauma, re-framed as something less mystical and more mundane, an emotionally manipulative and cruel mother bringing trauma to her child. The dialog is snappy and often quite funny, deflating some of the tension coming from learning more of their toxic relationship with crowd wide laughter. Absolutely worth a watch, and definitely excited to see what the company does next.

Josh Fidelak

Not Quite Sherlock: The Tunnel of Terror

Chris Gibbs 2—MTYP – Mainstage

I’m always up to see the mega talented Chris Gibbs. This is his consecutive second part to his Barnaby Gibbs character this Fringe. No need to have seen the previous one to enjoy this.

Gibbs relates the exploits of the guileless Barnaby and his idol, the crook hiding behind the detective guise to of Antoine Feval. He also adds a Canadian villain, using him as an excuse to poke fun at Canada and Canadians.

Bad, bad audience tonight, with a reviewer (myself) not cleverly hidden and several noisy patrons exiting during high points of the show. As usual, Gibbs made fun of both. Don’t be a fool and miss this.

Lisa Campbell

Super Funtimes Magic!

The Baggy Pants—Planetarium

I LOVED this show!!! Christopher Bange is an experienced magician and his sleight of hand was fantastic! I saw tricks that I’ve never seen before and was delightfully impressed. I am grateful that there are folks devoted to their craft who can provide the wonder and thrill that many of us seek specifically from magic shows. We want to be amazed and surprised and this show definitely delivered. Very kid friendly, so make sure to bring your little ones, although as an alleged grownup, I still enjoyed it immensely.

Calantha Jensen

ACK NOW

Theatre & Play—Théâtre Cercle Molière

A fun and lively show that combines AI, the perils of not reading the whole terms and conditions of an app contract, and the ever ubiquitous subscription model foisted upon us by almost every company these days. The script by Craig Terlson pulls from many Science Fiction inspirations. With lots of breaking of the fourth wall and some simple but well used props, the excellent cast of Kim Kay, Alex Mutcheson, and Zanifa Rasool had the audience laughing throughout.

Murray Hunter

Little Red and the Werewolf

All About Theatre Kids—The Gargoyle Theatre

This was one of the only kids shows that I’ve seen so far this year, and it was silly. I am a huge fan of fairy tales and folklore, and I’ve recently been studying certain narratives more closely. One of which is the story of Red Riding Hood. I have seen and read many different variations of this tale, but this one was by far the wildest. Twists and turns all over the place, with new and imaginative elements added that take the story far from its roots. I think the writing itself was rather chaotic, but I am impressed by the children’s ability to share multiple roles and play the show in an entirely different arrangement of casting each night. The live music is also a treat. The Q&A was great, as many kids in the audience had questions and I hope they are inspired to get involved in theatre as a result of seeing shows they enjoy.

Calantha Jensen

My toes striving till the tips of your fingers

Johanne Gour Danse—Théâtre Cercle Molière

Johanne Gour, who is wheelchair-bound, choreographs and performs in this work with two other dancers, Alexandra MacLean and Amélie Albert. It is an amazing collection of scenes that tell a story of the unexpected loss of the ability to control your body in the way you want, the struggle to accept there are some things you can no longer do, and the triumph in finding other ways you can express yourself. A very fascinating, emotional and touching performance.

Murray Hunter

The Mirror Sphere: The Sworn Protector

Kirkatures—John Hirsch Mainstage

A playwrights note on the back of the lengthy program describes this musical as a childhood story come to life- and it was apparent. Not, however, in the “I’ll put this on the fridge” way that some children’s stories are, but in the nostalgic, endearing “I remember doing things like this” kind of way. Unfortunately for the company, the venue assigned didn’t do them any favours, and some performers weren’t prepared for the volume needed to fill the space. Something I would say is perfect for kids 10 and up, who’ve had a chance to delve into adventure media in a more meaningful sense, The Mirror Sphere is a labour of love; chaotic and full of tropes, it milked its inspirations dry, and almost seemed too ambitious to fit into a single hour. I suppose that’s why there’s a sequel in the works. And I suppose that’s why I might be checking it out.

Arden Pruden