The idea for the show, as well, is quite brilliant- who doesn’t want to see a play about a stuck up artist pushing his product at the world, while at the same time insecurely interrupting it over and over again to make sure the audience understands. A bit of refining is all it would take to propel the show from mediocre and at times jarring to funny and light-hearted. Review by Maja Stefanovska
Ultimately, Deliver’d From Nowhere does a very good job at revealing what happens to people who never grow out of their teenage obsessions, and captures that awkward point in a friendship when you’re no longer sure how to talk to each other. It is that ability that makes the play worth seeing. Review by Eleni Armenakis
Multinational gRape Corporations will leave you bewildered. Over the course of the hour the play quite literally explodes on stage with its wide range of emotions and actions. There are tears, laughter, coffee throwing, and flying cucumbers. It was truly something else to watch, and the actors really put their hearts into their performance. Review by Dev Marr
First off, I’m going to tell you this is an improv show. Second, I’m going to tell you to see it. This is some of the best fun and best laughs I’ve had in a while. The artists are energetic, creative, and truly impressive. The improv is top-notch; the actors push it to the limit every time. But with so many improv acts at the Fringe this year, why see this one? Because, beyond being a collection of excellent performers, Kelly’s Instant Potatoes brings you the INITIAL REACTION offers a clever premise: it’s a game show. Review by Jared Davidson
Impassioned Embraces has probably seen more rehearsals than your average Fringe show; it comes off as incredibly polished and professional. Of course, there’s a characteristic flavour to any production put on by any group of theatre students, however these are all also working artists, and it shows. The sublimely written monologue that Kaitlin Miller delivers with perfect precision deserves special notice; in a show already packed with expert performances, it stands out. Review of Andrew Snowdon
As if we don’t think and talk about sex enough. Phone Whore shows that we can do it even more. Phone Whore is the laughter inducing, thought-provoking story of a phone sex operator, Larissa, who uses stories about her clients kinks and sexual fantasies to offer insights into the social and societal aspects of her job. Larissa, played by Cameryn Moore, who also wrote the show and once worked in the profession, is confident, extremely ‘real’ and totally relatable. Review by Lauryn Kronick
Overall, this play is fun and easy to watch, and I’d encourage even those of you with little patience for iambic pentameter to check it out. Compared to Salamander’s other play at the Fringe – a two-ish hour production of Romeo and Juliet – the Death of Tybalt is short and easily digestible. It’s also goofy, there are sword fights (!), and if you’re lucky you may even score a hunk of cheese. Review by Andrea Grant.
If you listen closely, the play contains some decent philosophical musings, but it’s unfortunately bogged down by clichéd exchanges reminiscent of that infamous television show that shall not be named (hint: the one that includes a creek and a guy named Dawson). And the staging is a little static: lots of scenes sitting in chairs, facing toward the audience. The writer may have a knack for narrative, though, as evidenced by a rather moving final scene that takes place on a bridge overlooking the Ottawa River. Review by Jessica Ruano
Bremner Duthie went in search of happiness. Not the typical search for ways to make himself happy, but a search intended to discover what happiness was, how people came to be happy, and who had the right to be happy. It turned into a very depressing journey. It wasn’t depressing because Duthie didn’t find happiness, but because he realized that finding happiness meant dealing with a lot of the unhappiness in the world. His play, an almost connect the dots sort of movement between himself and other people, takes the audience to the most miserable moments of a person’s life and then to the happiest in an attempt to reveal the answers. Review by Eleni Armenakis
