Stand-up clowns, alleyway “micro-plays,” and an Occupy Movement–inspired adaptation of a Sophocles tragedy are just a few of the many gems at this year’s Toronto Fringe Festival. Fringe, which rightfully proclaims itself as “art without a filter,” is one of North America’s most vibrant and irreverent celebrations of alternative performance, with genres including comedy, dance, drama, sketch, plays, musicals, and physical theatre.
Toronto’s largest theatre festival, and now in its 24th year, Fringe continues until July 15 and will feature 155 performances from across the nation and beyond. As one of the city’s most accessible and inclusive events, Fringe consciously aims to take stage performance beyond the confines of the traditional theatre space, and in some cases, boldly renounces even the stage itself. (Alleyplays!)
This year’s bill includes some much-anticipated works, like Kat Sandler and Daniel Pagett’s Help Yourself, which won the Fringe New Play Contest for its comedic portrayal of a 35-year-old man named Donny, whose job is to clear consciences for a fee.
As in previous years, Fringe will also deliver a few thoroughly renovated classics. Case in point is this year’s Absolute Alice, a sexy adaptation of the Lewis Carroll tale, set, oddly, in a kind of Toronto underworld. As is The Other Three Sisters, which transposes Chekhov’s grim narrative to a corner of Toronto suburbia. There is also Harold Pinter’s tragicomedy A Slight Ache, which pokes fun, in classic Pinter fashion, at a married couple’s existential anxieties. Finally, the much anticipated Antigone is an adaptation of the Sophocles tragedy, inspired by the recent political tension highlighted by the G20 and Occupy protests.
But Fringe also lives up to its feature fun and frills: this year’s festival delivers a number of comedies, such as Two Weird Ladies Bomb The Fringe, while the Vancouver duo Peter n’ Chris (Peter Carlone and Chris Wilson) present their award-winning Peter n’ Chris And The Mystery of the Hungry Heart Motel.
And of course, there is no Fringe without a little bit of healthy outrageousness. One brow raiser is Olga Barrios’ critically acclaimed (and provocative!) Remembering The Farewells, a gutsy contemporary dance performance which draws on the artist’s memories of life in Colombia. Lovers of dance will also applaud The Little Mermaid — a hard to imagine all-belly-dance version of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale.
See the full line-up at fringetoronto.com.
When: July 4 -15, 2012
Where: venues across the city
Tickets: at the door, in person at the Fringe Festival Box Office (581 Bloor St. W.), by phone (416-966-1062) or online