Toronto Fringe Festival - Build A Bridge And Get Over It
July 24, 2009
Build A Bridge And Get Over It
Broadway Productions
By Lori Pearlstein and Shannon McDonough
Build A Bridge And Get Over It follows two women, Kathy (Shannon McDough) and Jessica (Lori Pearlstein) at the Harmony Therapy Retreat Centre, over one weekend.
They are a bit of an odd couple at first. Kathy chides Jessica for her New Age outlook (the latter for example re-arranges their cabin furniture with the intention of enhancing spiritual growth). Jessica makes working through trauma sound condescendingly simple; asserting her roommate should “just get over” the break-up of her last relationship and death of her sister.
About a day-and-a-half into it, it’s revealed - uncovered really - that Jessica is a reporter that has put on the façade of embracing the retreat to expose its practices. Both characters are exposed for who they really are at that point. Kathy feels strongly enough about the retreat to defend it, and Jessica chooses to stay implicitly jettisoning the expose she planned to write.
The Hurt Locker Review
July 19, 2009
The Hurt Locker follows a three-person U.S. Army unit that defuses improvised explosive devices. Though it’s set in Baghdad, I can’t imagine a more prescient account of what’s going on in Afghanistan as well (just recently the New York Times ran a photo of a huge roadside explosion). Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, from a script by Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker has the potential to make heroes out of the real soldiers that do this unglamorous but (evidently) essential work.
Because the work itself rarely engages broader feuds and politics in Baghdad, and focuses on the pressing problem of weapons that indiscriminately kill, the unit (convincingly played by Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty) has a quasi-humanitarian role though they think of themselves as warriors. The dialogue contains at least a couple of glib references to how reflexive their role is in this conflict and that their presence is the cause of the insurgency to which they’re reacting. [Read more]
Toronto Fringe Festival - Dracula In A Time of Climate Change
July 9, 2009
Dracula In A Time of Climate Change
Blacklist Committee for Unsafe Theatre
by Matt Jones
Dracula In A Time of Climate Change (playing at the Glen Morris Studio Theatre) is a funny, but ultimately flawed comedy that succeeds only in short bursts.
The premise is that Dracula’s once lush Transylvanian countryside and its inhabitants are now polluted and unsavoury, forcing Dracula and his sidekick Renfield (played with spirit by Susanna Jones) to seek out the pure, delicious blood of Montreal’s vegan, lesbian community.
While in Montreal, the Count falls in love with (presumably) the reincarnation of his old lover and does his best to win her heart so they can live eternally together. This is all peppered with a ludicrous storyline about said vegan, lesbian, activists taking down the menacing, polluting super company known as E.V.L. by confronting its moronic CEO and demanding they shut down their metal plants. [Read more]
UFC 100 Predictions
July 9, 2009
This weekend will mark perhaps the greatest weekend in MMA history as the UFC puts on its 100th show (ignoring all the Ultimate Ultimates, Ultimate Japan, Brazil and UFC 37.5). This milestone event celebrates not only the longevity of the promotion but signifies that MMA is a viable sport here to stay and that the UFC is now truly mainstream and no longer the backwoods snuff film-esque spectacle it was once thought to be.
In order to show their appreciation to the fans, the UFC have put together one of the deepest cards in history, where even the undercard is stocked with must-see matches. Two belt fights, a TUF coaches grudge match, some great contender bouts and Chuck Liddell’s forced retirement party all round out the PPV portion, which should be an absolute confetti party of violence.
Toronto Fringe Festival - The List
July 8, 2009
The List
Quartetto Virago
by Sara Beck, Jen Kenneally, Amy Symington, Chloë Ariane Whitehorn
The List, now playing at the Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse, is a compendium of responses from women to the question, ‘What do you look for in a partner?’.
The play has its moments - three responses (one from a young Hindu, one from a stoic Scot engaged in a long marriage, and another from a non-descript respondent intimating the details of an affair) were particularly memorable. But the for the most part they are frothy monologues, wandering between sophomoric adjectives and generic anecdotes. [Read more]
Toronto Fringe Festival - The Laramie Project
July 7, 2009
The Laramie Project
Theatre Western
by Moisés Kaufman
The Laramie Project sets the bar very high for future projects from Theatre Western, now playing at the Tarragon Mainspace.
Its narrative is an intuitively arranged collection of fragments from interviews conducted by the Tectonic Theater Company with the residents of Laramie, Wyoming. They are in response to the local case of Mathew Shepard - kidnapped, robbed, tortured and left to die tied to a fence post, because he was gay.
The cast is commendably faithful to the nuances, and occasional knottiness of the everyday speech from which the text is drawn. Moreover, each actor in this production has at least a few breakout moments. [Read more]
Toronto Fringe Festival - Ever
July 7, 2009
Ever
The Emotive Emu Incorporation
by Jonathon Hoss
It’s easy to get caught-up in platitudes when describing what Ever is about. Jonathan Hoss has written and directed a romantic-comedy, though not a sexual one. It’s a Platonic one, where the tone lands somewhere between sweet and cringingly bitter.
So while Ever is somewhat formulaic - a coming-of-age story set over a summer between high school and university - it’s also unique enough to defy its own conventions.
The story follows a young woman named Em (Manda Whitney). She has just received a scholarship to study astronomy at the U of T, which means she must move away from home. [Read more]
Toronto Fringe Festival 2009
July 7, 2009
Who doesn’t love a good play?
Hardboss Magazine certainly does.
With the 20th edition of the Toronto Fringe Festival now up and running , we are trying to satiate our love of good drama by attending a few of the best plays being put on around the city.
Check below for play reviews including showtimes and admission prices:
Ever by Jonathon Hoss
The Laramie Project by Moisiés Kaufman [Read more]
Mos Def - The Ecstatic
July 2, 2009
The problem with being a multi-talented performer is that you run the risk of spreading yourself thin. With so many ideas and the rare ability to pull them all off it takes a very special person to maintain a consistent level of quality across the board. Mos Def unfortunately isn’t one them.
When he was just a rapper, boy was he amazing. Black Star was the quintessential backpacker’s soundtrack and his debut Black On Both Sides is one of the greatest albums in rap history. But over the past few years as Mos has now found a place in Hollywood, his music has suffered terribly because of it.
Ciara - Fantasy Ride
July 2, 2009
For a while there, Ciara probably wondered if Fantasy Ride would ever shake off the slew of leaks, controversies, and creative changes that plagued the album’s production for over a year. Even with a few bumps and scrapes, the album is a surprisingly solid production that features a mix of silky slow jams, fast-paced club tunes, and rhythmic ballads.
While Fantasy Ride starts off with some fairly mediocre music (except for the sexy, fun single ‘Love Sex Magic’) the album takes a sudden leap in quality starting with the song ‘Never Ever’ that lasts all the way to the end. Showing a broad range of styles, from 90’s soul to more introspective fare like ‘I Don’t Remember’ Ciara puts forth some strong, sassy tracks that are sure to be future hits for the multi-platinum star.