Two shows I gave 3 star reviews to (out of 4) at the Star, Gratitude and Will and the Amazingly Obsessive Theatrical Vinyl Collection, have stayed with me longer than I thought, and so I\u2019d add them to this list as well.<\/p>\n
The former is a frank and rather disturbing exploration of teen sexuality, power and consent that I\u2019m not sure belongs in the \u201cComedy\u201d genre; the latter, while structurally flawed and a little scattered, is so full of heart and emotion it should be seen by anyone who\u2019s found meaning, solace and connection in musical theatre. <\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Ladies-Day-Fringe-2026.jpg\")
Shanda Bezic (left), Jesse McQueen, Blair Macmillan and Jennifer McEwen tie one on in LADIES\u2019 DAY. Photo by Jack CreaghanIn praise of personal material<\/p>\n
One of the fascinating themes I saw in various Fringe shows this year was the use of personal material in narratives, even if a show wasn\u2019t billed as autobiographical. It was pretty clear that Will and the Amazingly… drew on writer\/performer Will Parry\u2019s life, as illustrated with a dozen or so candid snapshots. <\/p>\n
It was less clear with Justin Hay\u2019s My Own Private Shakespeare, even though the play\u2019s narrator included details like starring in film adaptations of the Bard\u2019s work \u2014 which Hay has done. Nowhere in the press materials or synopsis did it say that this was, indeed, drawn from Hay\u2019s life; instead, these described the show as being about \u201ca Shakespearean actor (who) finds his world collapsing around him…\u201d <\/p>\n
Should it matter? We\u2019re so used to just assuming that because someone is telling us a story, and they wrote the thing, that it happened to them. But even if it didn\u2019t, even if the writer\/performer has sifted through \u201cfacts\u201d or even made some up to made a show more artful, there\u2019s such a thing as an emotional truth. And that came through with Hay\u2019s haunting play.<\/p>\n
It also came through with Evie & Alfie: A Very British Love Story. The titular married couple are much older than writer\/performers Alex Dallas and Jimmy Hogg. But it\u2019s clear the two artists know these people, or people like them. That\u2019s what gives the show its feeling of authenticity.<\/p>\n
As I suggested at the end of my capsule review, I am pretty sure that a show like Evie & Alfie could travel the country \u2014 and beyond. Dallas wrote me afterwards and said that their intention was to add another 20 minutes or so, which made me happy. <\/p>\n
(If I were Evie, I would say, grinning, \u201cOh go on, then,\u201d as quintessential a British phrase as there is.)<\/p>\n
The best works leave you wanting more; they expand in one\u2019s mind. I was thinking that there would be more about their son Paul, who we learn (in the present-day sections of the show) has a partner named Michael, and Dallas implied such material exists. I won\u2019t reveal the details, but honestly, I can\u2019t wait to see how the show evolves. And I know that if and when it appears (Crow\u2019s Studio? Coal Mine? Tarragon?), it will feel truer than real life. <\/p>\n
Then again, all this thinking about the personal should apply in spades to Mohammad Yaghoubi\u2019s Nostos, a play that obviously hits home for its author, cast and creative team, who are anxiously watching what is occurring in their homeland of Iran. But the playwright and director has chosen to use talking dogs and robots to help explore the complex issues of war, protest and personal expression. <\/p>\n
I caught Jesse McQueen and Jack Creaghan\u2019s LADIES\u2019 DAY (Rating: \u272d\u272d\u272d\u272d) later in the festival, and so didn\u2019t get to file a proper review. But it\u2019s also one of my favourites. The material is inspired by McQueen\u2019s own grandmother, whom she learned held such ladies\u2019 days for the other mothers in her Windsor suburb in the late 1960s. <\/p>\n
While the material obviously isn\u2019t first-hand \u2014 McQueen herself plays Lorna, the woman who begins the tradition of taking a few hours off from chores to relax, gossip and sip some beers \u2014 it\u2019s filled with affection and admiration for these women, who sacrificed so much. <\/p>\n
Each of the women \u2014 played by McQueen, Shanda Bezic, Blair MacMillan, and Jennifer McEwen, along with Carson Pinch, who steps in to play the various husbands \u2014 is distinct and well-drawn. Perhaps the saddest of the stories belongs to Bezic\u2019s glamorous Vera, a former Rockette who returned to Windsor after an injury and is now stuck in an abusive relationship with her husband. <\/p>\n
And if I understood the script, at the time, only female teachers who were single could be hired by certain education boards; once they were married, they could no longer work as teachers. How did I not know this?!<\/p>\n
While the play, directed by Creaghan, works very well for its first 60 or 65 minutes \u2014 even though the women sing and dance to a certain song that wouldn\u2019t be written for another decade \u2014 it\u2019s in the final moments that it truly hits home.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re given a poem written by \u201cthe real Evie\u201d to \u201cthe real Lorna\u201d about the significance of those Ladies\u2019 Day breaks. With this artifact from decades ago juxtaposed with audio from the current toxic manosphere, the creators\u2019 point \u2014 and why they\u2019re putting on this show \u2014 is clear.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/you-choose-fringe-2026.jpg\")
The fabulous ensemble of You Choose, photographed by David LeyesTo remount or not to remount?<\/p>\n
Besides Evie & Alfie, I could see a number of shows remounted. Alice Fox Lundy\u2019s haunting production of Hannah Moscovitch\u2019s Little One would be a fantastic addition to any theatre company\u2019s season \u2014 but at what venue? I would love to see what some dramaturgy by, say, Nightwood Theatre, could do with McQueen\u2019s LADIES\u2019 DAY. <\/p>\n
With a little tweaking, I could see Nate Simpson\u2019s El Jefe (Rating: \u272d\u272d\u272d\u272d), an imaginative and very funny time-travel show about Olympian-turned-drug lord Ryan Wedding, at a studio space in the theatre. <\/p>\n
I could also see You Choose: An Improvised Murder Mystery expanded to two acts. The ace ensemble of improvisers is so entertaining they could easily keep going. <\/p>\n
As it stands now, there\u2019s not much connection between the murderer and the host of the fancy manor they\u2019re at; the element of \u201cwhy\u201d seems to be left off the stage.<\/p>\n
But the way the show is currently structured, especially in the first few scenes, in which actor\/characters join groups of three and then two, with certain phrases repeated among them, is a great way for the audience to learn about them (and, of course, for them to learn about themselves). <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Heading into the final weekend of Toronto Fringe, I thought I\u2019d post here briefly about some of my…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":793848,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[49,48,3302],"class_list":["post-793847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=793847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793847\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/793848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=793847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=793847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=793847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}