Review: TORONTO FRINGE FESTIVAL: DAY 8

MADAME WINIFRED’S CIRCUS OF WONDERS

Borgo! This is a circus term, we are told, that means any manner of things, including a greeting. We’re encouraged to shout it at various points during MADAME WINIFRED’S CIRCUS OF WONDERS, a charming and cute children’s show about a circus troupe searching for its missing founder, a man with a name that sounds strangely similar to a well-known Toronto landmark. This ragtag group, including a fortune-teller (Reid Martin), musician (Fiona Cain), goblin (Liam Ryan), stage manager (Sarah Kaufmann), and half of a tap dance act (Elyssia Giancola), is now under the watchful eye of Madame Winifred (Emily Elizabeth Templeman), who towers imperiously over her charges in a spiffy ringmaster’s costume (spiffy costumes by Camila Farah and the company).

The search for the missing man and a heaping helping of puns give the show needed unifying threads through its various acts, each one of which deliberately runs into a snag or is less impressive than the creator hopes. The company maintains a solid relationship with the audience, and it’s easy to root for the silly characters as they demonstrate perseverance and creativity. Still, it might be nice to see more performance successes, especially once the multinational company starts cooperating effectively (accents are variable but entertaining). One scene, where stage manager Cipollina (Italian for “small onion”) takes us through a pun-filled bunch of stage jargon while explaining her job, recalls the best of Sesame Street, with its rapid-fire references for theatre-savvy adults still being entertaining for children.

Photo of Sarah Kaufmann, Fiona Cain, Elyssia Giancola, Emily Elizabeth Templeman, Reid Martin, and Liam Ryan provided by the company

ROOTED: A MUSICAL POEM

ROOTED is a charming, short musical with shades of Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree that feels perfect for a slot in a future YPT season. When a young girl’s mother (Abigail Henry) leaves for weeks at a time to chase her dreams, the child (played by Liliana Giorgio, Angelica Gicale, and Muhaddisah Batool at different ages) finds solace and friendship with one of the oldest and largest trees in Central Park (Isidora Kecman). As the young girl grows up and her father (Robbie Towns) faces illness, her time for the tree wanes, making her wonder if she’s following in her mother’s departing footsteps.

Broadway performer Jewelle Blackman’s score features some of the most memorable, bouncy music you’ll find at the Fringe this year, kind of like if Alicia Keys wrote a kids’ show; “The Living Tree” in particular is an earworm that will stick for days. Director Saccha Dennis is surprisingly effective in fitting 13 talented cast and band members into the Tarragon Extraspace (this really should have been a mainstage slot—it’s still a bit cramped), turning several actors into one large tree with speaking, sarcastic branches. Using microphone wiring to create the tree’s roots is also a nice touch both visually and thematically. The intimate space turns the powerhouse vocals into a truly impressive sonic wall.

Lyrically, the songs are a bit simplistic, often rhyming a word with itself instead of finding something more interesting or ambitious. But the sheer joy on display more than makes up for a few frustrating lines. The child-friendly, direct messaging makes the show perfect for young audiences, and the toe-tapping melodies will keep adults engaged. Most importantly, the show doesn’t demonize the mother character for chasing her dreams, making the message richer and more nuanced. Hopefully, this will have a future, because it’s got good roots.

Photo of Liliana Giorgio, Angelica Gicale, Suchiththa Wickremesooriya, Davis Okey-Azunnah. Robbie Towns, Isidora Kecman, Abigail Henry, Lizzie Song, and (hands of) Mateo Chavez Lewis by Jewelle Blackman

GIRLS’ NIGHT CABIN FEVER

Fun, energetic, and full of snappy humour, Cassie Davidson’s GIRLS’ NIGHT CABIN FEVER is a comic Fringe gem, or should I call it a flashlight in a dark cabin in the woods? Three women wind up in a dilapidated cabin for their reunion weekend. There’s the Type A planner (Davidson), the take-charge nurse (Lizzie Moffatt), and the TikTok “influencer” and margarita maker (Mackenzie Kelly)—the cabin was her idea. The cabin is more nightmare than dream, vermin-filled, dirty, and washroomless (the facilities are in an outhouse through the woods). Of course, there’s a storm, the lights go out…and then what?

Though it plays with the occasional horror movie trope, the show isn’t satire or parody. The characters and their relationships feel real and three-dimensional, and the gossip’s good. Director Michael Williamson engineers a couple of genuine stage surprises, and the gang’s physical comedy is stellar; even the small amount of (lack of) toilet humour lands. Though a late-show twist is guessable, for the most part, it’s not clear or inevitable where the plot is going. A delight.

Photo of Lizzie Moffatt, Kenny Grenier, Mackenzie Kelly, Cassie Davidson and Allison Ehrlich by Ryan Maxwell

HOW LUCKY ARE WE

HOW LUCKY ARE WE is a perfectly charming, short dance piece; at less than half an hour, it’s likely to fit into your schedule. A “celebration of queer friendship, chosen family, and the catharsis of simply being seen” choreographed by Steph Harkness, the show takes place in the round in the centre of the Miles Nadal JCC gym, surrounded by chairs, low benches, and gym mats for the audience to choose from. Lola Jenkins, Kaelin Isserlin, and Rakeem Hardy, all adorned with neon ribbons attached to their dance gear, adopt a playful attitude and stance of leaping around the space, often tempering and supporting each other in a kind of balancing act. Pleasant, dreamlike music lets one’s head drift amongst the cosmos. The dance’s representation of the show’s themes is rather abstract and connects few dots for the audience, but it’s nice to watch some energetic, graceful dance for a few minutes. Unluckily, HOW LUCKY ARE WE had to cancel its first few performances, so show them some love for their final outing if you can.

Photo of Lola Jenkins, Kaelin Isserlin, and Rakeem Hardy by Steph Harkness

THE FIRST JEW IN CANADA: A TRANS TALE

In a moment from his deeply affecting storytelling show, S. Bear Bergman jokes that he almost called the Fringe work “This Obstinate Jew.” The line is from a frustrated letter sent from the man in charge of settling 18th century newcomers to New France to his king. Jacques LaFargue is the first Jewish man to attempt to claim land in what is now called Canada. He’s also a trans man who refuses to recant either his religion or gender, which causes no end of consternation to the government official. Bergman knows what it’s like to have to resolutely maintain your identity in a world that refuses to accept who you are.

Telling the story of LaFargue through a unifying series of nine facts, he skillfully interweaves tales of his own experiences with the past narrative, making the show not only a valuable history lesson, but one that’s vitally alive in the present. (Using his own stories as connective tissue is also presumably necessary to avoid taking too much creative license with LaFargue’s life, since details as a matter of historical record are patchy and incomplete.) Bergman is an affable, appealing storyteller, using the force of his own personality and passion for this unsung hero as the simple staging’s only adornments. What he tells us is funny and sad and sweet and difficult and true, a “Bear” hug of a show for anyone who’s ever felt alone in an undiscovered country.

Graphic provided by the company

ARE YOU LOVIN' IT?

A show that almost defies description, ARE YOU LOVIN’ IT? is probably the strangest hour you’ll spend at the Fringe this year—and I mean that entirely as a compliment. Osaka-based Theatre Group GUMBO welcomes us to WacDonalds, a fever dream of a McDonalds parody that wildly and inventively examines the imperialism of western capitalist culture and its impact on Japan, filtered through influences from kabuki to anime to poop cafes to Japanese game shows. It’s wacky and wonderful and deeply disturbing, all at once.

The company presents various extreme characters, such as a genderbent Ronald McDonald (Nono Miyasaka), a seriously hyper Japanese businessman (Ryo Nishihara) excitedly taking his first vacation day ever (the satire of corporate culture is savage), and a mother outfitted in pink Lolita fashion (Kayo Tamura) who seems annoyed at her infant’s existence, feeding it Coke from a bottle so it will stop crying. Even Jesus makes an appearance.

It’s a good thing this show came with such buzz, as audience participation is essential to its success; however, as wild as things get, the players are willing to take no for an answer and make sure participants feel they’re in good hands. (Your reviewer, who usually avoids these things, was pulled on stage to enact a Romeo and Juliet scene of forbidden cross-border love and had a good time). Outsized, cartoonish props and sharp costumes add an eye-popping layer to the experience; I’m pretty sure everyone was lovin’ it.

Photo of Nono Miyasaka by Sue Brenner

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