The Buzz – Reviews – 2015

Nothing to Declare

Erik de Waal—Planetarium

This man has seen some things, and listening to him talk about them is fascinating.

He could talk about his life for hours and I would still be interested at the end of it. He’s funny, engaging, and really knows what he’s doing.

Definitely put it on your list if you haven’t already.

Arden Pruden

Teacher in the House

Watson Arts—Alloway Hall (MMMN)

Susan Jeremy is a marvel in Teacher in the House. The New York actress and teacher shares lessons in life learned through her experiences teaching special needs children confined to their homes by illness or disability.

Jeremy populates the stage with more than dozen multi-cultural characters age six to eighty. With her well-tuned ear and gift for accents, Jeremy presents each and every member of her cast as an individual personality so there’s never any confusion as to who is who.

A diagnosis of breast cancer transforms Jeremy’s familiar daily routine of battling Manhattan traffic to be with her students into a life and death struggle to beat the disease. Jeremy shares her story with sensitivity and humour; drawing courage, strength and inspiration from her young charges in her transition from teacher to patient and cancer survivor.

Teacher in the House is a must see for anyone whose life has been touched by the disease, either personally or through someone close. A brave, enduring work presented by a masterful, multi-character Fringe theatre performer.

Reg Clayton

One Man Lord of the Rings

One Man Lord of the Rings—PTE Mainstage

I followed the fringe call of my fellow nerdy people to check out one man’s attempt to cram 3 epic movies into 75 minutes.

It would seem that it couldn’t be done, BUT in the capable hands of Charles Ross it was beautifully accomplished! I could tell instantly what character he was playing at any given time because of the amount of detail put into each character.

That being said, the play is very, very dense and I (an avid Tolkien fan) had trouble keeping up. The volume also was a huge issue. I found myself plugging my ears for most of the show because it was so loud.

While this is a family friendly show, I would strongly suggest only bringing little one’s if they are familiar with the material or they will most likely have a hard time keeping up.

Kaitlyn Kriss

Eurydice

Hollow Leg Theatre Co.—Alloway Hall (MMMN)

This is a Greek tragedy with a modern twist.

The superior acting of the main characters pulls you into their world. You feel for the protagonists and you quickly hate the villains.

I studied some Greek mythology in my life but I’m not at all familiar with this story. I’m not sure how true this rendition is to the mythological tale but if your spirits are down, this play won’t help you at all.

Ray Yuen

Blood Type: RAGU

Bon Vivant Enterprises—Planetarium

This is an entertaining story that is delivered expertly. The events are funny and poignant, and the delivery is quick.

In fact, I found the pace a little too fast. The narrative often starts in Italian followed by an English translation (in a heavy Italian accent). By the time I processed what happened, Frank is well into his next story.

As a first generation Canadian, I sure can relate to his (mis)adventures, often cringing as I feel his pain.

Ray Yuen

Together and Aloof

H, H & M Group—Rachel Browne Th. (Crocus Bldg.)

The unfortunate thing about having a live string quartet is that you need to be able to be heard over them. They were integrated very nicely into the show, but I found it difficult to hear the actors more often than not, and I missed a good chunk of what was being said or sung at the time.

Because of that, it felt like the show wasn’t sure what it wanted to be, or that it was trying to be to many things at once. It felt unfocused, and that’s why it lost me.

Arden Pruden

The Nurdables

Smartyesque Productions—Planetarium

This show was very cute. The sketches were original and surprised me in places. The two actors committed to their characters and sold me on the sketches.

That being said, it was not as nerdy as I thought it would be and most of the jokes were incredibly predictable. It was a very cute g-rated show but not one that I would pound the pavement to see again.

Kaitlyn Kriss

Barely Living

Shelby Bond – MTYP Mainstage

A zombie musical? This almost felt like a Kids’ Fringe show, in spite of the content.

The three performers from Los Angeles give a lengthy spoken introduction before the show proper, asking people to make certain sounds when certain actions occur, and to not be bothered by them moving about the audience to gently hit them with plastic weapons as if they (the audience) were zombies.

When the show begins, we meet slacker roommates Caleb and Toby, who barely leave the confines of their home, a more adventurous survivor named Mariah, who shakes up their routine, and finally an actual zombie named Emily.

This fourth character is played by a woman picked from the audience and given extensive zombie face makeup before appearing in the story.

There are also some well-sung songs that appear intermittently throughout the show, but the plot itself tends toward the perfunctory.

Konrad Antony

Barely Living

Shelby Bond – MTYP Mainstage

The premise here had so much potential but so much of it wasn’t delivered.

The characters are human survivors trapped after a zombie apocalypse—and the audience members are the zombies! This could have been hilarious, but they didn’t make nearly enough use of the audience. They traveled up the same aisle a few times, but they could really have exploited the hams in the crowd.

As far as the plot goes, there were a lot of moments that dragged on and on, like a zombie dragging a broken leg in pursuit of warm brains. The execution was adequate, bordering on poor.

This is their third performance of the show in this year’s Fringe; and by now they should not have microphone problems. There were also a lot of dialogue problems, enough where it started to feel like improv. I understand that there will be issues when you recruit an audience member to be a made-up zombie, but you should not have those same issues among your own actors.

And the singing! Jeez! There were moments when these actors showed that they could actually sing, but through most of their songs, they sounded little better than karaoke night.

This was a show that could have been so much fun. Instead, it was unnecessarily hammed up, poorly prepared, and not that funny.

Ray Yuen

Guilt Ridden Sociopath

Byron Bertram—Planetarium

Byron is an incredibly endearing and relatable man. His show handled very dark subject matter, but due to Byron’s storytelling, it felt more like an hour-long conversation with a friend who has been going through some rough patches.

That being said, there was no real ending to the show. Gears were switched when all of a sudden the sound of a clock was heard and a sloppy ending was made. I feel that if the end had been planned out a little more, I would have left feeling more satisfied. All things considered I definitely laughed a lot, and in my books this stand-up show did its job.

Kaitlyn Kriss