HAMILTON FRINGE FESTIVAL 2026 MINI-REVIEWS
HAMILTON CITY Magazine theatre reviewers have taken in Hamilton Fringe Festival shows all across our city and delivered fast and fun takes on what they see. Check them all out here, including our critics' picks for Best of Fringe! Fringe 2026 is 55 plays and 400 performances at 16 indoor and outdoor venues and runs until July 26.
1 Million Served - Years Well Waitressed
Creator/performer: Wanda Carroll
Hamilton
Venue: The Staircase: Elaine May Theatre
Until July 26
Showtimes and tickets here
Wanda Carroll has three and a half decades of waitressing under her belt. She’s seen a lot over the years, and been a lot of places. She has an easygoing, silver-tongued charm that makes us want to sit back and listen to her stories. It comes as little surprise when she says she was born and raised in Newfoundland, a place with a great storytelling tradition. The assembled Fringers seem like a group of friends at a comfortable house party, and not just because Carroll actually has a few of her personal friends in the audience. She even distributes homemade cookies at the end of the show while displaying her enviable ability to hand out napkins without them sticking together. Each audience member receives a “menu” of story names and Carroll solicits the crowd for the next tale we want to hear. There’s a charming story about when a group of tourists wanted to sample moose meat, something the Toronto restaurant she worked at didn’t carry, and Carroll ends up inviting several European strangers back to her house since she (of course!) has moose in her own freezer. Her later material about being unfamiliar with Black diners strikes a bit of an odd key. Carroll is at her very best when she reminds us that whether it's the pretension of upscale dining or an unruly drunk or a famous rapper, she’s the down-to-earth everywoman who can handle any situation. – Allison M. Jones
A Seance Spectacular with the Mystical Medium Wolf Sisters from the Great White North
Writer/performers: Carly Anna Billings and Cecilia O'Grady
Director/stage manager: Katherine Teed-Arthur
Hamilton/Toronto
Venue: Mills Hardware
Until July 26
Showtimes and tickets here
We all love a good ghost story, and in A Seance Spectacular with the Mystical Medium Wolf Sisters from the Great White North, comedians Carly Anna Billings and Cecilia O’Grady take on Victorian-age spiritualism with a dose of slapstick to make things lively. The result is a fun, if uneven, piece of theatre with hilarious energy and chilling thrills. Annie and Lizzie Wolf are a pair of mediums who travel the land channeling the spirits of the dead, and advertising shady products, in front of paying crowds. But when Lizzie decides to marry and leave the show, both Annie (and the spirits) become incensed, resulting in a spooky tug of war both on and offstage. Billings and O’Grady have a natural, dynamic chemistry that is a joy to watch. And their love of the material, the inspiration for their real-life podcast The Paranormal Parlour, shines in the use of spiritualism traditions like dowsing, ouija boards, automatic writing and talking skulls. What’s more, the inclusion of the audience during the show breaks the fourth wall in some delightful ways. That said, the play features some unnecessary flashbacks, and the ending is too abrupt. But Billings and O’Grady are clearly having fun and A Seance Spectacular with the Mystical Medium Wolf Sisters from the Great White North is worth seeing for this reason alone. — Stephen Near
Awake and Dreaming
Creative/production team: Jessica Wang, Judy Wang, Erin Yip, Shreya Jha, Casey Belland, Alaina Chen and Nour Gatti
Cast: Diya Tirone, Maggie Tavares, Lalaine Upgo, Nam Nguyen, Joanna Radecki, Bellamy Seals, Andrew Lowe, Mia Aubuchon, Amy Lee, Vivian Yin, Katherine Davies, Mia Downing
Band: Jasmine Chu, Riley Maguire, Julie Seeger and Colton Mowbray
Hamilton
Venue: The Westdale
Until July 26
Showtimes and tickets here
Awake and Dreaming is quite unusual as a Fringe festival offering. It’s 90 minutes in a schedule full of hour-long (or less) shows, and its family-focused and family-friendly premise is a bit of a rarity in a program with more adult and PG-13 content. The musical play features a gorgeous multi-piece live band, almost unheard of for Fringe productions (as normally beyond their meagre budgets). Also, as the synopsis mentions, the play is “based on [an] award-winning novel by Kit Pearson,” more uncommon to see among mostly self-penned and improvisational shows. Awake and Dreaming tells the story of Theo, a girl struggling to navigate an unstable childhood in poverty in Vancouver with her single-parent mother who only occasionally makes her a priority. While travelling on a ferry, she meets a family with caring, involved parents and a quartet of charming children who all appear to like one another. Belonging to a family like this is the stuff of Theo’s greatest fantasies. And then, a growing thread of magical realism begins to weave itself through the story, throwing what is real and what is the product of Theo’s imagination into question. The ending is a little pat and unsatisfying with Theo’s mother achieving unearned redemption, but that is an issue with the source material. The performers, most especially the young actor playing Theo, are extremely poised on stage as they flawlessly sing song after song and move smoothly through complex scenes and segments of choreography. Theirs is quite a remarkable achievement and they should be proud of the production they have created. – Allison M. Jones
Bilguisa Speaks Up
Director: Ravyn Wngz
Performer: Nicci Pryce
Playwright: Donna-Michelle St. Bernard
Hamilton
Venue: Backroom @ Ringside
Until July 25
Tickets and showtimes here
Nicci Pryce is compelling as Bilguisa, a soccer play who just wants to kick the ball but has to cope with a gender challenge from an opposing team against her and her sister. The siblings (the sister is unseen) are waiting to get the test results that “will define our lives forever,” says Bilguisa, who is trying to manage her emotions – rage, resignation, despair – as her sister withdrawn silence increasingly frustrates her. The two have already faced the indignity of having their genitals examined, but the coach of the Nigerian team they will face in their league’s finals is not satisfied. Of course, this script by Hamilton playwright Donna Michelle St. Bernard is highly timely in an era of the persecution of trans athletes. But it also reflects on decades of treatment of Black women sports figures, including Serena Williams and Florence Griffith Joyner, who consistently had their womanhood questioned. The 20-minute solo show ends with a fantastic rap in which Bilguisa ponders Black women taking their talents and going home. New Harlem Productions invites Black audiences to be celebrated, elevated, liberated at its July 25, 5:15 p.m. Affinity Performance. – Meredith MacLeod
Church Boyfriends and Other Impure Thoughts
Writer & performer: Alison Fishburn
Director: Sara E. Culley
Paris, Ont.
Venue: Theatre Aquarius Studio
Until July 25
Showtimes and tickets here
Part girl-talk confessional and part entertaining lecture, Church Boyfriends and Other Impure Thoughts is an entertaining, fun, and occasionally titter-inducing journey through Alison Fishburn’s adolescence and young adulthood growing up in an evangelical Christian household in Florida while coping with normal teen hormones. Fishburn shares her experiences with the handsome and charming Tyler, the zero-sex-appeal Steven, and Gerald, who’s a great kisser with soft skin and warm hands. Fishburn promises her audiences that the names are real and the stories are true, though maybe some artistic licence has been taken along the way. She uses props to great effect and her delivery is simple and conversational. That suits the intimacy of the material. She explores the power of what she calls purity culture – the indoctrination of hellfire and salvation from her mega-church, and her parents’ giving of a promise ring to their three daughters that asked them to commit to maintaining their virginity until marriage. The storytelling here is highly entertaining. This is Fishburn’s return to the Hamilton Fringe. Church Boyfriends debuted during the 2023 Fringe when it won Best In Venue at Theatre Aquarius. – Meredith MacLeod
DND Live: Camp DieNoMore
Performers: Carlyn Rhamey, Claud Spadafora, Cal Simmons, Mykola Paskaruk, Alan Alizadeh and Josh Koenig
Hamilton
Venue: The Staircase: Bright Room
Until July 26
Showtimes and tickets here
Whether you’re a Dungeons and Dragons aficionado or unfamiliar with the genre of storytelling games, fear not! This show is a light-hearted, fun time regardless of your previous exposure. Five performers led by a sixth, “Dungeon Master” take viewers on an hour-long adventure of collaborative storytelling to Camp DieNoMore, a place where elements of childhood merge with magic and fantasy. Anyone with even a vague notion of summer camp will recognize the characters, including a germaphobe kid and a kid who loves bugs along with more fanciful ones like the kid who wields fire, the half Minotaur, and the kid who comes from a long line of “Artificers.” As someone who had a few, rather disappointing DND experiences in the past, I enjoyed the obvious camaraderie and fun the six shared, developing their improvisational story. The audience seemed full of DND fans but aside from occasional dice rolls to determine the direction of the action, newbies will be able to easily follow along. Emett (Spadafora) with his wide-eyed enthusiasm for friendship, stewardship of creepy crawlies and lovable speech impediment, was a stand-out character. – Allison M. Jones
Doug Ford, We Won’t Touch the Greenbelt
Playwright/performer: Tim Katty
Burlington
Venue: Mills Hardware
Until July 26
Showtimes and tickets here
Political protest and theatre have a long and storied tradition, especially when the target is both rich and deserving. Burlington-based Tim Katty clearly sees how rich and deserving the Ford government is for such a protest. Unfortunately, his show Doug Ford, We Won’t Touch the Greenbelt doesn’t do much in the way of adding to the tradition. An unrelenting diatribe, the show is essentially a laundry list of promises made and promises broken by the eponymous premier, specifically on (not) developing the Ontario Greenbelt. But Katty’s one-note performance, and superficial script, offer little in the way of political skewering, instead sounding like an onstage social media rant. There are brief moments of intrigue, like Katty’s use of paper cutouts representing endangered Greenbelt animals. But they aren’t enough to keep the piece alive. The result is a disappointing show that alienates more than it engages. – Stephen Near
Felt Cute, Might Overshare Later
Creator/writer/director: Kristi Boulton
Producer/shame De-mystifier: Marc Nascimento
Hamilton
Venue: The Staircase: Studio Theatre
Until July 26
Showtimes and tickets here
With her fearlessness and lightning-fast thinking, you wouldn’t think anything could flap the unflappable Kristi Boulton, a Hamilton Fringe favourite and top-tier storyteller. From latecomers to unruly puppet hair, Boulton can turn any moment into a laugh. But “what do you do when your most embarrassing stories are also your best ones?” she says. “You get a puppet to tell them for you.” Using the device of a high-quality, Muppet-style doppelganger, and leaning on her professional-grade skills in improv, voice work and puppetry, Boulton takes us on a hilarious and cringe-filled hour of her best, most embarrassing stories. From heartbroken tears behind a cinema dumpster, teenage parties she was frankly lucky to survive, and intimate run-ins with fire ants, make no mistake, this is not a child’s puppet show. There are a few startling moments when Boulton reminds us that not all memories have laughs attached, no matter how much time has passed. Boulton and her mini-me make frank, well-paced and hilarious work of the stories in Felt Cute, Might Overshare Later, and the hour flies by. – Allison M. Jones
* HAMILTON CITY Magazine's CRITIC'S PICK
Finding Jamie
Writer & Performer: Zac Williams
Toronto
Venue: The Staircase: Elaine May Theatre
Until July 25
Showtime and tickets here
This was the show that made me cry. Described as: “Part romantic comedy. Part coming-of-age tale. Part mystery,” Zac Williams returns to The Staircase with his poignant, funny and insightful solo show Finding Jamie. In a series of scenes that move back and forth in time, Williams brings to life the childhood and present day of a caring-yet-uncertain gay middle-school teacher named James Ellis. Williams embodies a cast of characters, including his clueless principal, his teacher bestie Rebecca, a handful of grade 8 students, the handsome new gym teacher, and his current and younger selves. The action moves along at a nimble clip, with Williams pacing the stage attempting to find a missing student on a zoo field trip, being grilled about his non-existent love life during happy hour with Ms. Mason, or laying on the ground, pretending to be one of a pair of explorers sleeping in their forest cabin with his childhood friend Avery. Williams has written a beautiful show peppered with humour and perceptive observations into human nature. He confronts the agony of rejection, loss, and endings with a hopeful heart. And despite moments when I held my breath, expecting cruelty or hurt to befall certain characters, Williams has woven a touching story celebrating “gay boy joy” with a happily ever after in which all can delight. – Allison M. Jones
First Bite to Last Laugh
Director: Rianna Ford
Producer: Dante Williams / Bull & Blossom Initiative
Hamilton
Venue: Mills Hardware
Until July 26
Showtimes and tickets here
The intersection of stand-up and Fringe is a well-worn tradition. But Bull & Blossom Initiative, a community-driven collective that builds programming for marginalized communities does something different with First Bite to Last Laugh. Instead of showcasing one comic, they highlight a set of three plus a host. In addition, they use the set-up of Mills Hardware to get audiences in on sampling bowls of food from local eateries and craft drinks from local brewers. The result is a quirky, informal hour that skews closer to the vibe of Yuk’s Yuk’s than a standard Fringe show. But that’s not a bad thing. The comedy sets vary from show to show so you won’t see the same comic twice. And the sets themselves are short enough that the pace of the evening never slows down. Opening night featured four Canadian comedians – Sharmaine Ehi, Cathy Boyd, Black Zeus, and Chris Robinson – all with extensive experience trying out very different, and very funny material. Upcoming shows, based on the show’s Facebook events, will feature names like Dylan Scott, Crystal Ferrier, and James Esemu, to name a few. Though not what Fringe audiences might expect, the chance to sample food and drink plus four different comics makes First Bite to Last Laugh an entertaining hour of laughs. — Stephen Near
For What We Labour
Playwright/performer: Renata Ona
Director: Tamara Kamermans
Starring: Tyler Brent, Liz Buchanan, Renata Ona, Trisha Seecharan, Johnny Thirakul
Hamilton
Venue: St. Luke’s Mission
Until July 26
Show times and tickets here
Farce and Greco-Roman theatre have a long tradition in Fringe. When it’s done right, as with Hiccup Productions’ comedy For What We Labour, the result is a side-splitting show by a cast firing on all cylinders. The hijinks start when free-spirited Greek Chorus member Hamartia is unceremoniously faced with exile. Her only hope for redemption is to narrate the topsy turvy life of an Athenian merchant family, specifically the miserly Aplistos and his independent, and very pregnant, daughter Anthisma. Playwright Renata Ona and director Tamara Kammermans have crafted a comedy that hits all of the tropes including mistaken identities, rapid-fire entrances and exits, outrageous stakes, and bawdy jokes galore. Improv veteran Tyler Brent is terrific in the role of Aplistos, using the art of deadpan humor to hilarious effect. Meanwhile, Trisha Seecharan is both crafty and playful as the headstrong Anthisma. Meanwhile, both Liz Buchanan and Johnny Thirakul lean well into their roles as Anthisma’s devoted servant and conniving suitor, respectively. But the standout is Ona, herself, as the trickster Hamartia. A genuine tour-de-force, Ona plays her onstage alter ego as a wide-eyed enchantress who feeds off the mayhem she creates. While the show's relentless pace obscures some details, For What We Labour is the kind of gem that makes Fringe so much fun. – Stephen Near
GO
Playwright/performer: Laura Piccinin
Toronto
Venue: Mills Hardware
Until July 26
Showtimes and tickets here
In Laura Piccinin’s one-woman show GO, the award-winning comedian takes audiences on a journey of thousands of steps, with just as many laughs to keep us moving. Emerging onstage from behind a tent, Piccinin launches into a topsy-turvy story of travelling on her own by hiking the fabled East Coast Trail, a rugged 336-kilometre path hugging the Newfoundland coast. Along the way, Piccinin recalls the perilous obstacles of the land, her quirky encounters with the locals, and the personal demons that pushed her to take on the trail to begin with. Piccinin is a high-energy stage presence with a great sense of physical comedy. Coming from a dance background, her jokes land so well because she puts her whole body into their delivery, despite hauling a massive backpack for the majority of the show. But GO is much more than simply the East Coast misadventures of an urban Toronto girl. Piccinin shines when she stills her physicality, pausing to reflect on the relentless need to stare down her pain during this and prior adventures as a way to live life out loud. Though an engaging play, GO does have some shortcomings in both structure and staging. Piccinin’s script runs too long, and the aforementioned tent isn’t used nearly enough. She also persistently returns to a prop journal, perhaps to remind us of the show’s origins. Unfortunately, it only serves to slow down the pace of both play and performer. That said, the ultimate message of GO still lands, and Piccinin’s winning performance is a reminder that boundaries were meant to be broken. – Stephen Near
* HAMILTON CITY Magazine's CRITIC'S PICK
Hope & Joy
Playwright/performer: Krystal Hope
Playwright/performer: Morgan Joy
Producer: Madeleine Greey
Toronto
Venue: Theatre Aquarius Studio
Until July 25
Showtimes and tickets here
Krystal Hope and Morgan Joy are having a party and everyone is invited to hear their stories from 10 years of living together. Hope has Down syndrome and Joy lives with her to provide support as Hope needs it. They are roommates, friends, and family. They love each other “but not in that way.” Their relationship is complicated because Joy wants to be Hope’s friend, but she also feels responsible for her when she’s not going to her job, gets too wedded to her routine, or makes poor dating choices. That also includes ensuring Hope gets a pap test. That scene is hilariously outrageous. Trust me. As the six stories unfold, the two performers step into what they call the Truth Booth to speak directly to the audience. Turns out they’ve been through a lot, including a flooded basement, bedbugs, isolation during the pandemic, and “shitty exes.” Hope & Joy is charming, quirky, funny, sometimes poignant, and deeply human. It’s about the ways we get along – and don’t get along – when we live together, no matter our abilities. Turns out Joy needs Hope’s help too, through the grief of losing her dad. and especially when her anxiety catches up to her. You’ll be rooting for these two throughout the show, and that’s even more true when you find out that this show is autobiographical. The show, which also showcases puppets, musical numbers, and Joy’s mastery of facial expressions, is making its debut at Hamilton Fringe. – Meredith MacLeod
* HAMILTON CITY Magazine's CRITIC'S PICK
How to Love a Fascist
Playwright/performer: Cassie Cao
Director: Ashley Comeau
Toronto
Venue: Mills Hardware
Until July 26
Showtimes and tickets here
In How to Love a Fascist, award-winning comedian Cassie Cao deftly weaves a story of friendship, power, and identity into a sharp yet hilarious account of breaking free from a codependent relationship. The result is a knock-out performance that is hysterical and moving in equal measure. Cao expertly disarms her audience with a style that is bright and inviting. Perched upon a stool, she opens up about her education and career as an economist, drawing a thread towards one of the show’s central themes: games and game-playing. This thread weaves through Cao’s personal story of bonding with a high-school friend turned big-city roommate who eventually becomes something much more ominous. Tackling economic ideas like the prisoner’s dilemma, the hawk-dove theory and the error term, Cao explicitly ties them to her own intimate and traumatic experience of being trapped in an increasingly toxic relationship. What’s more, Cao draws on her own heritage as ammunition for the show’s sharpest insights around race, racism, and the insidiousness of white supremacy. Yet How to Love a Fascist is anything but dour. Whether recounting a stand-off between student and teacher in APA French class, or the comedy of errors that is Toronto apartment hunting, Cao’s comic timing is impeccable. But what makes How to Love a Fascist most remarkable is how the Cao slowly peels away her own courteous veneer to reveal a core of raw anguish and hurt, one that survived to tell the tale. An absolute must-see, How to Love a Fascist is one of the best of the Fringe. – Stephen Near
I Choose You
Created by Reactor Theatre
Featuring: Tyler Brent, Leonard A Cain, Charles Lo Manto, Douglas Millar
Hamilton
Venue: St. Luke’s Mission
Until July 26
Showtimes and tickets here
The quest is a trope that both theatre and video games share across genres, and the tale of the hero who must vanquish villains or surmount the odds is seen whether watching Shakespeare or playing Pokemon Go. Comedic company Reactor Theatre sets up a strange premise of colliding these two vastly different genres in I Choose You, but the result doesn’t really pay off. The show opens with two priests sermonizing on the power of theatre, who lure a hapless bystander named Harry from the pews of St. Luke’s space. But events soon spiral into the strange when he’s reluctantly drafted on a Pokemon-inspired quest across different genres of theatre. But the agenda of the priests is eventually revealed to have a more insidious goal. Although the performers are all having fun, the action and structure of I Choose You is too cluttered and vague, perhaps, a byproduct of the show’s aim to translate video-game motifs to the stage. That said, both Tyler Brent and Charles Lo Manto are both strong as the devious priests, and Douglas Millar and Charles Cain do their best with the material, especially the Broadway-inspired duet. Perhaps if the scenes were tighter, the pacing brisker, and structure handled with more scrutiny, I Choose You would work better. – Stephen Near
Icarus is Falling
Playwrights: Brianna Russell and Owen Carter
Director: Abigail Sullivan
Cast: Owen Carter, Adrian Pavone and Boro Milošević
Toronto
Venue: The Players’ Guild of Hamilton
Until July 26
Showtimes and tickets here
Following the Greek mythological legend of Icarus, Icarus is Falling reimagines the doomed fate of the son of Daedalus. This time, the mortal Icarus flies too close to the sun, not just because of youthful ignorance, but because he has fallen in love with the sun god Helios. The famous morality tale turned queer romance with a forbidden love story. Owen Carter, Adrian Pavone and Boro Milošević keep their audience tightly engaged despite already knowing our young protagonist’s tragic destiny. Written in iambic pentameter, the commitment to this rhythmic beat keeps theatre-goers' hearts bumping with every line. Carter and Pavone have great chemistry and both charismatic leads are compelling actors with leading-man potential. Milošević is strong as the well-intentioned but suffocating Daedalus, but could use some old-age makeup to better differentiate his character’s age from his costars. One of the most engaging productions at The Player’s Guild, it’s no surprise that Icarus is Falling was the winner of the Hamilton Fringe New Play Contest. – Sarah Jessica Rintjema
Into the Swing of Things
Writer and performer: Eric Jeddry
London
Venue: Backroom @ Ringside
Until July 25
Tickets and showtimes here
If you’ve ever worked in a restaurant kitchen, you’re going to relate to the two characters in this kitchen at a Niagara golf course, and if you haven’t, you might be rather glad of that by the of this 20-minute solo show. Eric Jeddry is highly entertaining as Clifford, the gruff and cynical 40-year kitchen veteran, and equally so as Tyler, the intense dishwasher who dreams of a rap career as he grieves for his mother. The audience are candidates for jobs in the kitchen, though neither Clifford or Tyler have much good to say. They work for minimum wage, never get a break, face hazards and injuries, and struggle to keep up with the workload. Jeddry transforms between the two characters onstage and relies on just a few props to put the audience in a kitchen, a place where even the misfits fit in, says Clifford. This script is Jeddry’s Fringe debut and is based on his 10 years of experience in kitchens. It’s darkly funny but also touches on plenty of humanity. – Meredith MacLeod
Intro to Adult Acting
Playwright, director, producer: Lisa Marie Morris
Cast: Kevin Barnes, Andrea Didtrek, Corey Long, Connor MacPhee, Lisa Marie Morris, Gugu Mpofu, Stacey Rivers
Production & Design: Alison Morris
Burlington
Venue: The Players’ Guild of Hamilton
Until July 26
Showtimes and tickets here
Interested in stepping outside of their comfort zones, a group of adults meet at a beginners acting class, led by Lisa Marie Morris’ character, where they navigate insecurity and build new-found confidence. This heartwarming comedy mimics the awkward absurdity of classics like The Office, where colourful characters learn how to work together as a group. The large cast is equally committed and passionate, representing a diverse array of thespians bound to be discovered in any theatre club. The production could use a larger range of writers/influences, however, to help turn 2D caricatures into 3D ones, especially when speaking about younger generations. – Sarah Jessica Rintjema
It’s A Live Mixtape
Playwright/performer: Brett Klassen/Onglish
Designer/performer: Aisha Barrow
Performers: Tarek Funk and Kitoko Mai
Hamilton
The Westdale
Until July 26
Showtimes and tickets here
If you’re in the mood for a kaleidoscope of political rhymes, freestyle hip-hop, danceable beats and electro-Mandé-soul songs, this is a unique hour of music at Fringe. Categorized under “musical/concert/opera,” Onglish the DJ spins beats as hypnotic visuals of patterns, flora, fauna, and urban spaces are continually projected on the big screen. I particularly enjoyed getting to hear Tarek Funk’s rap stylings and storytelling encompassing Palestine, his grandfather’s wounded cherry tree in Damascus, and the gentrification of artist space in downtown Hamilton. Movement, desire, determination and feminine rage were the themes of the rest of the mixtape, with fashion, dance and passion embodied by Messy and Eye-Sha. There were theatrical moments and the performances reminded viewers that bounds of storytelling include songs and rhymes; however, I would have liked to have seen a clearer through-line or narrative to tie the elements together. It’s a Live Mixtape feels experimental but it’s a great opportunity to see some local musicians of colour centre stage. – Allison M. Jones
Karl the Cat and the Junkyard Pack
Co-creators: Jesse Lewis, Rachel Van Staaluinen
Guitarists, understudies: Kat Wilkie, Charlie VanStone
Toronto/Ottawa
Venue: The Staircase: Bright Room
Until July 26
Showtimes and tickets here
This is a new production from the team behind last year’s Hamilton Fringe Best in Venue winner (The Westdale), Raccacloon. Sadly, I didn’t get the chance to see that show, so I was unprepared for how charmed I ended up being with Karl the Cat and Junkyard Pack. The show is described as a “PG-13 musical puppet show,” and it’s a fair assessment as there's some swearing and mature themes. Karl is a thoughtful cat who dreams of having adventures and achieving goals far beyond his junkyard home. He isn’t certain how best to make his mark on the world until he latches onto the idea of flying to the moon. First, though, he’ll need to build a spaceship and gain the support of his pals. His ragtag group of unusual friends include best friend Daryl the dog (who likes creating slideshows), Randy the rat (a social media influencer), and Courtney the crow (who enjoys smoking pot). At first, his friends aren’t convinced Karl’s goal is wise and he starts to doubt himself. Finally, the friends come together to help Karl because they believe in his happiness, and Karl learns that it’s OK to dream, it’s OK to want something more, it’s OK to ask for help … and it’s OK to return home once more. Funny, odd, and whimsical, the show has sweetness at its centre. – Allison M. Jones
“Kill Me Now” – The Teaching Confessions of an Undercover Creative
Writer/Performer: Tammy McLeod-Casey
St. Catharines
Venue: The Gasworks
Until July 26
Showtimes and tickets here
Teaching alternative education to at-risk youth is a hard job, one that requires empathy and patience to help students succeed. Tammy McLeod-Casey is obviously an accomplished alt-ed teacher, but her one-woman show fails to convey the lessons of her profession in any meaningful way. At times convoluted and crass, “Kill Me Now” – The Teaching Confessions of an Undercover Creative uses the chapters of McLeod-Casey’s career as touchstones to a creative spirit reluctantly waylaid by the classroom demands. But therein lies the problem. McLeod-Casey’s story as a teacher spans decades, yet she never articulates why she remains in the profession or why her creativity must take a backseat. Too often, the play circles back to grim stories of run-ins with problem students, badgering parents, and demanding administrators, punctuated by odd dance interludes, while showing little in the way of sensitivity that might elevate the material. To be sure, McLeod-Casey has no fear onstage. Sadly, the show is so unpolished that “Kill Me Now” – The Teaching Confessions of an Undercover Creative falls flat. – Stephen Near
LOVE & CRAÍC
Writer/performer: Carlyn Rhamey
Hamilton
Venue: The Staircase: Studio Theatre
Until July 26
Showtimes and tickets here
Returning Hamilton Fringe favourite Carlyn Rhamey brings us a funny and surprisingly vulnerable show with Love and Craic, reminding us that a meaningful life is built on the adventures we have, the people we meet, the memories we make, and how true to ourselves we remain along the journey. Rhamey takes us on her travels as she explores Ireland and Scotland as a single young woman, staying in hostels, soaking in the history and natural beauty of her surroundings in her bright-coloured rain boots. Most importantly, she meets kind and helpful strangers. Rhamey definitely subscribes to the notion that strangers are just friends we haven’t met yet, and they always seem to come in clutch when she needs help most. The travel tales would be enjoyable on their own, and Rhamey has a winsome and kooky charm that makes her oh-so easy to listen to, but then she weaves in a little silver thread of gentle emotion, love of family, and tenderness for her own self and happiness. Just when I thought I knew what to expect from Rhamey, she brings a lump to my throat with emotional moments of recognition and little pearls of wisdom: Kindred spirits can be found anywhere, beautiful things can happen when you stay open to possibility, and, sometimes, painful experiences can make way for better, braver days. Bring your auntie, your neighbour, your coworker, and your cousin. – Allison M. Jones
Mark II
Director/performer: Tom Bates
Oshawa, Ont.
Venue: The Gasworks
Until July 26
Showtimes and tickets here
In last year’s Fringe, performer Tom Bates took on the challenge of an oral retelling of the Gospel of Mark. The story of Jesus as a wandering prophet with his Twelve Disciples, Bates’ Mark I offered the promise of Mark II. This year, he makes good on that promise, and the result is a show that largely delivers on the actor’s strengths from the first show, while amping up the stakes. Bates remains a consistently strong storyteller, once more taking advantage of the Gasworks to expand upon the growing narrative of the Gospel. Steadfast and even-keeled, Bates’ performance is one that draws the audience into the intricacies of, perhaps, the most well-known story of all. Of course, where Mark I tackled Jesus’ humble journeys, Mark II is an altogether different tale featuring an End Times evocation, the Last Supper, Judas’ betrayal, and the Resurrection. And as adept as he is, Bates could do more to convey the emotional gravity of these iconic events or simply give them a bit more room to land for his audience. That said, his depiction of the Crucifixion, the climax of both of his shows, is both stirring and alarming, and easily the best part of an already strong body of work. And for those who missed Mark I, Gasworks has added several encore performances that audiences would do well to catch alongside Mark II for an epic journey in storytelling. — Stephen Near
Medically Strange
Writer and performer: Phoebe Taylor
Director: Jacque Wills
Hamilton
Venue: Backroom @ Ringside
Until July 25
Tickets and showtimes here
Comedian Phoebe Taylor delivers plenty of laughs in Medically Strange, but her autobiographical storytelling is deeper than that. At 32, she’s searching for answers about her chronic, daily pain, repeatedly finding her concerns and questions either dismissed or ignored by doctors, even female ones. Sadly, that’s a familiar tale for many women of all ages. Taylor explores the medical system’s obsession with a woman’s last period, and the awkward small talk during pelvic exams. She posits that doctors who don’t have answers only want to ensure patients won’t go home to become anti-vaxxers. Women seeking medical attention just want to know they aren’t crazy, she says. Taylor involves audience members to great effect in her performance. You’ll laugh, you’ll shake your head, you’ll be moved, and you’ll think about your own experience in a doctor’s office. – Meredith MacLeod
No Die! Or: How I Left Amsterdam and Almost Died in Africa
Writer/performer: Fedor Ikelaar
Producer: Fedor Comedy
Amsterdam
Venue: Mills Hardware
Until July 26
Showtimes and tickets here
Dutch comedian Fedor Ikelaar has a disarming and charismatic presence, one that immediately settles audiences in for the bizarre roller-coaster ride of a story he tells in No Die! Or: How I Left Amsterdam and Almost Died in Africa. The crux of Ikelaar’s story deals with the ups and downs of his travels around the world, principally his time in Sierra Leone, fresh from his studies in anthropology, labouring in a village deep in the jungle. As a comedian, Ikelaar’s material is pretty standard fare, including expected body humour and sex jokes that sometimes land. His observational humour around travel and culture shock are where No Die! shines. In these moments, Ikelaar embraces an awkward, self-effacing humour almost entirely at his own expense. That said, Ikelaar doesn’t explore nearly enough the deeper implications of his intent to travel to such remote, risky destinations. And sometimes it feels like he’s rushing through the material in favour of reaching the punchline. But Ikelaar’s easy-going way with the crowd, and the rapid fire of his humour, largely make up for these shortcomings making No Die! Or: How I Left Amsterdam and Almost Died in Africa, a worthwhile show. – Stephen Near
Notes from Underground
Creative team: Moazzam Reza, Amirah Farooq, Martin Tsvetanov
Performers: Moazzam Reza, Sagal Hussein, Klein Wilhelm, Luke Huffman, Patrick McEwen, Colin Crawford, Roy Mondal, Amirah Farooq (understudy)
Mississauga
Venue: The Players’ Guild of Hamilton
Until July 25
Showtimes and tickets here
A stage recreation of the Dostoevsky novella, Notes from Underground is a passionately performed love letter to the Russian author. Moazzam Reza, playing the underground man, doesn’t shy away from the wretched, self-pitying narcissism of the lead; crawling, spitting and wallowing during his performance of the lonely writer reflecting on his regrets. Amirah Farooq plays the sex worker who receives the brunt of our lead’s anger, and she is easy to root for; her character holds the heart of this story, and theatre-goers will want nothing more than to see her win. This Notes from Underground adaptation paints a bleak portrait of Tsarist Russia, filled with suffering and morally repugnant characters – exactly as Dostoevsky intended. – Sarah Jessica Rintjema
Please Leave When It’s Too Much
Director: Amanda Tkaczyk
Cambridge
Cast: Lottery-selected performers
Venue: Backroom @ Ringside
Until July 25
Tickets and showtimes here
This one is still swirling around in my head. I know I haven’t seen anything like it before and I really wasn’t sure where it was headed or perhaps even where it got to when it was over. This is the epitome of a Fringe experience. On its surface, it’s about the role of artificial intelligence at the end of life. Wishes to visit Mars or walk the Great Wall of China, or to revisit cherished memories can be delivered in fully immersive ways. Audience members are encouraged – repeatedly – to silently choose their own ending from four possibilities: tragic, dramatic, uplifting, and dystopian. Each performance includes an audience discussion afterwards. Creator Amanda Tkaczyk says she was inspired by a story about a forester who was dying and had his wish fulfilled to return to the forest one last time. She pondered what a privilege it is to give that to someone and how AI could be used for good and for bad in palliative care. – Meredith MacLeod
Raging Gracefully
Big Chick Energy
Writers/performers: Alicia Carrick, Emily Decloux, Sam Sexton, Jo Anne Tacorda, Taryn Crankshaw (understudy)
Hamilton
Venue: The Westdale
Until July 26
Showtimes and tickets here
I was feeling droopy near the end of a long Fringing day, but Raging Gracefully was just the ticket to resuscitate me with big, light-hearted laughs. I really enjoyed Big Chick Energy’s fast-paced show Big Chick Lethargy at the 2025 Hamilton Fringe, and this year’s offering is a delight as well. I remembered my two particular favourites, Jo Anne Tacorda and Alicia Carrick, as soon as they came onstage. With their well-written, choreographed, and performed sketches, The Chicks send up and play around with gender roles, social norms, and situations that most people (especially women) will recognize. From not knowing how to take a compliment to navigating break-ups, denied promotions, dismissive doctors and long-term friendships, there’s a sketch or a song that will resonate with everyone. One of my favourites involved a marriage counsellor introducing freestyle rap to a couple’s therapeutic repertoire when role-play and other tactics had fallen short. Zany, insightful, and willing to take a concept to its limits, it’s always exciting to see what the women of Big Chick Energy will have to offer. The night I saw the show, The Chicks’ experienced technical difficulties that meant they had to perform without the multimedia projections they had planned. You’d never know it, though, from the way they rallied, the big, big energy they showed, and all the laughs they evoked. – Allison M. Jones
RATS! Another Musical? (A Totally Improvised Musical Comedy)
Director: Carly Heffernan
Musical director: Rory Grant
Performers: Nitin Anand, Kara Austria, Kristi Boulton, Sean Cage, Kyle Claeys, Elanja Corosky, Daniel Fishbayn, Robbie Grant, Katie Mills and Arielle Zamora
Toronto
Venue: The Staircase: Bright Room
Until July 25
Showtimes and tickets here
Every performance of RATS! Another Musical? in this Fringe run will have a different storyline, shaped by themes solicited from each audience as well as elements of either Sweeney Todd or West Side Story. The performance I saw was inspired by West Side Story along with the themes of “astronaut” and “alien.“ What makes this improvisational musical show memorable is truly the troupe behind it. Each of its members is talented, quick-witted and adaptable, and together they achieve something pretty great. They manage to minimize inevitable dead ends in the narrative, maximize the laughs, and within an hour are able to pilot their spaceship to a successful conclusion. This group notably has some fantastic singing voices, a must for a musical show, of course, but not guaranteed. They also appear to like and trust one another, and enjoy what they are doing, but there seems a real commitment to providing a good story while they are at it (the difference being the audience also enjoys the experience rather than feeling held hostage while the folks onstage have fun). The only downside? I’m sorry I’ll miss out on the stories told at other RATS! performances. – Allison M. Jones
Rebel Spirits
Writer/performer: Devin Bateson
Writer/performer: Justin Shaw
Hamilton
Venue: Theatre Aquarius Studio
Until July 26
Tickets and showtimes are here
This show should come with seatbelts. It’s 60 minutes of zany mayhem wrapped up in an absurd tale of revolution centred in a pub at the foot of a castle. It’s likely medieval times, though that’s never defined. The show is billed as Cheers meets Lord of the Rings, and there are massive doses of Monty Python there, too. It’s all camp all the time as Swift (Justin Shaw) and Dash (Devin Bateson) tend to a cast of characters at the Rebel Spirits pub. Swift is enthusiastic and idealistic. He wants to overthrow the corrupt kingdom. Dash isn’t as convinced, but he’s got a secret. Bateson and Shaw are both masters of physical comedy and voices, as they take on multiple characters, including a wizard, oracle and Crunchy, an enchanted bar rag. Yes, you read that right. Bateson and Shaw have worked together in a number of productions, including Nook & Cranny, featuring a madcap detective duo, and their chemistry with one another on stage is apparent. Buckle up for a chaotic but funny ride. – Meredith MacLeod
Schedule Your Improv! - Authenticity, The Self, And WTF Are You Talking About?!
Writer/performer: Jake Cenk Koseleci
Fake Cult Productions
Venue: Centre for Talking Arts
Until July 26
Showtimes and tickets here
In Schedule Your Improv! - Authenticity, The Self, And WTF Are You Talking About?!, philosopher, musician, and filmmaker Jake Cenk Koseleci returns to the Centre for Talking Arts to wax philosophical onstage. Last year, Koseleci’s Let’s Start A Fake Cult wrestled with themes around nihilism, narcissism and hypnotism. In Schedule Your Improv! Koseleci delves into what it means to be an artist, the echoes of his psychedelic experiences and how to reconcile the rational with the instinctual. Less a Fringe show, and more of a TED Talk, Schedule Your Improv! features Koseleci sitting on sofa lecturing to the audience on deep, brainy topics. Though well-read on topics of Apollonian philosophy and history, Koseleci falls short when attempts to move towards the less-rational end of the spectrum. Though he touches on his personal history and psychedelic use, he never digs deep enough to expose the kind of vulnerability that would make his storytelling a truly captivating affair. To be sure, there is something audacious about Koseleci’s minimalism in Schedule Your Improv!. But the question of whether or not it makes for good art is an entirely different matter. Despite his deep thinking, it’s a question Koseleci doesn’t really succeed in answering. – Stephen Near
Spooning the Great Bear by the Light of the Moon
Playwright/director: Jen Frankel
Performers: Melissa Murray-Mutch, Susan Curran, Tara Smith, Betty McLean
Hamilton
Venue: The Players’ Guild of Hamilton
Until July 26
Showtimes and tickets here
On a road trip through America, three women grieve, rediscover themselves, and release baggage after some major life changes. A messy, painful divorce rocks Syl’s world, prompting her best friend Kirsten to plan a road trip for the two. Along the way, the women rant, cry, collect souvenirs, pick up an adventure-hungry Southern waitress, and learn more about each other. This heartwarming comedy about perseverance could use a little more kick: more stakes, roadblocks, a larger betrayal. Although Melissa Murray-Mutch, Susan Curran, Tara Smith, and Betty McLean are a delight on stage, a little more oomph could tip Spooning the Great Bear by the Light of the Moon from good to great. – Sarah Jessica Rintjema
Springtime
Playwright: Katie Lawrence
Director: Shailyn Pierre-Dixon
Toronto
Performers: Katie Lawrence and Kendra Cordick
Venue: The Players’ Guild of Hamilton
Until July 26
Showtimes and tickets here
Two young women (ages unverified) are hiding, or being held, in an underground box on a farm. While attempting to survive in brutal conditions, we, the audience, are given conflicting information: are the girls hiding from state persecution, or were they kidnapped? Are they being protected by a fatherly, kind-hearted saviour, or are they being held against their will by a predatory old man? Leads Lawrence and Cordick are phenomenal as the complicated friends May and June, two trauma-bonded girls stuck in a difficult situation as they begin to clash during their fight for survival. A marker of an effective production, Springtime leaves you extremely unnerved. Be aware of content warnings for sensitive material. (18+) – Sarah Jessica Rintjema
Tacos & Extinction
Playwrights: David Widder-Varhegyi, Elijah Varhegyi
Director: David Widder-Varhegyi
Hamilton
Venue: St. Luke’s Mission
Until July 26
Showtimes and tickets here
Disjointed plots, symbolic characters, and anarchic humour are all hallmarks of surrealist theatre, and key tools for pushing audiences beyond conventional stories into the bizarre realm of dreams. Despite drawing on these and other theatrical techniques, the surreal tragicomedy Tacos & Extinction by Squirrel and Nut Productions unfortunately falls short. Set on-board the HMS Beagle, during Darwin’s famous expedition, the play asks some big questions about capitalism, greed, and nature's march to extinction. Show creators Elijah Varhegyi and David Widder-Varhegyi deserve credit for some of the script's meatier (literally) dialogues. But their attempts at absurd humor don’t often land, mostly devolving into incoherent parodies or screaming monologues that distract from the central premise. That said, Adam Lemieux and Philip Krusto do their best with the play’s more grounded dialogue while David Faulkner-Rundle has fun as a kidnapped gorilla trapped on the ship. But physical performer Skye Rogers is the show’s standout as the Weaver of the Web of Life. A menacing yet seductive presence who wanders the playing area, Rogers is electric. Yet her ominous character, and the show’s lighting and soundscape, feel lifted from a different, more epic play. These and other disparities keep Tacos & Extinction at arms length, muddying the urgency of its message. – Stephen Near
TAMP
Playwright/performer: Claud Spadafora
Director: Pascal Simmons
Hamilton
Venue: The Staircare: Elaine May Theatre
Until July 26
Showtimes and tickets here
Fringe would not be fringe without the odd, the experimental, the weird. The synopsis for this show reads, “a young tampon explores life outside the box.” Ah, there it is! Fringe would feel too domesticated, too safe without shows that push the envelope, social boundaries, and people’s sense of comfort. Sometimes these shows end up as failed experiments. Luckily, the playwright/performer here is Claud Spadafora, who has the guts and craft to steer a kooky concept through to a satisfying conclusion. In TAMP, the audience ends up falling in love with Tamp, the young, idealistic tampon with “34 identical siblings” who loves “Roblox, karate, and his Mom” best in the world. Tamp has an adorable cartoon kid voice with a slight speech impediment (think chronic sinus problems making it hard for him to pronounce M). Spadafora delivers an unexpectedly wholesome and intrepid tale while wearing an enormous white tampon costume with a long woven string and holes cut out for arms and face. The story goes to some strange places and there is some audience participation, but Spadafora takes good care of Tamp’s “new best friends.” TAMP leaves the audience with smiles on their faces and is a surprisingly sweet tale. – Allison M. Jones
* HAMILTON CITY Magazine's CRITIC'S PICK
The Giant Space Monster That Ate Hamilton in 3-D
Creators: Kristian Reimer & Larry Smith
Hamilton
Venue: The Players’ Guild of Hamilton
Until July 26
Showtimes and tickets here
My favourite Fringe show of 2025 is back – and literally bigger than ever! Larry Smith and Kristian Reimer’s love letter to Hamilton inspired by campy sci-fi horror B-movies returns to a larger stage with more props, more lights, and all your favourite Hamilton references. When a spaceship crash-lands in the Steel City and unleashes a sinister tentacled sea monster, it’s up to a Hamilton cop and McMaster science professor to stop it and save the city. Reimer and Smith perform their comedy in a large-puppet theatre, wearing oven mitts and silly costumes, and puppeteering props on strings. In 2025, Smith and Reimer were forced to make do within their cramped stage, producing a tightened, innovative piece of theatre. It remains one of the most impressive shows of the Hamilton Fringe Festival to date, but could use a bit more fine-tuning to adapt to the larger room, especially when viewed from an indirect angle. If you love this city, you can’t miss this one. – Sarah Jessica Rintjema
The Last Hornblower
Writer/performer: Eric Bronson
Guelph
Venue: Centre for Talking Arts
Until July 26
Showtimes and tickets here
Intriguing stories very often pull threads from radically different sources, weaving them together into something altogether unique. It’s a feat that Eric Bronson successfully tackles with his one-man show The Last Hornblower. A lonely narrator stands vigil over his convalescing father, an aged pilot nicknamed The Captain, recalling how both of their passions have diverged and intersected throughout life. The Last Hornblower draws on the timely lore of Italian soccer, a passion for the narrator’s father, and the obscure lore of plane accidents, an obsession for the narrator. Where these two subjects literally collide is in the 1949 Superga air disaster that claimed the lives of the entire Torino national football club (the so-called Grande Torino), and how the tragedy and the team both hold echoes for father and son. Bronson’s script has some effective moments that pull the audience along in a reflective, almost esoteric tale. But he could have used a dramaturge to shape the play, and a director to stage it. The Centre for Talking Arts is an intimate venue, so Bronson had no need for either the mic or the mic stand, which only obscured his earnest performance. And the awkward stage business of chairs and blankets to represent the dying Captain were similarly unnecessary. Nonetheless, The Last Hornblower is a poignant play with definite promise. — Stephen Near
The Mother
Claudia Pompeya
Cincinnati, OH
Theatre Aquarius Studio
Until July 26
Showtimes and tickets here
The Fringe is all about keeping things weird, and The Mother certainly delivers. There are glimpses of aspects of motherhood – motherly advice, feeding and nourishing, loss and grieving, the beauty of Mother Earth – but it all feeIs disjointed, off-kilter and bizarre. I waited for the moment when I could grasp the material and understand where we had come from and where we ended up. It didn’t come. Perhaps that’s the point. The Mother is described as “a solo alt clown-comedy dream walk through absurdity, grief, and self-repair. Strange, sweet, intimate, interactive, and a little haunted …” I saw the show on a sparcely attended Tuesday night and perhaps that affected the vibe, which does rely on audience participation. Claudia Pompeya’s bravery in walking out alone to present material that is far from the ordinary is to be admired. – Meredith MacLeod
The Outlaw and the Son
Playwright/performer: Tony Martins
Director: Tony Martins
Featured guitarist: Andrew Aldridge
Gatineau, QC
The Westdale
Until July 25
Showtimes and tickets here
This show has a promising premise. An old cowboy finds himself in an otherworldly place, beckoned there by the spirit and memories of his son. Is the son long dead or still alive? Why is the Outlaw in this liminal space? It’s hard to say. The cowboy seems resigned to his fate, certain that he is beyond redemption or change, but the story evolves as a musical love letter to that unseen son. Tony Martins and guest musician Andrew Aldridge create a dark sonic soundscape that is atmospheric, encircling and dramatic. Aldridge shows particularly deft skill in accompanying and enriching Martin’s lead guitar. Martins has some compelling lyrics, and these are projected on a black screen as he intersperses short monologues with a medley of songs that describe elements of his life and experience. Particularly memorable songs included “The End of Noah Pearce” and “God Never Spoke.” Unfortunately, I did not enjoy Martins’ singing. His delivery was passionate but strangely atonal and his emphasis on certain lyrics seemed random. His vocals often fell flat and some words seemed slurred. The end result is that it took me out of the story Martins wanted to tell. – Allison M. Jones
The Seawitch Speaks
Writer and performer: Sara Anderson
Hamilton
Venue: Backroom @ Ringside
Until July 25
Tickets and showtimes here
This show has a cool premise. The antagonist billed as Ursula the seawitch in the 1989 Disney film The Little Mermaid is appalled by her depiction. She plans to set the record straight. “I don’t come off well in your version of the story,” she says, disputing the idea that she stole Ariel’s voice in order to fulfil her wish to become a human. So the seawitch has exited her sea cave and fashioned some clothes (her tentacles peak out from under her dress), in order to tell her story. She begins with a complaint about the name of the movie, pointing out that Ariel was average size. “They could have said strong or tenacious or brave, but they went with little.” Great point. I wish I had reacquainted myself with the original movie and the live-action adaptation in 2023 in order to really follow Sara Anderson’s script and performance. At times, her voice drops off to inaudible levels at the end of sentences, making it difficult to follow. Billed as a family-friendly event, there were a couple of little girls at the Friday night show. It’s unclear how much they took away from the show, which features plenty of advanced language and adult ideas. – Meredith MacLeod
The Syllabus
Playwright/director/performer: Michael Gougis
Los Angeles, Calif.
Venue: Mills Hardware
Until July 26
Tickets and showtimes here
“In your car, in the parking lot, during the break.” This is the oft-repeated refrain by performer Michael Gougis during his one-man show The Syllabus. It’s intended squarely for anyone choosing not to follow the rules of the show. And the show is all about the rules … mostly. Framed as a night-school lecture on media studies for a class of problem students, The Syllabus is less a theatrical performance and more of an off-kilter lecture, with Gougis playing a sideways version of himself named Professor G. World-weary and deeply cynical, Gougis’ onstage persona yearns to explain to the class the importance of signs and symbols in the media-sphere. But, he explains, legal parameters demand he devote the lecture to spelling out the increasingly bizarre classroom codes of conduct in his eponymous syllabus. Gougis’ informal performance style helps sell the premise of the piece. And thanks to the classroom meta-frame, the audience is invited to participate and test Gougis’ impressive improvisation skills. But the piece doesn’t really live up to its set-up. A former journalist, one-time screenwriter, and actual college academic, Gougis has a wealth of exposure to offer on the mediascape. And, over the course of the show’s runtime, he touches on intriguing stories around his storied life experiences. Unfortunately, his insight doesn’t explore much beyond obvious understandings of pop-culture, sex, race and violence. Though it gets some mileage from jokes around classroom management and political correctness, The Syllabus largely remains a one-note comedy. – Stephen Near
The Waiting Room
Playwright/director: Mylo Doyle
Performers: Dana Leaman, Rebecca "Johnny" Casalino, Nathan Lise
Hamilton
Theatre Aquarius Studio
Until July 26
Showtimes and tickets here
The Waiting Room sees two women thrown together in an ICU waiting room, each awaiting news about their critically ill fathers during a raging ice storm. Faith (Rebecca “Johnny” Casalino) is young, angry, and cynical. Jean (Dana Leaman) is older and fighting hard to maintain her calm positivity. A phone from the nurses station keeps ringing but most times no one is on the other end. It’s not entirely clear why the characters find this annoyance as disturbing as they do. The two have vastly different relationships with their fathers. Faith and Jean try to find common ground, especially over religion. When Jean offers to pray for Faith and her father, the young woman lashes out. She’s self-centred and lacking in life experience but the audience learns why Faith is angry and how her father has let her down. There is potential in this play, because its themes of grief, forgiveness, and finding a way forward are so relatable and important. It also demonstrates the power of human connection. These are two strangers who could have sat isolated, silently scrolling their phones. But instead, they challenged each other and worked to understand one another. Each comes out better for it. But this script is somewhat one note. It needs some work to inject much-need levity, and more fully flesh out the characters into multi-dimensional people. – Meredith MacLeod
The Yodeling Ranger
Writer/performer: Tor Lukasik-Foss
Director: Marilo Nuñez
Hamilton
Venue: The Staircase: Studio Theatre
Until July 26
Showtimes and tickets here
Celebrated Hamilton performer Tor Lukasik-Foss returns to Hamilton Fringe with a zany and riveting solo show that gains momentum like a steam locomotive in The Yodeling Ranger. Writer/performer Lukasik-Foss and director Marilo Nuñez have crafted a finely tuned, well-paced production that keeps the audience in thrall from start to finish. All eyes are on Lukasik-Foss as he spins a wide-eyed and emphatic tale that integrates the impact of a Hank Snow record on him as a boy (a record which promises but doesn’t deliver on its yodeling) with his own gradual evolution into a musician and performer. Punctuating scenes from moments in his life are terrific musical numbers with Lukasik-Foss on his guitar and a repeating, Schrodinger-style question: Is it better to have experienced a particular moment, or is it better to have only been on the cusp of that moment, when every possibility still exists? For good measure, Lukasik-Foss throws in some ideas that resonate about imposter syndrome and whether confidence or certainty are ever fully attainable in the creative life. The show is joyful and rollicking while showing the greatest degree of narrative precision I’ve seen at this year’s Fringe. And yes, there’s yodeling. – Allison M. Jones
There is No Anger Like That of a Woman
Creative team: Meg Gibson & Aiden Robert Bruce
Performers: Grace Delamere & Liam Armstrong
Toronto
Venue: Theatre Aquarius Studio
Until July 26, 2026
Showtimes and tickets here
It doesn’t seem that Eve is really all that angry in There is No Anger Like That of a Woman. She’s fed up, for sure, and maybe a bit resigned, but she doesn’t let her anger show. And that’s a statement on the theme of the play itself. The power imbalance between women and men means that she’s not safe to really show her rage, especially alone in a room with a strange man. Eve is a brothel's most expensive escort. She’s well-read and educated. And she doesn’t have a high opinion of men. The world is built by them and for them and Eve is tired of it. And she’s particularly fed up with the men who don’t call out the abusive and predatory behaviour of other men. “Not all men” is just not good enough. So when Adam, a bank executive, walks into her room and seems to need someone to talk to, he gets a lot more than he likely bargained for. When Eve says, “I believe one of the easiest things for men to do is to hate women,” Adam is confounded. When she challenges his religion, he’s defensive. And he disputes Eve’s assertions that women have suffered more throughout history than men. There seems to be times when Adam can see past his own privilege, but they are fleeting. One hopes that as the lights go out and Adam and Eve get to doing what he’s come for, that Eve’s perspective may have made a lasting impression. This show is making its debut at Fringe and it’s definitely worth taking in this thoughtful battle of the sexes. – Meredith MacLeod
TILT
Creators/performers: Alex Rioux & Jean-Michel Cliche
Stage manager/technical improviser/designer: Georgia Priestley Brown
Director: Lisa Anne Ross
Fredericton, NB
Venue: The Westdale
Until July 26
Showtimes and tickets here
Hailing from Fredericton, New Brunswick, the artists behind TILT bring a unique entry to the slate of Fringe shows at The Westdale and also the collection of improvisational shows at this year’s festival. While the other shows rely on a foursome to almost a dozen performers, TILT hinges on a pair, Alex Rioux and Jean-Michel Cliche, with scenes embellished by images projected by Georgia Priestley Brown and the second-half support of guest improv artists (this particular performance featuring Sharjil Rasool). Interestingly, the show begins with a fairly lengthy scripted segment involving highly choreographed movement between Rioux, Cliche, a table and a pair of chairs. There’s an obvious sense of comfort and trust between the two. As they move through a few prepared scenes, the characters are fleshed out and the state of domestic connection between the engaged couple comes to light, holding both tenderness and irritation. Into this, “a shocking secret threatens to tear [the] relationship apart. What secret?” The secret that shapes the second half of the performance comes courtesy of a few themes solicited from each audience by Brown before Rioux and Cliche come onstage. And as the story veers off into strange and uncharted territory, some moments land better than others but there’s lots of quick-thinking work by the performers and laughter from the audience. – Allison M. Jones
Townsperson #3
Playwright & director: Izad Etemadi
Assistant director: Marco DeLuca
Performers: Izad Etemadi and Julia Pulo
Toronto
Venue: Theatre Aquarius Studio
Until July 26
Showtimes and tickets here
If you are a musical theatre geek, whether a fan from the seats or a participant from the stage, Townsperson #3 will speak your language. It’s a fun and campy romp from the perspective of the townsfolk who live in the town by the castle inhabited by the ice queen who turns summer into winter. You know the show I’m talking about. But it’s not mentioned by name in the show, so we’ll keep the House of Mouse at bay here, too. References to other musical favourites abound and it’s great fun in picking them out, along with the tropes and idiosyncrasies of the genre itself. Izad Etemadi and Julia Pulo, as the lovable and starry-eyed Townsperson #3 and the vengeful and cynical Townsperson #7 respectively, are highly entertaining to watch as they do what townsfolk do: move chairs, dance in circles, sign harmonies, and carry around empty baskets. According to the playbill, this crazy caper is “inspired by the meticulously detailed and rarely seen backstories that ensemble members create.” So there is an absurd story here, but that’s the fun, and Etemadi and Pulo, both musical theatre veterans, are fully committed to it. There is something of a lull in momentum around the three-quarter mark, but that is easily forgiven because the laugh-out-loud moments abound everywhere else. This is a true Fringe frolic. – Meredith MacLeod
Wheel and Turn
Playwright/co-director/actor/producer: Nadia L Hohn
Writer/actor: Kevin heronJones
Singer/actor: Olivia Carter
Toronto
Venue: The Westdale
Until July 26
Showtimes and tickets here
Wheel and Turn is an optimistic gem of a story to please a wide audience. It's a semi-autobiographical musical play by Nadia L. Hohn, who plays the central character with likable earnestness. Aya is a kind, principled teacher, devoted to her “young Kings and Queens” but, like many of us, she struggles to find her true purpose. She writes, she takes a long list of classes and even embarks on her graduate studies with the aim of discovering that purpose. Her search takes on extra urgency when she is diagnosed with cancer. Her partner (Kevin heronJones, playing multiple characters) doesn’t understand Aya’s restlessness, having found his own identity as a musician and wanting to build a family. Aya is next inspired, however, to take a life-changing trip to Africa. But then, a “devastating series of events” sends Aya into a serious tailspin. Into her devastation comes a beacon in the form of the Jamaican poet, singer and playwright, Louise Bennett Coverley. “Miss Lou,” played with vivacious charisma by Carter (in a gorgeous costume and headdress), becomes a sort of fairy godmother to Aya, rousing her and making her realize that even the most eventful and impactful lives still have pain and uncertainty to contend with. It’s a feel-good story that also inspires us to learn more about a talented real-life woman with ties to Canada and Hamilton (McMaster University holds an archive of Miss Lou’s collected material). – Allison M. Jones
