Toronto Fringe Festival: The 15 essential shows from our theater critics

Choir

It promises to be a great year for musicals at the Fringe. This 75-minute semi-autobiographical tuner brings together theater performers and once Spice Girl impersonators Anika Johnson and Barbara Johnston, co-creators of the Fringe hit “Blood Ties,” which was featured in TV’s “Orphan Black.” The musical comedy traces a year in the life of the fictional Tierce de Picardie Children’s Choir leading up to a major choir competition. The choir is played by more than 30 singers between the ages of 11 and 18. Johnson and Johnston wrote the book, music and lyrics, and Johnston is directing, with musical direction from Jake Schindler. July 5 to 16 at the Al Green Theater, 750 Spadina Ave.

Dancer (a ten furlong musical)

This new musical, which won the 2023 Fringe’s Adams Prize for Musical Theater, tells the inspiring true story of the first Canadian horse to win the Kentucky Derby. Though considered too small and feisty to be a winner, Northern Dancer defied the odds and triumphed at Churchill Downs in 1964. All the horses in the main cast are played by dancers with no animal costumes or puppetry – it’s the choreography by Stacey Tookey (who also directs) and the bodies of the performers expressing the physicality of the horses. Historical characters tell the story, such as Northern Dancer’s trainer and horse breeding magnate EP Taylor. July 5-16 at the Al Green Theater

James and Jamesy: Easy as pie

Two clowns. A cake. You know the rest – or do you? Canadian comedy duo and well-attended Fringe favorites James and Jamesy (Aaron Malkin and Alastair Knowles) turn an initial failure to deliver a pie-in-the-face clowning routine into a comedic exploration of trauma, memory and love. With director David MacMurray Smith, Malkin and Knowles’ several previous James and Jamesy shows have toured extensively to huge acclaim, and “Easy as Pie” was a critic’s choice in 2023’s Orlando Fringe. interact with the audience, and hearts are likely to be warmed along the way. July 5 to 12 at Factory Theater Mainspace, 125 Bathurst St.

An incomplete list of all the things I’m going to miss when the world is no more

It’s the end of the world as we know it, so why not celebrate with a strange synthpop musical? Set against the announcement of the exact moment the world will end, this show was created by Dante Green with a majority of Indigenous/people of color and queer/gender non-conforming ensemble. It was well received in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New York and Seattle, and was recently a capstone for the musical theater program at Sheridan College. Green directs this Fringe staging, with musical direction by Chris Tsujiuchi, choreography by star Alyssa Martin, and an optional dance party with audience participation. July 6 to 15 at Factory Theater Mainspace

Emo Majok: African Australian

Born in an East African refugee camp, Emo Majok has risen in Australian stand-up comedy circles and brings his story to the Toronto Fringe for the first time. Majok made it to the finals of ‘Australia’s Got Talent’ with his comedy, which combines inspiring messages of hope and resilience with hilarious anecdotes. This show, which premiered at the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe and has since toured Australia, follows his journey, including emigration to Australia when he was eight, and the challenges and rewards of navigating different cultural traditions and expectations. July 5 to 15 at the Tarragon Theater Solo Room, 30 Bridgman Ave.

The good old days

In popular Fringe shows like “The Huns” and “Anywhere” – both awarded Patrons’ Pick and Best of Fringe – playwright Michael Ross Albert has shown that he understands how much high stakes drama you can pack into a Fringe slot of 60 minutes. His latest involves two former friends (Brianna Wright and Dora nominee Cass Van Wyck) who reunite in the apartment they once shared and then chase each other across a surreal, fractured Toronto in search of the titular good old days. Expect a thrilling ride with Dora-winning director Jill Harper at the helm. July 6 to 16 at Theater Passe Muraille Mainspace

Nobody special

The Fringe has always been a great place for artists to try new things. That’s clearly the case with Julie Kim, who is best known as a stand-up comedian — her credits include a Just for Laughs gala in 2022 and a 40-city tour with Ronny Chieng — and writer. “No One Special” chronicles her early life as the daughter of Korean immigrants living in a small apartment above a convenience store in Toronto. If that sounds familiar, yes, Kim contributed to the writers’ room of the hit series “Kim’s Convenience” and she wrote jokes for its star, Marvel superhero Simu Liu, when he hosted the Junos. But while this show will have some laughs, expect much more as Kim explores themes of money, love, gender and bullying. July 6 to 16 at the Tarragon Theater Solo Room

Miss Titanverse

In January 2020, all-Filipino company Tita Collective made an impressive debut at Fringe’s sister festival, Next Stage, with “Tita Jokes,” a raucous, energetic sketch revue about their Filipino elders. Now the company is back with a musical comedy about their own lives as Filipino-Canadian millennials caught between two cultures. The show, which stars Ann Paula Bautista, Belinda Corpuz, Ellie Posadas, Alia Rasul and Maricris Rivera, is set during a beauty pageant, something celebrated in the Philippine community. Who will be crowned winner? If their past hit show is any indication, the audience. July 5 to 15 at Theater Passe Muraille Mainspace

Dead end

Entering the real estate market can be treacherous, but did you know it can also be deadly? That should become clear in Michael Posner’s dark comedy about an estate agent who shows a once grand English country house to a couple. What the potential buyers don’t know is that the estate agent’s wife recently disappeared. While the synopsis promises a big, twisty mystery, there’s no mystery about some of the creative team’s talent. Posner is an acclaimed journalist and biographer, while actor Chris Gibbs is considered Fringe royalty for his solo shows like “Not Quite Sherlock” and “Like Father, Like Son? Sorry.” July 6 to 16 at the Al Green Theater

Life between us

The Fringe’s KidsFest is a great way to get younger audiences excited about theater. And this show, written and performed by real-life father and daughter Faisal Butt and Sloane Eveleigh, promises to be something audiences of all ages will discuss afterwards. The two tell stories and jokes (Butt is a professional stand-up comic), while wearing matching red tracksuits. Through it all, they ask the audience whether kids or adults know best. Sounds like a pretty fun introduction to interactive theatre. Proof that the family that plays together…plays together. July 5 to 16 at St. Volodymyr Institute, 620 Spadina Ave.

A woman’s will

The dazzling historic mansion that is now the Spadina Museum will serve as the backdrop for “The Will of a Woman,” a new riveting theatrical production from Fringe favorite Steven Elliott Jackson, who has penned shows like “The Seat Next to the King,” “The Garden of Alla” and “Three Common Men.” Based on true events, this historical play follows heiress Elizabeth Bethune Campbell, who in the 1920s became the first woman to defend herself before the Privy Council in England after learning her mother’s trust had been betrayed. With only 25 tickets per show, this is likely to be a sellout. July 5 to 16 at the Spadina Museum, 285 Spadina Rd.

Maggie Chun’s first love and last marriage

Emerging playwright Helen Ho’s second play enters the festival this year with two high-profile awards: it earned first place in the 2022 University of Toronto Spotlight Playwriting Competition and also won the prestigious 2023 Toronto Fringe New Play Contest. It follows Maggie Chun , who is preparing to marry her high school boyfriend, Rob Berkowski. But when Maggie’s high school crush suddenly arrives, she’s forced into an unexpected awakening. Much of this cast and creative team was part of Fringe’s mesmerizing new play, “The Boy Who Cried,” last year. This production should prove just as compelling. July 5 to 16 at Factory Theater Mainspace

Caesar

Toronto playwright Nam Nguyen was the talk of the town last summer with his ravishing hit ‘A Perfect Bowl of Pho’. This year, he’s teamed up with electronic techno composer Chernilo (Maksym Chupov-Ryabtsev) to create a hip-hop musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar.” In “Caezus,” the former Roman dictator is transformed into a hip-hop superstar (think Kanye West), bent on strengthening himself as not just a ruler, but God. If this new musical is anything like Nguyen’s previous creations, expect something wildly imaginative, subversive and delightfully entertaining. July 6 to 15 at Factory Theater Mainspace

While passing by

If a park bench were a living creature, what stories would it tell? What could it have heard – of the love and loss, the highs and lows of the people it encounters? “In Passing,” a tap dance performance co-created by Cori Giannotta and Dora nominee Johnathan Morin, aims to revive these park bench stories: a man struggling with loss; a young adult struggling to make ends meet; a blossoming romance. Rhythm & Sound, the dance company behind this production, performed at festivals across Canada. Featuring a talented cast of tap dancers, this new production should be a rhythmic, toe-tapping treat. July 6 to 15 at the Al Green Theater

Sadec 1965: a love story

Flora Le’s six-week motorcycle tour of Vietnam in 2013 forms the basis of this solo show, which arrives at the Toronto Fringe after touring seven cities last year. In this poignant personal reflection, Le unpacks her complicated relationship with her estranged Vietnamese father and tries to understand why he, who left Vietnam for Canada, never spoke of his native country. In her search for answers, she finds a treasure trove of love letters between her father and his high school sweetheart, who he left behind during the Vietnam War. Le weaves this correspondence into her powerful stories. July 5 to 15 at Dragon Theater Mainspace

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