> Sarvin Esmaeili * The speed of Jon Bennett’s storytelling left me open-mouthed. He starts by casually chatting with the audience. Then he subtly shifts into the heart of his show with the question, “How many of you have missed your plane before?... Well,nobody...

> Colin Thomas Watching Gemma Wilcox perform is kind of like reading a children’s book—in which nothing much happens. If Magical Mystery Detour were a kids’ book, the emphasis would definitely be on the illustrations. In this one-woman show, Wilcox’s central...

> Colin Thomas When you unwrap Self-ish, there’s a gift waiting for you, but you’ve got to paw your way through a lot of packing material to get to it. In this monologue, playwright Kuan Foo introduces us to a 35-year-old Korean-Canadian woman named Esther. She’s...

> Colin Thomas No Belles may not be formally ambitious, but it is very well crafted—like a nicely cobbled shoe or a beautifully bound book. With a feminist spin, three actors tell the story of eight female scientists. All of these researchers had to deal with...

> David Johnston * Meet Mel Malarkey, Depression-era vaudevillian. They're hosting one final show before the theatre is sold. Mel is delightful, but a little exhausting. Mel plays the musical saw! Mel feuds with donkeys! Mel recites love odes to an elephant woman!...

> David Johnston * A man and woman trek eastwards across America. The apocalypse has happened. Or the rapture. Or a plague. Doesn't matter. Point is, they're alone, and they're in search of a surviving colony somewhere near San Francisco’s famous bridge—assuming...

> Sarvin Esmaeili * Watching Gossamer Obsessions, I spent half my time laughing and half my time trying to figure out why I was laughing. This sketch comedy opens with two British-accented narrators (Amy Shostak and Paul Bilnov) who introduce us to the world of the...

This is a guest review by David Johnston. We've all been there. You have a lovely, taut Fringe show, and then overnight—bam!—theatrical bloat strikes like a Mack truck. Say you're an actress named Colleen Brow. By your own admission, your storytelling comedy about...