The Toronto Fringe Festival (July 2–13) features upcoming theatre artists, fan favourites from Fringe fests around the world, and, of course, some level of artistic mayhem. This year boasts 108 shows on over 20 different stages. If I’m not mistaken, this time round seems heavier on the clowning, musical theatre, and comedy.
After carefully combing through the schedule for novelty, quirkiness, deeply-Toronto stories and ones that couldn’t be further away, here are the shows I’m looking forward to. Tickets are usually $18.75 per show and cheaper if you buy a multi-show pass or get the daily discounts.
In comedy, there’s a quirky-looking ensemble for David Lynch’s Seinfeld (July 4-13, Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse). Whistling Pine (A Dark Comedy) by Chris Mejaki is about a rural Ontario drug dealer who finds himself in the carceral system where he meets his spirit guides (July 3-11, Native Earth), and the gynocentric refusal of fascism in Plan V: The Rise of Reverence (July 3-13, Alumnae Theatre) look like charming bookends to a wide array of solo shows. And let’s not forget improv featuring award-winning drag queens Hillary Yaas and Selena Vyle in A Play We Just Wrote Just Now at Tarragon (July 2-12).
These shows and the rest of Fringe will be somewhere between brilliant and unhinged, and if we’re lucky, a precious few will be both!
For musicals, CRTL ALT DELETE: An Alphabetical Musical, a story about austerity requiring the downsizing of the alphabet, is a fun premise (July 2-12, Passe Muraille). Fringe fave Adam Francis Proulx is back with Emilio’s A Million Chameleons for the puppet lovers (July 4-12, Soulpepper). Juno-winning JJ Tartaglia brings nostalgia for arena rock days with his rock opera Thunderor (July 3-12, VideoCabaret). For the kiddos and kiddos at heart, Opera Mouse, about a mouse who dreams of singing, looks adorable (July 3-13, Soulpepper).
For the more serious-minded, Quiltro is an intriguing premise: a teen runs away to live with stray dogs in town (July 2-12, Soulpepper). Honey Never Spoils is a thriller set in the realm of the ever-popular true crime podcasts (July 3-12, Tarragon).
Dance is underrepresented, but Temple of Desire (July 4-11, Native Earth) dares to imagine a sacred and sensuous precolonial world with 16 classical Indian dancers.
There are a number of unconventional venue shows, and I’m most excited for the dark dandy of old-timey music and grim jokes in Eli Pasic’s return to the Fringe with Screaming in the Rain (July 2-13, The Canadian Music Centre).
Undoubtedly, these shows and the rest of Fringe will be somewhere between brilliant and unhinged, and if we’re lucky, a precious few will be both!
This article appeared in the 2025 Summer issue.
