Fringe Day Two

Went to the ribbon-cutting last night at our new Hub (a.k.a. "the beer tent") in its new digs behind Honest Ed's. Having worked in the arts and having covered the arts, I have stood through legions of business sponsors giving speeches. Few come close to David Mirvish (prominent Toronto family, the Mirvishes are great arts philanthropists. Torontonians love them to bits), whose words bespoke his genuine love for Toronto and its theatre scene. Anne Mirvish was there sporting a wonderful hat. Mayor David Miller alluded to still been shellshocked about the weekend (G20), however jokingly.


I ran into Stephen Flett from The Flying Avro Arrow and Claire Acott from Double Double and have secured interviews with them from coming Comrade Bingo blogs.


I also attended the premiere of Tightrope which you should all go see. R.J. Downes brings his own contained emotion and bittersweetness to well-trodden themes. Kate Fenton did a beautiful job directing this play. A special mention goes to actor Richard Beaune whose clownish antics evoke Stan Laurel. His style is conversant with a production that reaches the audience's core with a feather rather than a punch. In this case, this is a good thing.


For more about Tightrope listen to yesterday's CB podcast.


Went back to the beer tent after Tightrope and found the booze and food pricey but I'm grateful  drinking companies are sponsoring theatre. What was that Facebook group called anyway "the booze department has a theatre problem"?

Comrade Bingo Goes to the Toronto Fringe Day One

Thanks to Blogger which can't even host podcasts, we need to transfer you to another blog to listen to our Toronto Fringe podcasts.

Here is our interview with playwright, R.J. Downes for his new show Tightrope