By Jay Menard

So Tevye may not need another daughter, but it clearly can use some refinement, edits, focus, and better pacing. There is a rudimentary foundation of a story in this play, but a lack of subtlety in delivery and challenges with its pacing causes that promising potential to be lost.

The production is Monda Halpern’s So Tevye, Could You Use Another Daughter. And there’s a certain chutzpah involved with name dropping Tevye in a production. Due to the iconic status of the character (known from Fiddler on the Roof and the Tevye series of novels from whence the film and play were inspired), you’re setting expectations extremely high about the quality of the content, at very least. When those expectations are elevated, it’s beholden on all involved to live up to them. Continue reading →

By Jay Menard

The ADHD Project is a wonderfully told story of Carlyn Rhamey’s life with ADHD. It’s a story that’s filled with warmth, humour, a touch of sadness, and hefty dose of uplifting messaging that combines to have you fall in love with the story and the storyteller alike.

It’s hard not to like Rhamey. She’s vibrant, engaging, and fills the room with the force of her personality and joy. She punctuates many lines with a wonderfully expressive face and body language — which makes her moments of sadness and melancholy all the more jarring. Her story is crafted in such a way that we feel her highs and lows, and are not mere spectators, but partners in her quest to understand who she is, how her brain works, and where she fits in a society that’s all too quick to put people with ADHD in a box. Continue reading →

By Jay Menard,

What happens when you’re chasing a dream, but can’t let anyone know you’re running after it? In Gamer Boy Patrick Avery-Kenny answers that question in hilarious fashion — and also discusses what comes next once that race is run.

Gamer Boy is a story of Avery-Kenny’s dreams to be a professional gamer, centred around when a 13-year-old Avery-Kenny earned his way into a Halo gaming competition, then had to concoct a plan and deceive his parents to travel on his own to the 2006 Free-for-All Tournament in Dallas, Texas. Continue reading →

By Jay Menard

Cleaning Up is ostensibly a story about people who deal with what others “leave” behind, but this charming and hilarious show is, at its roots, about the wonderful (and sometimes not-so-wonderful, yet still memorable) moments and people that we take with us along the way.

There is so much to love about this show. From the delightfully endearing and conversational nature of playwright and lead Tammy Vink, to the wonderfully entertaining, wink-and-a-nod-melodrama of Sookie Mei, to the charming versatility of Dinah Watts (who embodied several ancillary roles and went from bratty to tender with aplomb), the three main actresses weave together a story that is exceptionally paced, light-hearted, and eminently relatable. Continue reading →