Ryan Borochovitz
I'm the Theatre Editor for NEXT Magazine. I'll be posting NEXT's reviews (some written by myself, but mostly those written by my much more talented colleagues) as Fringe goes on. I'm also part of the team that produces the Cup of Hemlock Theatre podcast. We'll be releasing a three-part post-festival Review Roundup, discussing every show we saw over the course of the Fringe.
Cup of Hemlock Theatre Podcast reviewed CAMP! in PART 1 of our 3-part post-festival Review Roundup.
Click link for YouTube, or search for the audio-only version wherever you get your podcasts. TIMESTAMP: 2:13:26
TL;DL: Once again, a Mixtape Projects musical gave us the most to say out of any show we discussed in our roundup. With humorous and heartfelt songs that prompt thought-provoking conversations about friendship and growing up, CAMP! is a delight from beginning to end.
Cup of Hemlock Theatre Podcast reviewed U UP? in PART 1 of our 3-part post-festival Review Roundup.
Click link for YouTube, or search for the audio-only version wherever you get your podcasts. TIMESTAMP: 2:01:39
TL;DL: Super rough improv from a team that doesn't feel like they have the best cohesion performing together. The premise has lot of potential, but could use more work to iron out precisely what they're trying to say about nationalism and geopolitical borders. And yet, it eventually reached a point of transcendent roughness that I actually wound up having a lot of fun.
Cup of Hemlock Theatre Podcast reviewed Every Fringe Show You've Ever Seen All At Once. in PART 1 of our 3-part post-festival Review Roundup.
Click link for YouTube, or search for the audio-only version wherever you get your podcasts. TIMESTAMP: 1:55:24
TL;DL: No prizes for pointing out that the title feels misleading, but I still had a really good time.
Cup of Hemlock Theatre Podcast reviewed $20 Sandwich Ruins Your Childhood in PART 1 of our 3-part post-festival Review Roundup.
Click link for YouTube, or search for the audio-only version wherever you get your podcasts. TIMESTAMP: 1:48:59
TL;DL: The sandwich crew are pros, but Mack had the misfortune of seeing them chafe against the world's least interesting audience participant. Worth seeing again, hopefully with better raw material to work with.
Cup of Hemlock Theatre Podcast reviewed You Choose in PART 1 of our 3-part post-festival Review Roundup.
Click link for YouTube, or search for the audio-only version wherever you get your podcasts. TIMESTAMP: 1:41:02
TL;DL: Great improvisers, working within a very well thought out structural container. Due to its signature variability, some nights might have been better than others, but that comes with the territory.
Cup of Hemlock Theatre Podcast reviewed The First Vampire in PART 1 of our 3-part post-festival Review Roundup.
Click link for YouTube, or search for the audio-only version wherever you get your podcasts. TIMESTAMP: 1:33:54
TL;DL: Mack enjoyed this one more than I did (which is why I'm splitting the difference with 3.5 stars). Well performed, but too often feels like a staged reading of a Wikipedia article to keep me fully gripped.
Cup of Hemlock Theatre Podcast reviewed Songs for Moby Dick in PART 1 of our 3-part post-festival Review Roundup.
Click link for YouTube, or search for the audio-only version wherever you get your podcasts. TIMESTAMP: 1:26:19
TL;DL: It's exactly what it says on the box. Thompson clearly loves the novel and has a nice voice, but it all washes together into one continuous drone that can make listeners feel unmoored. Not helped by tech issues, making it difficult to always hear the singing over the single keyboard accompaniment.
Cup of Hemlock Theatre Podcast reviewed Sinner in PART 1 of our 3-part post-festival Review Roundup.
Click link for YouTube, or search for the audio-only version wherever you get your podcasts. TIMESTAMP: 1:18:50
TL;DL: No relation to the vampire movie. Great solo musical about an interesting set of life experiences. Held back by tech issues, which will hopefully be resolved when it continues touring.
Cup of Hemlock Theatre Podcast reviewed SHOWSTOPPER in PART 1 of our 3-part post-festival Review Roundup.
Click link for YouTube, or search for the audio-only version wherever you get your podcasts. TIMESTAMP: 45:51
TL;DL: Hard one to give a rating to. Mack acknowledges that it's a fairly well done version of what it's trying to be, but (unfortunately) he's not the right audience for it, and would have known that it wasn't for him had it been marketed as an absurdist play.
Cup of Hemlock Theatre Podcast reviewed God Save the Sodomites in PART 1 of our 3-part post-festival Review Roundup.
Click link for YouTube, or search for the audio-only version wherever you get your podcasts. TIMESTAMP: 36:13
TL;DL: My favourite show I saw all Fringe!!! Top-notch artists doing a funny Old Testament shtick with a twist of The Good Place-style moral calculus and some of the most inventive audience participation I've seen in a long time. Well deserved selection for Best of Fringe.