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 Gratitude in PART 3 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: 2:05:33
TL;DL: Messy in the best possible way! It'll keep you thinking and talking long after the final bow. Nobody's all good, nobody's all bad, everybody could use a shower after this one.
Cup of Hemlock Theatre Podcast reviewed The Astros in PART 3 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: 1:53:10
TL;DL: A story about young people giving everything they have to a game that's designed to chew them up and spit them out into an uncertain future, presented by the MVPs of the 2026 summer theatre season. At once an exceptional ensemble piece and a star-making vehicle for Emma Cuzzocrea.
Cup of Hemlock Theatre Podcast reviewed 1920's Walking Around in a Dream in PART 3 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: 1:43:48
TL;DL: Natalie Kaye is clearly having a lot of fun with language. It's kind of interesting how slang from one hundred years ago can feel just as foreign to our contemporary ears as Shakespearean verse from four hundred years ago.
EDITOR'S NOTE: I'm still upset about the apostrophe in the title.
Cup of Hemlock Theatre Podcast reviewed My Own Private Shakespeare in PART 3 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: 1:37:24
TL;DL: An exquisite solo performance that uses well-delivered and meaningfully integrated Shakespearean text to transcend beyond the public therapy session that it might have otherwise become.
Cup of Hemlock Theatre Podcast reviewed Clowns Reading Shakespeare in PART 3 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: 1:30:33
TL;DL: Love these clowns! I'd be inclined to see them turn this into an anthology series that tackles one Shakespeare play at a time, since the current version felt a touch overstuffed.
Cup of Hemlock Theatre Podcast reviewed Artificially Intelligent 2.0 in PART 3 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: 1:25:34
TL;DL: Anesti is as funny as always, but if you saw version 1.0 at the 2024 Fringe, this so-called sequel will be way too familiar.
Cup of Hemlock Theatre Podcast reviewed Catching a Cheese Pervert in PART 3 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: 1:06:56
TL;DL: When it comes to substance, it's more of a Cheez-It than a cheese wheel. Very fun while you're watching it; a tad forgettable as soon as you step out of the theatre. A perfect (slightly junkfood-ish) way to spend an afternoon of Fringing.
Cup of Hemlock Theatre Podcast reviewed Crucified Woman in PART 3 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: 57:11
TL;DL: It's written and directed by a cool priest with a surprising amount of previous theatre credits under their belt, but sadly winds up feeling like it was written by somebody trying their hand at playwriting for the first time. It's an agreeable parable about the evils of censorship, but without a reasonable voice of opposition to lend the arguments more friction, it just ends up preaching to the choir.
Cup of Hemlock Theatre Podcast reviewed Mirv-"ish" in PART 3 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: 30:50
TL;DL: Excellent sing-song spontaneity with just the right amount of (the good kind of) roughness, which opened up a larger conversation about conventual musical theatre structures.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Though Mack had a lot to say about how the performance he attended didn't contain any solo songs, the producers informed us (after the episode's release) that he saw the ONLY night when that happened to be the case. Occupational hazard of reviewing improv.
Cup of Hemlock Theatre Podcast reviewed Vinyl Collection in PART 3 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: 17:25
TL;DL: It's a lot of fun ... until it's not ... but even if the story feels unfinished, it remains well constructed through and through.