THE 2022 SHOWS
TRUTH'S A DOG MUST TO KENNEL
Written and Performed by Tim Crouch | Directed by Karl Janes & Andy Smith
Discovered at: Edinburgh Fringe Festival (Fringe First Award-Winner)
The Fool leaves Shakespeare's King Lear before the blinding. Before the killing starts. Before the ice-creams in the interval. In this new solo work, Tim Crouch draws on ideas of virtual reality to send him back to the future of the play he left. Back to a world laid waste by division and trauma; a world where the revolution will take place on a screen. Truth’s a Dog Must to Kennel is a daringly unaccommodated piece of theatre that switches between scathingly funny stand-up and an audacious act of collective imagining. It’s a celebration of live performance and a skewering of the state we’re in now. King Lear meets stand-up meets the metaverse.
ABORTION WEEKEND
Written & Directed by Jairis Carter & Mareshah Dupree
Discovered at: Hollywood Fringe
It’s the summer before best friends Dazia and Ayanna’s senior year of college- their final hurrah before adulthood hits them full force. The girls have big plans for their summer together in LA including a trip to Sixteen Flags, attending Melanin Magic Yoga sessions, and getting lit around town. Plans go array when preacher’s daughter Dazia unexpectedly gets pregnant. Dazia doesn’t believe in abortions, but she knows that having a child isn’t an option for her right now. Thus births the plan of “abortion weekend,” a weekend filled with dangerous and self-sabotaging activities in order to effectively end the pregnancy.
BETSY WISDOM OF A BRIGHTON WHORE
Written by Jonathan Brown | Directed by Jonathan Brown
Discovered at: Brighton Fringe
You're big, bigly big, an elevated luminary of the town, but you need your “comforts”. Come down into the deep dark underworld of Victorian Brighton. Betsy awaits, to ease your burdens from your brow, cater to your every need. But Betsy has a story of her own, one of sex, seduction, survival. As your bodies, and tales, intermingle, you come to realise that you may have been... indiscreet. Now, it's time to clean up the mess, to leave no trace. As echoes of Trump, Andrew, Epstein reverberate back down the centuries, we'll dig up the past, with you in mind.
BE MY GUEST
Written & Directed by Monia Baldini
Discovered at: Milano Fringe
“Be My Guest” is an interactive, meta-theatrical, comedy show where Monia, the author, the only performer on stage, plays six characters. The worlds of clown, bouffon, tragedy, improvisation, cabaret and physical comedy are combined magically in the space of an hour. Through a witty vivisection of her persona Monia has made a brave and revolutionary piece of theatre that shows and explores ways to empower human fragility. Themes are hot and urgent: poverty, failure, isolation, dreams and taboo. Language is bold and satirical. Audience is constantly, through the lightness of the game, driven to be part of this passionate journey.
AFGHANISTAN IS NOT FUNNY
Written by Henry Naylor | Directed by Darren Lee Cole & Martha Lott
Discovered at: Hollywood Fringe
In 2002, UK comedian and 3-time Edinburgh Fringe First winner Henry Naylor (2018 Hollywood Fringe Best International nominee for “Echoes”) went to the Afghan Warzone with photographer Sam Maynard to conduct research for Naylor’s Edinburgh Fringe play “Finding Bin Laden.” They were threatened by a war criminal, captured by the Mujhadeen, and almost blown up by the Taliban. Now, as the Taliban return to power, Naylor incisively asks: what has been lost in the ruins of Kabul?
BE MY THIEF
Written by Mac Rogers | Directed by Jordana Williams
Discovered at: Orlando International Fringe Festival
Mira just came home from her first day back at work in person… but her husband Sam doesn’t think she’s really Mira at all. Doctor Latham specializes in this kind of delusion, but her methods are far from conventional. Sam and Mira’s tenure under her unique form of therapy will transform their lives in ways they never imagined. A twisty thriller about identity, and the terror of going back outside.
GENERIC MALE
Written & Directed by Darren Stevenson & Ashley Jones
Discovered at: Orlando International Fringe Festival
An explosive, athletic, masculinity satire by two well-meaning fools - arguing, dancing, and clinging to the status-quo. Hilarious acrobatic hijinks ensue as they examine the thoughts and assumptions that go unquestioned until they are spoken aloud. Called “…Cirque du Soleil meets Samuel Beckett with a dash of Monty Python…” by the Orlando Weekly, “Generic Male” is about men trying, and failing, to be powerful. It’s about fathers and sons, war and death, and… James Bond.Are we watching a couple of petty idiots or is this the most insightful piece of theatre of the 21st century? …No
LOVE’S LEFT HAND
Written & Directed by LEMOUR Physical Theatre
Discovered at: Milano Fringe
They really want each other. It has been a perfect date and the lovebirds can’t wait to reach her house. On the way, he heart-openly tosses a coin into a stranger’s hat, passionately wishing for her to be the one. But the stranger is not just a stranger – it is love’s left hand, who feels invited by this gesture to get involved in making this love a true love. But be aware: tasks are always completed wholeheartedly, but never seriously by love’s left hand. A heart-warming play about the courage to trust in love's sense of humor.
MADE IN AMERICA
Written by Teruko Nakajima | Directed by John Flynn
Discovered at: Hollywood Fringe
MADE IN AMERICA is a funny yet shockingly raw autobiography written and performed by Japanese born artist Teruko Nakajima. She flees her homeland to escape a life filled with physical and emotional abuse. She tries surviving in America by becoming a Dominatrix, salsa dancer, and night club madame. But as the pressures in this new world overwhelm her, Teruko must learn to love herself before her own trauma destroys her. Her dog Titi performs too.
NO TIME FOR WORDS
Written & Directed by LEMOUR Physical Theatre
Discovered at: Milano Fringe Festival
The simplest activity can be a thrilling challenge, when you do your best to get everything right: taking a perfect family photo, hiding a surprise-present or rescuing a screwed dance performance. When life gets so exciting, there’s no time left to talk – that’s why we don’t need a single word to tell these stories. Come with us on an energetic ride through a heartwarming collection of fun and cheeky moments: There’s lots of action in daily life adventures that will make you laugh. Experience LEMOUR ‘S favorite short stories for children and those who never grew old.
Six Chick Flicks or a Legally Blonde Pretty Woman Dirty Danced on the Beaches while writing a Notebook on the Titanic
Written & Directed by Kerry Ipema & TJ Dawe
Discovered at: Orlando International Fringe Festival
Direct from a Fringe festival tour, the sold out, smash hit comedy finally comes to New York. Six Chick Flicks parodies your favorite movies in one hysterical, fast-paced show. Kerry Ipema (One Woman Sex and the City) and KK Apple (UCB) bring all the most iconic moments and montages to life with songs, dance breaks, and plenty of pop culture hilarity. Written by Kerry Ipema and TJ Dawe (A Canadian Bartender at Butlins). Winner of Orlando Fringe Patrons Pick 2022, Toronto Fringe Patrons Pick 2022, and Edmonton Fringe Holdover Series. “This is pop culture parody at its best.” - NOW Magazine
THE HOUSE THAT F*CKS
Written & Directed by Zachary Parsons-Lozinski
Discovered at: Edmonton Fringe
Inspired by lessons learned in therapy over the course of a global pandemic, playwright Zachary Parsons-Lozinski uses outrageous camp to explore deconstructing learned traumas surrounding queer sexuality. Susan Koontz is a woman with a beautiful home, supportive friends, and a gorgeous husband; but when she's tasked with competing in the annual community dance competition by herself - she finds herself on a path of sexual discovery! Robots! Pornography! Cigarettes for dogs!
THE STAKEOUT
Written by Martin Dockery | Directed by Vanessa Quesnelle
Discovered at: Edmonton Fringe
A comedy/drama about two men on a stakeout of two men on a stakeout of them. Fresh, funny, & fearless. A head trip about fathers, sons, and one’s sense of self. Wild, dramatically ambitious, and disorienting in the best possible way. The best new play of the year. “4.5 STARS: A phenomenal story told with impeccable cadence.” -Winnipeg Free Press. “Biting humor and remarkably poignant.” -Calgary Herald. “5 STARS: The Stakeout is comedy and drama, magic and wonder, all wrapped up in one of the best performances of the year.” -Edmonton Journal.
TROY HAWKE: SIGMUND TROY’D
Written & Directed by Milo McCabe
Discovered at: Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Raised and home schooled in her favourite era by his overprotective mother, Troy was finally released into the world and now dedicates his time to uncovering everyday dangers and conspiracies that other people seem to take for granted. Last year he found the nefarious link between IKEA, the Nazis and Kanye West. Now 1930’s throwback home-schooled investigator Troy Hawke returns to battle a new enemy on behalf of all people everywhere…PSYCHOTHERAPY! Troy Hawke creator Milo McCabe trained to be a psychotherapist before abandoning his studies to pursue comedy. This show is an affectionate reverse love-letter reflecting the effectiveness of therapy as well as all the reasons clients will find to avoid the home truths they really need to hear. It takes in Imposter Syndrome, narcissistic parents, helpers high, denial and dis-placement via a system of scrabble-based numerology and ‘character comedy at its best’. As Troy Hawke, Milo McCabe has delivered numerous viral videos which have subsequently led to sell out national and international tours.