Toronto Fringe Review: Are You Lovin’ It?

Are You Lovin’ It? is quite possibly one of my favourite Fringe shows ever. This surreal satire, set in “WcDonald’s Land”, uses the popular fast food franchise as a symbol of American globalization, specifically in Japan.

The main characters consist of a genderbent Ronald McDonald-type character who is the representative of WcDonald’s Land; a traditional Japanese business man, taking his first ever vacation day; and a mom dressed in Gothic Lolita fashion, pushing her baby in a stroller.

Highly stylized with exaggerated physicality, the show combines traditional Japanese theatre techniques, such as Kabuki and Japanese sword play, with pop culture references. Delightfully strange, laugh-out-loud funny, and sometimes kind of gross (who doesn’t like a good poop joke segment?), Are You Lovin’ It? is comedy perfection. Plus, the critique of capitalist work and consumer culture is on point and relatable.

Intestine burgers, toxic work culture, baby poop schedules, an epic action sequence, and more (!) make for the perfect combo meal of a show.

There are moments of audience participation throughout the show, some of which can be done from your seat and some that invite the audience member onto the stage. Participating is, of course, completely optional; I appreciated the way the performers would check in with the audience when looking for a volunteer and move on if they got a “no”. One such moment involved assigning audience members personality types in order to determine what kind of Happy Meal toy they would get. Some of the types included Judas-type, Donald Trump-type, and Romeo-type.

High energy, absurd, and over the top, my answer is definitely yes, I am lovin’ Are You Lovin’ It?

Are You Lovin’ It? is on now until July 13 at the Toronto Fringe. Show times and tickets.