Toronto Fringe Review: But That’s Another Story - Festival Favourites

Let me preface this review with: I am not the intended audience for this show. A night of storytelling is usually great fun, and for the right audience, this will be a lovely watch. The show is full of gentle tug-on-your-heart-strings, “things were tough but I prevailed” type stories. And for those who could use that these days, this will more than scratch that itch. 

During the introduction, co-host Christel Bartelse says that storytelling is needed more now than ever, that it’s about empathy, and she’s absolutely 1000% correct. However, storytelling needs to tell us something new or to be relatable to our current situation. After 16 months of varying degrees of hell, lost jobs, friends, and family members etc, it’s incredibly difficult to relate to what feels like mild irritation by comparison. My disappointment has nothing to do with the quality of performers or the stories they told (who doesn’t love to hear Colin Mochrie spin a yarn?). It’s that in this context, telling stories of a crap review or doing a performance whilst jet lagged and disoriented, feels like a lack of empathy for the audience. They learned a lesson through their struggles, so chin up folks, we can too! Every story told would be endearing outside of the pandemic, but within they feel at best trivial, and at worst self indulgent. 

There is one notable exception: the storytelling of Shayna Jones. Jones is an artist who clearly studies the art and craft of traditional storytelling, and does so with great love. Her story is a dark cautionary tale, told with no overt moralizing. Her sensuous style is incredibly rich and vivid, providing a great palette cleanse and is an overall festival standout for me thus far.

Though this production wasn’t a winner for me, I can see it being a balm for those who are less precarious in these dark times. If you are soothed and entertained by fairly innocuous tales persevering though middling discomforts, with sometimes humorous and somewhat moralistic punchlines, this just might be the show for you.

But That’s Another Story - Festival Favourites is part of the Digital Toronto Fringe Festival July 21 - 31, 2021.
Find tickets and show info here.