Stage/Toronto Fringe 2024

What: 86 Me: The Restaurant Play
Where: Supermarket: Bar and Variety, 268 Augusta Ave.
When: Fri., July 5 at 3:30 pm; Sat., July 6 at 3:30 pm, Sun., July 7 at 7:00 pm, Tue., July 9 at 6:00 pm; Wed., July 10 at 7:00 pm; Thurs., July 11 at 5:00 pm, Fri., July 12 at 3:30 pm; Sat., July 13 at 3:30 pm; and Sun., July 14 at 7:00 pm
Highlight: A cutlery-based rendition of We Will Rock You
Rating: NNNN (out of 5)
Why you should go: Audience participation serves the story (pun intended)

A COUPLE on the brink of breaking up, a perpetually drunk and vaping hostess, a douchey French guy and a 20-year-old restaurant inspector walk into a bar … chaos and hilarity ensue. 86 Me: The Restaurant Play, directed and created by Jackson Doner follows a ragtag group of employees at Our Lady Kensington, a dying bar on the verge of being put to rest once and for all.

Oh, this was a whole lotta fun. The Supermarket Bar and Variety is transformed into cabaret-style seating by producing company Dead Racoon Theatre, trash strewn about from the bar’s last-night activities. The actors weave in and out of the performance space — even throwing things over the heads of unsuspecting audience members (and sometimes hitting them! Whoops!) There was a tipping system for the actors, a shot (of Sprite) given out to audience members and even an impromptu break out into We Will Rock You with the audience keeping beat with forks and knives. In a play all about finding community and connection within the service industry, the interactive elements are not only incredibly fun but also serve the emotional core of the piece.

At 90 minutes, the show starts to feel like it could use some tightening, but that is no dealbreaker. With endearing performances across the board (especially by Luke Kimball), a solid script and an enchantingly grimy bar atmosphere, this is bound for Fringe fame. The whole run is essentially sold out, and deservedly so.