Jason’s Reviews - FringeMTL 2026
The Syllabus
I wasn’t late for class, but I almost was. Walking down the bustling, pedestrianized Mont-Royal Avenue on a Friday evening, I walked right past what looked like a little alley, without realizing it was the continuation of Laval Street, and where White Wall Studio is located. I don’t blame the venue, or even the Fringe, as I believe their program has a solid map. But would it kill the City of Montreal to put up a street sign at the intersection like they did further up the, ahem, street?
You need to climb one staircase to get into the performance space, and then you’re in a rather large room, which really fits The Syllabus. Or, more accurately, the show’s creator and solo performer Michael Gougis turned the White Wall Studio into his classroom, even referencing the random mirror at the back of the room.
It was hot, with no air conditioning, but Gougis had fans set up, pointed at the audience, which did the trick. Their noise did cause me to miss a couple of words he said near the end of the show, but I think that added to the realism of the experience. I didn’t feel like I was listening to an actor performing a show, but rather a professor giving a class. And that’s exactly what it was. No plot, no characters. Just one guy with a laptop attached to a projector giving an introduction to his college Media Studies class, laying down the rules for consumption, drugs, pornography, fraternization, and deadlines, in increasingly over-the-top takes that work as both comedy and social commentary.
I didn’t need the internet to know that what Gougis said about himself in the show was legit. He is an award-winning journalist, and was a real college professor in California, and that came across clearly. His presentation clearly was funny, but Gougis was very real. The only actors in the room were us, the audience. His students.
The show allows latecomers throughout, and a few of my fellow classmates did stumble in after the figurative bell. Gougis was all too happy to chastise them, but not as a comedian, rather as a disappointed teacher would when his students are late for class.
When he repeatedly used the line, “in your car, in the parking lot”, I thought that maybe he didn’t realize that very few people in the audience probably had a car. But then I remembered, I’m not a 40-something Montrealer at a show, I’m a 20-something college student in California, so I did have a car. We all do. I also probably have to deal with gun violence as a fact of life, and racial prejudice, and gender prejudice, all of which are mentioned. So yes, that’s your content warning.
I didn’t think it was possible to do a comical and topical one-man show, and a fully immersive theatre experience at the same time, but Michael Gougis proved me wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed this approach, and was refreshingly surprised and entertained. And it was well-paced, too. The 45 minute runtime felt more like 30, and had me wanting more, and that’s always a good feeling to have when you leave a play…or a classroom.
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Balcony Scene
When I opened the door to O Patro Vys, the staircase leading up to the second floor multi-purpose performance space was packed with people waiting to get in. I had chosen the shows I wanted to review based on their descriptions before the festival had started, so I wasn’t following the Fringe Buzz. But I could tell by such a large turnout at an early Saturday afternoon showing that The Balcony Scene clearly had quite a bit of it. But was it warranted? I’d soon find out.
Having been to enough Fringe shows, I know the routine. The house lights dim, we hear the recorded land acknowledgement and welcome, and then the show itself starts. All that happened, but then the Fringe rep who had been sitting at the box office as we entered came on stage with a bit more pre-show housekeeping, and then introduced the two stars and two of the three playwrights Leslie Beedell and Francesca Esguerra (William Shakespeare being the third). The two actors, in turn, had a bit of pre-show housekeeping to get through themselves.
I thought this was a real odd thing to do, until I realized that it was all part of the show. As someone who loves breaking the fourth wall, I was slightly embarrassed, but moreover thrilled that it took me so long to realize what was going on. They got me.
According to the synopsis, Balcony Scene is about two high school friends trying to redeem their previous butchered performance as Romeo and Juliet. Yes, it is that, but the synopsis doesn’t mention that, in storyline, they’re doing so specifically at the 2026 Montreal Fringe Festival, in this venue, at this time, with this specific set of Fringe box office and tech staff, and with this specific audience. They’re not breaking the fourth wall, they’re building it, then removing it, then putting it back in place when necessary.
Beedell and Esguerra deliver funny, and sometimes over-the-top performances as Romeo and Juliet, but are truly captivating and believable (and equally funny) playing themselves. We go through their respective and shared past as high school theatre students, and see how it still shapes the performers, and people, they are today. And as for the other performers, I won’t tell you who they are, they definitely helped the show along, even though they may not “officially be a part of it.
Balcony Scene is a love letter to all former high school theatre kids trying to put on a Fringe show. It’s also a funny, clever, and well-constructed piece that subverts the fourth wall and brings the reality of the play into the show. So yes, it deserves all the positive buzz I think it is getting, and the likely sell-out crowds. You should get your tickets now.
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Daumas: Devil’s Advocate
Jury duty is something many people try to avoid, while others see it as a civic duty, or so I’m told, I’ve never been asked to do it. I was pretty sure it’s not something people paid to do, or was an activity that generated multiple sellouts, as is the case with Daumas: Devil's Advocate. As I headed past Fringe Park, I wondered where the tent was, but no time to think about that, I had late Monday night jury duty. I entered Mission Santa Cruz, headed down a small staircase, and took my spot in the already packed jury box overlooking the courtroom set.
This was the trial of Georges Daumas (Daniel Wan), an attorney who had defended anti-colonial terrorists, some of whom he subsequently married or dated. At one time, he also defended former Nazi war criminal Manfred Hofstetter (Calder Levine). Daumas was on trial for treason against the French state, and Wan brought out his character’s disdain for, and confusion about, the proceedings with the right balance of humour and anger.
Dana Saleh, who I'm sure I've seen in something before, was a definite highlight as Algerian Revolutionary Fatima Youcef. Her interactions with Wan led to some of the best comedy, as it played more like a couple spat with political courtroom drama as a backdrop. The most action came with Venezuelan communist guerrilla Diego Martinez (Alessandro Leone) losing it on his ex-wife, Daumas, and Daumas' ex as well, Gertraud Schneider. Jeanne Potvin played the former West German communist terrorist with the right amount of bourgeois opportunism, and a pretty convincing accent, too.
But it was Hofstetter that really set Daumas off, bringing out both his rage and his only bit of guilt. It also set off a bit of a mystery. Levine played him as a seemingly sympathetic old man, but in a way that we could tell that this persona masked so much horror and hate.
Henry Kemeny-Wodlinger as in-over-his-head Prosecutor Étienne Rigault, and Nicholas Lepage as The Judge round out the cast. While Lepage had a commanding, by-the-book presence throughout, I wonder if he truly was impartial. You see, at the end, we got to discuss our verdict, before raising our hands with our eyes closed. And the people in my section were all in unison, but the verdict went the other way. But I’m in media, a steward of the court of public opinion, so I should be able to share my verdict on the case, but I also shouldn’t be giving spoilers. So instead I’ll share my verdict on the show:
Daumas: Devil’s Advocate is hereby charged with cleverly using its courtroom premise to deliver drama, comedy, and political commentary in a highly entertaining and thought-provoking way, and found Guilty!
If you want to sign up for jury duty, there are a couple of shows left. With many sellouts already, I’d get my tickets soon.
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Scions
Among all the Fringe shows I saw this year, Scions was definitely a standout for quite a few reasons, but mainly two: The first was the venue, the Studio Jean-Valcourt du Conservatoir is a reasonably-sized, modern black box theatre space with comfortable seats. Monday wasn’t a hot day outside, but if it had been, I’m sure I’d still be nice and cool in this space. The thing that really got me was the building itself. The Conservatoire de musique et d'art dramatique de Montréal is a large, multi-purpose building that is fully accessible with ramps and elevators, though I took the stairs to the second-floor space. It felt more like I was in Place des Arts than a typical Fringe venue.
The stage was decked out as part of a medieval castle, torchlit, which worked for the story’s two different locations. The story itself was an original dramatic fantasy tale with sword fighting and stage combat. Another thing that really separated Scions from the other shows I saw at the festival this year was not just the story but the backstory, and a world that felt fully fleshed out alongside the action in the show’s 45-minute runtime. I was impressed.
There were four actors on stage, who are also credited as playwrights. Noa Degasperis and Noah Labranche played a brother and sister leading the rebellion against their father, a despotic king. Lucy Delmotte and Eric Von Arx played their younger siblings trying to thwart them. The only other major character, the group's father, is mentioned frequently but never seen on stage. This was a true ensemble cast that works well together. So much so, that I found myself caring deeply about who lived and who died, and which one betrayed the other. Labranche was also the choreographer, and he clearly did a good job with it. The swordfighting and physicality was a huge part of the show. It felt real, gave the family drama, and the overall world the visceral edge it needed.
I’m a huge fan of fantasy and sci-fi, and become emotionally invested in the characters and stories frequently. But that usually only happens with franchises I am already familiar with. Scions is a wholly original fantasy story that had me invested in its world from start to finish, thanks to the believable performances from a great ensemble cast, and realistic stage combat action. It wasn’t what I was expecting from a Fringe show, and that’s a good thing. When it ended, I was one of those standing. And thanks to the venue, it wasn’t due to a lack of comfort.
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Age of Aquarius
I’ve been to several standup shows in my day, and several matinees over the years, too. But I’ve never been to a standup comedy show that started at 3:45pm. That was until Sunday. I headed up the rain-drenched St-Laurent street fair, ducked behind some of the now barren vendor displays, and headed up the staircase next to the skate shop that led to the Ctrl Lab venue.
Inside it looked like a black box theatre space decked out like a no-frills comedy club stage. I knew Age of Aquarius was Montreal comic Carmina Berbari Daou’s standup show when I had chosen it, but had forgotten this weekend when I was out going to shows. The sparse staging was a pleasant reminder of what I was in for. Who doesn’t like to laugh on a Sunday afternoon. It’s also a good remedy for anyone who had spent the previous night up to all hours and then went out in the rain with a bunch of things on their mind like I did. For me, this show did the trick.
Before Berbari Daou took the stage, there was an opening act. According to the show description, the opener is different every show. In our case, we got Raquel Maestre, who took low-key, self-effacing humour to a whole new extremely entertaining level. At one point, as part of her “famous crowd work” she asked the audience if there were any other trans women born in Spain in the audience. Maestre is herself a Spanish-born, though now Montreal-based trans woman comic, but the look she had when such a specific question yielded no raised hands was gold.
While Maestre referenced growing up in the 90s, Berbari Daou made clear she was a Gen Z comic, and had funny stories of graduating from high school during lockdown. Despite being much closer in age to Maestre, I still found Berbari Daou comedy relatable and really funny. Her deadpan delivery and blunt observational storytelling make her a truly compelling comic to watch.
She covers everything from her Lebanese heritage, and plastic surgery, to the allure of Toronto. Fortunately she decided to return to Montreal. She’s a staple on the queer comedy scene here, and routinely performs at Fringe, but also Sketchfest, Commicon, Ladyfest, and more. Her crowd work was, I suspect, intentionally awkward, which only added to the experience. In Age of Aquarius, Berbari Daou delivers no frills, sharp standup that works at any time of the day or night.
You still have a few chances to catch this show, but since the opening act is different every time, you should try and catch Maestre, too. But no doubt whoever Berbari Daou brings along with her is going to make you laugh.
