Toronto Fringe

Corporate Finch played at the Toronto Fringe Festival July 5th-16th, 2023 at Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace.

THANK YOU TORONTO FOR THE SOLD OUT SHOWS!!

Performance Dates & Times:

• Wednesday, July 5th @ 7:00pm
• Friday, July 7th @ 4:00pm
• Saturday, July 8th @ 10:30pm
• Monday, July 10th @ 6:15pm (Relaxed Performance)
• Wednesday, July 12th @ 6:45pm
• Thursday, July 13th @ 7:45pm
• Saturday, July 15th @ 2:15pm
• Sunday, July 16th @ 6:00pm

Location:
Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace, 16 Ryerson Ave, Toronto, ON M5T 2P3

Creative Team:
Playwright / Director / Producer: Taylor Marie Graham
Starring: Matthew Ivanoff & Rainbow Kester
Stage Manager: Lindsay McDonald
Designers: Dave DeGrow & Matthew Ivanoff
Fight Director: Jennifer Dzialoszynski
Producers: Sabrina Spence & Sebastian Biasucci

Learn More About the Play:
Read Stratford Festival Reviews’ Interview with Playwright /Director Taylor Marie Graham talking about this thriller’s terrifying origin story, her writing process & more!

–

What People Are Saying / Reviews

“Corporate Finch (Grade A) — A moody, twisty drama from playwright Taylor Marie Graham that plays beautifully with space, light, and sound, Corporate Finch was the highlight of our first day at Fringe. It’s as moving as it is scary, anchored by two excellent performances from Rainbow Kester and Matthew Ivanoff. Graham’s direction is subtle but evocative and David DeGrow (lights) & Matthew Ivanoff (sound)’s design is a perfect example of creative world building within the limitations of a festival setting.” – Kelly Bedard, My Entertainment World

“Corporate Finch gives us an intriguingly oddball psychological thriller between two young adults whose friendship sours over a mysterious prank. Starting in darkness, the show makes good use of the staging possibilities and levels of the TPM Backspace, and strong performances from leads Kester and Ivanoff keep us guessing as to who’s the monster . . . spooky sound design and intense pacing go a long way toward genuine creepiness.” – Ilana Lucas, Broadway World

“Taylor Marie Graham has written a dramatic tale that slowly evolves and grips us on the way . . . The playing of Rainbow Kester and Matthew Ivanoff is playful and then steadily spooky when the truth is revealed.” – Lynn Slotkin, Slotkin Letter

“Graham’s script and the persuasive performances meander gently through a subtly haunting interaction. We’re drawn inexorably into the sweet, awful and outright traumatic accumulation of events leading to where they are now. With minimal artifice save for distinctive lighting, sound and physicality, the tension builds. Who is in control and how is always in flux. Just as we settle into an understanding of their situation, the nature of it shifts . . . had me on the edge of my seat. This is a tender, disturbing mediation on youthful connection and the precarious phenomenon of trust.” – Istvan Dugalin, Istvan Reviews

“This grisly two-hander by playwright Taylor Marie Graham is well-performed and well-directed . . . “Corporate Finch” follows Jacob (Matthew Ivanoff) and Finch (Rainbow Kester), two best friends (or so it seems) who break into an abandoned factory in rural Ontario. As written by Graham, the characters are complex and enigmatic, toying with the audience to gain its trust. Both Ivanoff and Kester admirably fill those roles.“ – Joshua Chong, Toronto Star

“Thriller. Mystery. Spooky. Mood lighting. Birds (ew). Wonderful acting. Cleverly directed . . . overall, this show was great. It was unlike anything else I’ve seen at the festival, and this one goes on my faves list for sure. I don’t really want to write too much more since it’s a thriller..but it’s a good one.” – Lori, Girl Who Likes Theatre

“This is an intense, slow burning piece of theatre . . . brilliance in the simplicity . . .If you’re into eerily suspenseful plays about teenage misdeeds in small town, Ontario, then I think you’ll find that Corporate Finch is just the ticket” – Quinton, CJRU 1280

“Written and directed by Taylor Marie Graham, Corporate Finch is a twisty thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat . . . Kester and Ivanoff give stunning performances in Corporate Finch, each one delivering these complex characters with a grace beyond their years . . . a show you simply have to see.” – Janine Marley, A View From the Box

“Huge congratulations to the Corporate Finch team. Its really magical & guttural & fairytalesque but grounded in so much reality & rooted in place & I just loved every second” – Nicole Smith, Director & Playwright

 “Corporate Finch by Taylor Marie Graham is an eerie and startling play that’s packed with suspense. Its story and characters are also deeply connected to the geography and stories of Southern Ontario” – Deanna Kruger, Playwright

“Corporate Finch makes meticulous use of a celebrated and nuanced genre by taking it a step further. It tickles the audience’s psyche as each fresh turn of the story makes us ask ourselves, what would I do? What am I afraid of? What am I capable of? This is an intimate one-act horror at its best.” – Ciaran Myers, Playwright