Good afternoon, theatre friends.

It is absurdly hot outside, the 2026 Toronto Fringe Festival is in full swing, and I’ve attended my first show: Grey Spaces, Bowtie’s new musical.

Sadly, I won’t be able to attend many shows this year because of travel and family commitments, so I’ve had to be very deliberate with my selections. On the plus side, that means I can be a little more expansive with my write-ups, if I so choose. Whether that’s a plus or a minus for the production teams…I suppose depends on what I write.

This show was at the top of my priority list because I like the Bowtie team, the cast looked great, it’s a new musical, and it’s not about birds (ew) or clowns.*

Grey Spaces follows Rowan (Justan Myers-Chapman), who dies almost immediately after meeting the love of his life, Aisha (Michelle Chew). Rowan arrives in the “grey space,” where he’s greeted by an enthusiastic purgatory admin, Min (Taryn Wichenko), who tells him he can return to Earth and relive his life – but with all of his memories erased. It’s a fun premise that reminded me a bit of Iris Says Goodbye from last year’s Fringe.

In many ways, Grey Spaces is what I want from a Fringe show. I’m looking for something bold, creative and well executed. A Fringe production doesn’t need to be perfect or fully-formed, but it should feel polished, well rehearsed, and (ideally) artistically ambitious. This musical checks many of those boxes:

1. The central concept is intriguing.
2. The show takes genuine risks, which I love. I’d much rather watch something that swings big and occasionally misses than something boring and forgettable.
3. The cast is completely fantastic.
4. Saphire Demitro’s direction/staging is strong. I especially loved the use of the theatre’s balcony to create an upstairs/downstairs apartment effect. At times, I found myself wishing for greater tonal consistency – is this a broad comedy? A serious drama? Something in between? – but overall, the staging was thoughtful and effective.
5. The score is consistently enjoyable and at times wonderful, with several clever lyrical moments. On the whole: it sounded great. Definitely promising stuff. (Music by Fynn Cuthbert, lyrics by Brittany Miranda and Cuthbert, and arranged by Ethan Rotenberg).
6. I appreciated the effort that went into the set pieces. They’re simple but attractive, and they elevate the production.
7. The ending delivers a twist I genuinely did not see coming.

Now, as much as I’m rooting for this piece and the team behind it, I think the book still needs some development. Stories involving time travel, alternate realities, or rewriting the past can become intellectually tangled very quickly, and I ultimately found myself struggling to understand the rules governing this world. The mechanics of returning to life, the relationships between certain characters, and the play’s broader philosophy about time never fully clicked into place for me.

I ended up with a long list of questions about the plot and the internal logic, but I don’t think publishing them serves much purpose – especially since this may not be the work’s final form. I’m not trying to kill something before it’s had a chance to live. (Lol, yes, that’s a joke related to the show).

If you’re interested in seeing something ambitious and full of potential – even if it isn’t fully realized yet – give this one a go.

* Unrelated, but to clarify my current position on clowns: if they’re artsy or stylized in some way, I’m not opposed. MONKS is a good example of something I’d probably like. But Bozo, Krusty, Ronald McDonald…not my jam. I’m open to having my mind changed, though.