Toronto Fringe show #1 Clown Comedy with Victor & Priscilla!

Our fave Victorian-era cross-dressing clown siblings, Victor & Priscilla, are back for new theatrical adventures at Toronto Fringe Festival July 2-13, 2025! Read more about Victor and Priscilla here

After hilarious shows in 2024 at the Alumnae Theatre's New Ideas Festival and Theatre Gargantua's Unfinished Cabaret, and with further development by Fringe veterans Unspoken Theatre, our gender bending comedy duo is coming once more to a theatre near you, as presented by first time Fringe producer, #1 Toronto Fringe Clown Comedy!

Our new show will feature the returning stars of our vaudevillian family, with Eric Amaral as Miss Priscilla Luff, DORA nominated Michelle Gram as Mrs. Sophie Luff and Julie Vanderlip as Mr. Victor Luff, and our returning award-winning director Kyra Keith.

With a brand new script by playwrights Aaliya Alibhai and award-winning Nina Kaye, the writing team behind Sexpectations at Hart House Players and Kitchen Sink Drama at Toronto Fringe.

An audience favourite at the Alumnae Theatre NIF fest, and a crowd-pleaser at Theatre Gargantua's cabaret, these lovable clowns are warm, welcoming, endearing and hilarious! Bickering siblings with a melodramatic drama mama, the show has been described as "if Groucho Marx had a baby with Oscar Wilde!"

We are delighted to share more of the ridiculous antics of our favourite historically inaccurate clowns, and where better to do that than at VideoCabaret's Deanne Taylor Theatre at 10 Busy St. in Leslieville (near Logan and Queen, behind the parking lot at Value Village).

VideoCabaret company, with their long running series of productions featuring historical white-faced cross-dressing clowns could not be a more perfect fit for our onstage return this summer at the fun and festive Toronto Fringe Festival on July 2 -13, 2025.

Our costs will be covered in part by ticket sales, however the overall cost of the production will be $3000 -$4000 without anyone in the team taking a cent in payment.

While we would love to earn enough from this show to be able to offer profit sharing honorariums to the cast and crew on the team, who will put in tons of hours of volunteer labour, simply for the love of bringing these characters to life to delight the audience, our primary goal is just to break even, so that we can continue to produce theatre in the city.

Our fixed costs are these: $1600 venue rental fee, $500 Fringe fest fee, $45 application fees, $25 processing fee, $530 Fringe advertising fee (online & print, smallest size).

Our flexible costs are these: rehearsal costs ($400 - $1000), printing ads and posters ($100-$300), wig/props/costume ($100-$150), online advertising ($100-$300), acrobatic training and dance choreography ($200-$250), puppet making ($80-$130), transporting props/set/costume ($30-$50), and other miscellaneous costs.

Theatre is a powerful cultural contribution to a vibrant, exciting, lively, diverse and inventive city. Long live the live! We have to continue to invest in live performance. Our production includes artists of different generations -the production is a form of mentorship, learning and teaching. Without supporting the arts and sharing techniques, traditions and practices, our younger artists will have no guidance and local theatre will wither on the vine.

Please give what you can to our fundraiser, share this fundraiser or promote our event to others, and if you can, come to our show! We will love to see you there.

XOXO Aaliya, Eric, Michelle, Nina, Kyra, Julie, Parker-Elizabeth and our whole team!

OUR CAST AND CREW BIOS

Co-written by Aaliya Alibhai (she/her), the Artistic Director of #1 Toronto Fringe Clown Comedy. Aaliya is a first time Fringe fest producer with a history of collective creation in Vancouver and Toronto. She has worked in theatre as a playwright, performer, dramaturg, designer, stage manager, and assistant director. She co-wrote the sold out Toronto Fringe show Kitchen Sink Drama in 2018, where her writing was praised for being "touching, funny and tender" in a review at Life With More Cowbell. With Unspoken Theatre she co-wrote Lovesick which featured her short play Anthony, and she performed as Celtic hero Bran in The Red Deer. She also co-wrote and starred in Sexpectations: A Collective Procreation with Hart House Players.

Text and scenario co-written by Nina Kaye (she/her). A multi-award winning playwright and published poet, she is a graduate of the masters’ program in drama at the University of Toronto. Named one of Toronto’s “best emergent playwrights” by Mooney on Theatre, she has written in a variety of genres including romantic comedy, realism, drama, children's theatre, surrealism, historical fiction and verse drama. Her full-length drama, Unspoken, won first prize with Hart House Players and was a finalist with Panfish Productions and NuVoices. Her one-act fantasy comedy Castle Falderal won first place with Sterling Studio Theatre. Her work has been produced in Toronto, New York, Washington and Missouri. Toronto productions of her work include plays at Toronto Fringe Festival, Sterling Studio Theatre, Unit 102, Alumnae Theatre, Theatre Gargantua, Videofag and Social Capital Theatre. Productions in 2024 include Victorian Closet Drama, a gender bending comedy of manners at Alumnae Theatre; Victor & Priscilla Go To The Circus, a clown cabaret at Theatre Gargantua; and Up Against A Locker, a coming of age monologue at Talking Horse Productions.

Character co-creation and movement by award-winning director Kyra Keith (she/her), who is a developing actor, director, and creator with a passion for queer, clown, and absurdist work. She graduated from the University of Toronto Mississauga and Sheridan College in the Theatre and Drama Studies Specialist program. Some of Kyra’s credits include assistant directing Back Mirror in Alumnae Theatre’s 2023 New Ideas Festival and directing An Ode to Home in Toronto’s 2023 Fringe Festival. Kyra received five nominations in the Beyond the Curve International Film Festival last year for her team’s work on Back mirror. She also received a Best Director award for her work on The Fourth Graders Present an Unnamed Love-Suicide, as a co-director for the UTM Drama Club. Kyra is very thankful to be working alongside such a great team of artists.

Starring Dora-nominated performer Michelle Gram (she/her) as Mrs. Sophie Luff. Michelle is thrilled to be part of Victorian Closet Drama with the New Ideas Festival. Recent credits include Timekeeper: Cunning Little Vixen (Canadian Opera Company), Co-Creator/Actor: Frankenstein(esque) (Silent Protagonist Theatre – Toronto Fringe Festival), Pharlap: The Complex (Workshop: It’s Not a Pivot Productions), and Shadow Puppeteer/Builder: Pierrot and the Moon (Metaphysical Theatre). She is a puppeteer/designer, voice actor, actress, and teacher. Michelle graduated from York University’s Creative Ensemble/ Devised Theatre program and owns Story Drama Suite, offering Arts Education consulting and workshops for educators. Visit her at www.storydramasuite.com

Starring performer Eric Amaral (he/him) as Miss Priscilla Luff. Eric is an emerging actor based in Toronto. Recently graduating from York University’s Devised Theatre program, Eric is extremely grateful to be a part of the New Ideas Festival! Eric has been doing what he loves most: acting. He’s brought to life a wide range of characters, and he’s excited to showcase his talents in this new role. He is thrilled to be a part of this production and wants to thank the cast and crew for being such amazing creatives. He hopes you enjoy Victorian Closet Drama as much as he has enjoyed being a part of it.

Starring performer Julie Vanderlip (she/her) as Mr. Victor Luff. Julie, a Toronto-based actor, eagerly joins Alumnae Theatre’s New Idea Festival and Victorian Closet Drama. She co-created and starred in Rocks On Earth From Space at Hamilton Fringe last year with her wife. Her talent transcends to screen, featured in See No Evil. Notably, Julie was a runner-up for Best Supporting Actress at the Demonic Brilliance Film Festival for Sleep Without a Dream. With a passion for storytelling and LGBTQ+ representation, Julie leaves a lasting impact on both stage and screen.

Starring performer Parker-Elizabeth Rodenburg (she/they) as Beau Bunbury, Basher Bunbury, & Aunt Nell Bunbury. Parker-Elizabeth is a 2022 graduate from the University of Windsor’s BFA in Acting program and a recent participant of Tarragon Theatre’s Young Playwrights Unit. Selected credits include Laurie in 86 Me: The Restaurant Play at Dead Raccoon/Toronto Fringe, Iris in Slate Sisters at AlvegoRoot Theatre, performer and creator of Party Games at Buddies in Bad Times, Lissa in Bone Cage at Alumnae Theatre, Antonio/Curio in Twelfth Night at Louie the Goat, Procne in If We Were Birds at University Players, Molly in The Smell of The Kill and Claudio/Margaret in Much Ado About Nothing at University of Windsor. They are endlessly overjoyed to be given a space to play and create in the most unmasked, ridiculous, and challenging ways!

Publicity assistance by Tania D'Amico (they/them). Tania is an avid writer who was born, raised, and currently living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. A graduate of the English department at the University Of Toronto, Tania is a credited author of many literary works. Tania is present in the art world both in performing arts and literary arts. They are an actor, singer, dancer, writer, director, set designer, prop specialist, costume designer, stagehand, makeup specialist, stage manager, and musician.