NOW MAGAZINE - NNNN’s/BEST of Summerworks/Critic’s Choice

Anna (Amy Rutherford), recipient of an extreme makeover, returns to her working-class family pert and permed (but not for long) in Evan Tsitsias’s smart, acerbic comedy. Crammed into Glenn Davidson’s impeccably designed kitchen, the terrific cast moves from the whimsical opening sequence through increasingly harrowing events
…bitterly successful.

Toronto Star-

“I’m exactly the same except I feel worse than before,” Anna realizes. And in an odd, surreal twist, she is rooted to the same spot onstage, literally unable to move. As time passes and life goes on around her. Anna then undertakes a process of self-mutilation that becomes progressively more difficult to watch.
Bolstered by a strong cast, Aftershock is a blend of comedy — much of it provided by her mom (played with relish by Lynne Griffin) who derives much of her pseudo-wisdom from fortune cookies — and eerie tension, provided by Patrick Garrow as Gary, a villain who alternates between good humour and chilling menace. Sister Becky (played by Allana Harkin) is also funny
…Quinn, nicely underplayed by Catherine Rainville, is probably the only one worth saving. Amy Rutherford is a hauntingly tortured and conflicted Anna.
There’s plenty of food of thought in the script about the nature of beauty and the possibility of change. The message that beauty is superficial and real transformation is truly hard work resonates in a tale that will leave the audience both squirming and thinking.

PLANK MAGAZINE-

From the first words uttered onstage, I was elated. The rhythm and timbre of the dialogue suggested a lost Michel Tremblay play, with gorgeous repetitions, layered character conversations.
…playwright Evan Tsitsias offers meditations on beauty, possession, belonging and home.
…quirky and intriguing
…the production is slick

TORONTOIST-

Following a guest stint on an Extreme Makeover-esque reality show, Anna returns to her dysfunctional family's trailer park home unable to move. What begins as an in-your-face stage farce rapidly unfolds into a grotesque fable whose focal point is the deceptive relationship between outward appearance and positive change. As the cracks in newly beautiful Anna's life quickly tailspin beyond repair (largely at the hands of abusive husband Gary, played to sinister effect by Patrick Garrow), she embarks upon a calculated self-destruction. Lynne Griffin is a source of much-needed comic relief as Anna's fortune cookie wisdom–spouting mother (whose tension-killing "Confucius was one smart little shit!" could not have come at a more necessary time), while Amy Rutherford is fantastically tormented as Anna.

THE VISITORIUM-

Me and my dandy chapeau returned to the Factory for AFTER SHOCK by Evan Tsitsias.  Now THIS is a tricky show. The story of a woman returning to her somewhat ‘rural’ family after being remade and seemingly reborn into an angelic vision on some sort of extreme makeover show (it’s never really delved into that much), Anna finds her new looks have a strange effect on all her troubled family members, and even more so herself.  And you think it’s going to be a charming country-style comedy, and settle in for a particularly witty episode of HEE-HAW.  And slowly, by ever more disturbingly shocking increments, before you know it you’re smack in the middle of A CLOCKWORK ORANGE and there’s nothing you can do but sit there and watch.  Which you should, on account of it’s utterly wonderful.  A drastic indictment about the superficial nature of change most people accept, there will be some squirming in the audience, but it’s worth it.  The actors are fantastic. It’s great, go!

Written by: Evan Tsitsias
Directed by: Rod Ceballos
Presented by: Theatre on the Verge

Produced by: Lisa Baylin, Donna Marie Barratta and Evan Tsitsias
Set Design: Glen Davidson
Dramaturg: Lisa O’Connell

Stage Manager: Dayna Chernoff
Featuring: Patrick Garrow, Lynne Griffin, Allana Harkin, David Mackett, Catherine Rainville, Amy Rutherford

*Developed through Pat the Dog Playwright Development Centre, Piece/Meal Series in Magnetic North and The Tarragon Playwrights Unit