{"data":{"id":"9f7d685b-03d3-4143-ba84-4efb6f6bdf0d","originKind":"SYNDICATED","title":"Fringe Review: In My Room looks to uplift, bring laughs","summary":"In My Room\n\n3.5 stars (out of 5)\n\nStage 17, The Grindstone, 10019 81 Ave.\n\nIt’s a cold, hard world out there, with calamities aplenty, so you’d be forgiven for not wanting to get out of bed.\n\nWould you be so wrapped up in all of this that you’d refuse to leave for three weeks?\n\nThis is where we find the heroes of In My Room, playing at The Grindstone. Eli Yaschuk and Rain Matkin play Eli and Rain, respectively (conveniently). Rain is Eli’s personal assistant and is trying to lift his spirits on his three week-iversary of being so beaten down by the ills of the world that he can’t get out of bed. Not even the chance to meet a couple of Fringe celebrities will do it.\n\nAnd so, they’re left to pass the time with scrapbooking and singing the days away, complete with live-in accompanist Elaine Dunbar, who gets a lot of laughs with very few lines.\n\nThere’s some conflict and some audience participation, and then we need to move Eli to resolution. Will he leave his Brian Wilson-esque state? Are the stakes high enough?\n\nYaschuk and Matkin are great comedic performers and they have a natural chemistry (they’re the team behind last year’s Fringe hit Victor and Victoria’s Terrifying Tale of Terrible Things). They do truly lift the show with their hilarious musical numbers, which include cuts from Sister Act, The Sound of Music, and an enjoyable ABBA/Diana Ross Mashup. It’s lighter fare that could perhaps tie up a little more neatly.\n\nHowever, my one suggestion, if you’re shorter in stature, get there early to get a seat close to the front, or along the raised seating at the back. I’m not short by any measure, and I was having trouble seeing the action, centred on a bed that sits lower to the stage. The confines of a Fringe venue, to be sure, and no slight to the artists, but something to be aware of as a theatre-goer.\n\nRelated Fringe Review: QUEENS OF ROMANCE proves there can be anger in love\n\nFringe review: Darrin Hagen does it again with the delightful Go West, Young Man\n\nBookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know — add EdmontonJournal.com and EdmontonSun.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.\n\nYou can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun.","url":"https://edmontonjournal.com/entertainment/review-in-my-room-edmonton-fringe","imageUrl":"https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/edmontonjournal/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/in-my-room_304712671.jpg","publishedAt":"2026-08-14T22:33:04.000Z","sourceLabel":"Edmonton Journal Music","tags":["Entertainment","Festivals","Local Arts","Theatre"],"authorName":"Dave Breakenridge","contentHtml":"\"In

In My Room

3.5 stars (out of 5)

Stage 17, The Grindstone, 10019 81 Ave.

It’s a cold, hard world out there, with calamities aplenty, so you’d be forgiven for not wanting to get out of bed.

Would you be so wrapped up in all of this that you’d refuse to leave for three weeks?

This is where we find the heroes of In My Room, playing at The Grindstone. Eli Yaschuk and Rain Matkin play Eli and Rain, respectively (conveniently). Rain is Eli’s personal assistant and is trying to lift his spirits on his three week-iversary of being so beaten down by the ills of the world that he can’t get out of bed. Not even the chance to meet a couple of Fringe celebrities will do it.

And so, they’re left to pass the time with scrapbooking and singing the days away, complete with live-in accompanist Elaine Dunbar, who gets a lot of laughs with very few lines.

There’s some conflict and some audience participation, and then we need to move Eli to resolution. Will he leave his Brian Wilson-esque state? Are the stakes high enough?

Yaschuk and Matkin are great comedic performers and they have a natural chemistry (they’re the team behind last year’s Fringe hit Victor and Victoria’s Terrifying Tale of Terrible Things). They do truly lift the show with their hilarious musical numbers, which include cuts from Sister Act, The Sound of Music, and an enjoyable ABBA/Diana Ross Mashup. It’s lighter fare that could perhaps tie up a little more neatly.

However, my one suggestion, if you’re shorter in stature, get there early to get a seat close to the front, or along the raised seating at the back. I’m not short by any measure, and I was having trouble seeing the action, centred on a bed that sits lower to the stage. The confines of a Fringe venue, to be sure, and no slight to the artists, but something to be aware of as a theatre-goer.

Related

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You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun.

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