Fringe review: Punk band drama hits hard on dreams

The Persistent Stain, a new Fringe show by Margo MacDonald and Geoff McBride, opens with a high-energy punk concert and closes with one—but the heart of the show is the conversation in between.

MacDonald and McBride play Maxie Stains and Joey Blank, the remaining members of a band that's spent nearly three decades chasing the high of their one hit song. When a new, hip band wants to record a cover for a movie, the two grapple with whether this unexpected opportunity could finally be their break—or whether their dreams of stardom are truly a thing of the past.

The quartet, completed by bassist Nick Di Gaetano and drummer Trevor Lubin, delivers original songs that feel genuinely charged. MacIntyre's vocals, reminiscent of Joan Jett or Siouxsie Sioux, cut through electric guitar, bass, and drums with real punch. Between the opening and closing concerts, the band retreats to a greenroom where spiteful arguments between Maxie and Joey gradually soften into reflective conversation about lost bandmates and the void they left behind.

What makes the show land is how it turns punk attitude into genuine vulnerability. MacIntyre and McBride embody their alter-egos fully—hilarious, witty, profane—but by the end, you see them wrestling with why they perform at all and whether they're willing to keep chasing dreams at all. The Persistent Stain asks almost any musician's hardest question: are you doing this for glory, or for something deeper?

The Persistent Stain is playing at La Nouvelle Scène Studio A until June 27. Tickets are $14 plus service fees, available online or at the Fringe box office (Fringe Courtyard, 67 Nicholas St) and two satellite locations.