PLAYBOT: Fringe held over!

PLAYBOT: Fringe held over!

Fringe or death?! Oh, you choose death? Well then, death by Fringe! It only feels like death. It’s just withdrawal pains after another Fringe come and gone: 2,000 plays in 200 venues over 20 days, so do the math. I am PLAYBOT. I don’t do math. I make jokes and rewrite press releases. Also poetry: […]

3 Fringe IMPROV shows

3 Fringe IMPROV shows

Unscriptured By Travis Bernhardt, Vancouver, Venue 10 (Acacia Hall) Whether you praise Jesus, Allah, Jehovah or something in between, people of every belief system can congregate to The Church of Travis Bernhardt. His Fringe show Unscriptured is an improvised church service based on audience suggestions. The show feels like a Sunday afternoon televangelist program. Voted […]

3 Fringe plays about SEX and RELIGION

3 Fringe plays about SEX and RELIGION

Sex, Religion, and other Hang-Ups By Gangland Productions, Los Angeles, Venue 5 (King Edward Elementary School) Which three subjects pique everyone’s interest in a conversation? Sex, religion, and politics – but let’s not open the political can of worms right now, and stick with sex and religion. These two opposing forces seem to infiltrate most […]

1 senseless Fringe SKETCH comedy

1 senseless Fringe SKETCH comedy

Peter N’ Chris’ Best Bits By Peter N’ Chris, Vancouver, Venue 23 (Princess Theatre) Peter N’ Chris (Peter Carlone and Chris Wilson) are a Vancouver sketch duo who have played at many a Fringe here and elsewhere all over North America. They have done the Just For Laughs Festival and their sketch work has been […]

1 exquisite Fringe LEMOINE

1 exquisite Fringe LEMOINE

The Exquisite Hour By Teatro La Quindicina, Venue 12 (Varscona Theatre) During the last hour of sunlight, when the setting sun travels through more of the atmosphere, the illumination comes from soft, indirect light. In The Exquisite Hour, Edmonton playwright Stewart Lemoine has used this beguiling time of day as a magic opportunity for two […]

1 grand Fringe OPERA

1 grand Fringe OPERA

Pagliacci By Pop Goes The Opera, Venue 16 (Holy Trinity Anglican Church) At the Fringe you can expect most anything. Somewhere young ladies are reading naked (see program: page 107) Elsewhere you can catch a grand opera. Granted, there is no symphony orchestra in the pit or heavenly choir in the loft for Ruggero Leoncavallo‘s […]

FRINGE: Drag deity does deadly Devil

FRINGE: Drag deity does deadly Devil

Mike Delamont: The Devil By Mike Delamont, Victoria, Venue 37 (La Cite Francophone) Veteran comic Mike Delamont has once again elevated stand-up comedy into a high art form at the Edmonton Fringe festival. In contrast to his other hit show, God is a Scottish Drag Queen (returning to Edmonton in October), this time he’s that […]

3 Fringe plays on MODERN LIFE

3 Fringe plays on MODERN LIFE

Leash Your Potential By Ryan Gunther, Vancouver, Venue 10 (Acacia Hall) If you’ve ever worked in a heavily bureaucratized, stolidly corporate environment, you know exactly what Ryan Gunther is talking about in his new play Leash Your Potential. Through the vehicle of the “seminar” – a format as insipid as it is ISO-9000 compliant – […]

FRINGE: Dark office comedy in deep Kafka

FRINGE: Dark office comedy in deep Kafka

The Receptionist   By Desperate Theatre Productions, Venue 14 (Holy Trinity Anglican Church) Adam Bock’s The Receptionist may not seem like a comedy, but it is billed as such. If it is, it’s the blackest of black comedies. You can make up your own mind. Not that it begins as black – that comes later. The […]

FRINGE: Andrea House delivers the full Willie

FRINGE: Andrea House delivers the full Willie

Chasing Willie Nelson – A Tribute By Stardust Players, Venue 39 (CKUA building) The Stardust Players are a group of like-minded professional artists who, in recent years, have gathered together to create original works that play to their specific talents. Their latest is billed as a tribute to Willie Nelson. But it goes much farther […]

3 Fringe DRAMAS

3 Fringe DRAMAS

Slack Tide By parts&labour with Blarney Productions, Edmonton, Venue 8 (Old Strathcona Performing Arts Centre) This new work from young playwright Bevin Dooley pulls no punches in tackling weighty subjects. It’s set in Killer’s Cove, a local teenage hangout on the beach outside a small fishing village. The exact location isn’t named, but through clues […]

3 Fringe ZOMBIE MUSICALS

3 Fringe ZOMBIE MUSICALS

Evil Dead: The Musical By Straight Edge Theatre, Edmonton, Venue 36 (La Cite Francophone) You know fandom has gotten completely out of hand when the fan fiction is as good if not better than the original work it’s supposed to be inspired by. For those who don’t know, Evil Dead is a campy low-budget 1981 […]