FRINGE 2019: Surreal Japanese satire soars
Are You Lovin’ It? Stage 5 (King Edward Elementary School) The Fringe program stole a bit of reviewer’s thunder in their capsule synopsis of this piece by Theatre Group GUMBO of Osaka, Japan: “A surreal romp” – there is no better term. You could add “zany, wackadoodle, looney tunes” … whatever. This is really out […]
FRINGE FOREIGNERS in our MIDST: 3 Plays from Artists not from Around Here
Since Canada is all about embracing cultures, attitudes and perspectives different from our own, here are three plays from non-Canadian performers for your 2019 Fringe consideration! No, You Can’t Return Discount Shrimp Stage 9 (Telus Phone Museum) You can’t get much more foreign to a Canadian Fringe audience than in this play by American writer […]
FRINGE 2019 OPERA: Gianni Schicchi è un’opera deliziosa!
Gianni Schicchi Stage 16 (Holy Trinity Sanctuary Stage) Those agile artists known as “Pop Goes The Opera” are back at it. After captivating and ingeniously staged Fringe productions, including Pagliacci and Cavalleria Rusticana, this time they are floating Puccini’s last opera, Gianni Schicchi. The pocket comic opera with its madcap characters and humorous plot were […]
FRINGE 2019: Go to bed or BABA YAGA will get you!
Baba Yaga Stage 6 (Strathcona Community League) Baba Yaga is a fearsome creature used for centuries to frighten Slavic children just before bed. She is described as a witch but has assumed many shapes and forms. and is probably best known for living in the forest in a house on chicken’s legs. The Alberta Opera, […]
FRINGE MEN SPEAKING TRUTH PART 3: Always Never There a powerful piece
Always Never There, Never Always There: Meth, Men & Mental Illness Stage 9 (Telus Phone Museum) Edmonton writer and performer Antonio J. Bavaro bares both body and soul in his one man-show that discusses his history of relationships, and struggles with addiction, mental health, and being neuro-atypical – all from a queer perspective. Bavaro, who […]
FRINGE MEN SPEAKING TRUTH, PART 2: Game of Crohn’s about coping
Game of Crohn’s Stage 9 (Telus Phone Museum) Toronto’s Dan Rosen has crafted a one-hour monologue about living with, as he so aptly puts it, a “poop disease.” Rosen is a comedic writer who is able to poke fun at his medical condition and its resulting embarrassing, undignified moments, without relying on scatalogical humour alone. […]
FRINGE 2019: 3 Plays About Men Speaking Their Truth
The need for men to talk about their experiences and feelings honestly and directly is something often discussed as a way to counter the toxic masculinity transmitted when boys are taught to suppress their feelings. These three one-person plays at the Edmonton Fringe Theatre Festival feature men (in one case, a male-presenting gender-fluid person) speaking […]
MASTERS OF THE FRINGE NO. 2: A Momentary Lapse a witty Lemoine
A Momentary Lapse Stage 12 (Varscona Theatre) The “Law” has collared two miscreants: Louise (Jocelyn Ahlf) is a flute playing yoga practicing Amnesty International member, wife and mother. Then there’s Arthur (Luc Tellier) a twitchy 16-year-old Grade 12 student and sometime pyromaniac. The pair created a ruckus on a flight and have been summarily dumped […]
2 MASTERS OF FRINGE 2019: British lust and off-the-wall wit abound!
The Bald Soprano Stage 12 (Varscona Theatre) Back in the ’50s, it’s no wonder that audiences left Eugene Ionesco’s short play The Bald Soprano scratching their heads. “What was that all about…?” Well, it’s about 90 minutes of disconnected abstract satire that doesn’t make much logical sense. What they were attending was the birth of […]
FRINGE 2019: What is your BUSINESS in Canada?!
Border Breakdown Venue 34 (Varscona Hotel, Thomas Bennett Room) Any notions that Canada is becoming Snowflake Central for travelling millennials is a myth – especially if you try to get across the border. Never mind the Syrian refugees for whom Prime Minister Justin Trudeau swung open our doors for “illegals” from the U.S. trying to […]
FRINGE 2019: Arrogant Worms song comes ALIVE in kids play
The Last Saskatchewan Pirate: A Play Venue 14 (Holy Trinity Anglican Church) So here’s a nifty way to get kids introduced to taxes and the inner workings of the federal government. First, find a suitable kid-friendly, politically-charged ditty clocking in at around three minutes and morph it into a half-hour play. And to boost the […]
FRINGE 2019: Darwin not mentioned in play about Darwin
Darwin vs. Rednecks Venue 38 (Sue Paterson Memorial Theatre) If you show up expecting a send-up of Jeff Foxworthy one-liners about crimson-scorched knuckle draggers, you’ll be sadly disappointed. Instead, Kentucky-based standup comedian Stewart Huff has crafted a deeply-layered set of triggers pitting Right against Left and North against South – ever since the U.S. tore […]
