There's something to be said for walking into a Fringe play cold, knowing absolutely nothing about it. With no expectations, the lame ducks tend to be easier to bear because hey, it's a crap shoot anyway, and if it's good you get the bonus of the pleasant surprise of feeling like you found yourself a little gem, enhancing the experience of the play itself. Murder, Hope represents the great hope of the Fringe concept: the discovery of a diamond in the rough.
Teenage Jesus has swept Latin America and apparently he wants pretty young girls to come down to Honduras to help convert the heathens. This is the catalyst moment for Madeleine, the protagonist in Leah Bailey's Some Reckless Abandon.
John Brenann and Chris Drake - the Charleston, SC duo that make up Shoe Horn Comedy - write in their sparse show description simply: “Fast paced, high energy sketch comedy.” Upon seeing their show I suppose that is the best and, indeed, the only description you could give what they do.
Everyone remembers their first time, right? I do and it was quick to forget it. Unfortunately, you can't forget your first time. Come on! The first time is always something you remember even if you want to forget it. The First Time is a production that covers this fact in great detail whether your first time was good or not.
I know you wanted your first time to be with Elvira!
Bert V. Royal's play, Dog Sees God, is very cute. It is a fan-fiction story about the iconic Peanuts gang as confused, unhappy, and drug and sex addicted teenagers. The script it nothing amazing and it is quite standard teenage angst fare but, if you're a fan of the Peanuts gang, you'll like this play.
Vancouver: Clever and fast-paced, Today is All Your Birthdays, created and performed by Uncalled For is a satisfying absurdest mash-up of ideas, some gleaned from pop-culture and others freshly minted in obscure crevices of the creator's minds.
Brainy, Zany and Funny better than Moe, Larry and Curly
*Under the Mango Tree* tells a heartfelt story of immigration and loss. As both performer and playwright, Veenesh Dubois paints a lush portrait of the tropical village where young Timal grows up yearning for her father, who has moved to Canada in order to support his child and aging parents from afar.
I remember theatre school. It was fun. And I remember the jokes about what B.F.A. really stands for – Bachelor of Fuck All. Basically, a really useless university degree that will not prepare you for any known career. I would bet any money that our intrepid heroes Peter and Chris heard these jokes too... they're recent theatre grads themselves (hell, I even know one of their professors from UVIC).
When I was almost a teenager, my older cousin Jacquie took me to The Pirate Movie. I loved it! She even made me a taped copy of her copy of the album with all the music from the movie, which I listened to over and over again. (I may even still have it somewhere). Years later, I figured out that The Pirate Movie was a spoof of Gilbert and Sullivan's famous operetta The Pirates of Penzance.
At first, I thought that vocal warm-up exercises are NOT the way to start any show. Eventually, I realized that I was in good hands with this script by Chris Craddock and a solid performance by Anna Wyman. Then, I was able to sit back and enjoy the ride.
What happens when someone from Saskatchewan goes to TO
Vancouver: Virtual 1. Simulated, or carried on by means of a computer or computer network. 2. Existing in effect though not in fact 3. A product of the imagination.
Solitaire: 1. Any of a number of games played by one person. 2. A gem, such as a diamond, that is set alone.
John Pippus is a brave man. He's taken his musical career and parlayed it into a one-man show. Trouble is, I think I'd rather be watching him perform a straight-up music concert rather than witnessing this play.
Christ Church Cathedral; a smooth black Celtic harp; a sexy hot curvaceous chick in black Goth wear; gray haired old lady in the front row; Jesus on the cross; punk rocker sitting in the third row; sounds of musical passion and love; words of profanity and poetry; edgy unique performance - this melange of contradictions is what the Fringe Festival is all about for me.
Billed as a multi-cultural comedy about a book launch that doesn’t go exactly as planned, this production did make me laugh, but left me less cheered than troubled.
The Presumptuous Ducks: a one person, one duck experience
