vancouver fringe

If laughter is the best medicine, then this hilarious two-hander, action-packed adventure is sure to heal your every ailment – giving you the power to help these two crazy guys on their mission to save the world!

Peter 'n' Chris

Dr. Horrible Sing-Along Blog is a 2008 musical tragicomedy miniseries in three acts, produced exclusively for Internet distribution. The team wrote the musical during the WGA writers' strike. The idea was to create something small and inexpensive, yet professionally done, in a way that would circumvent the issues that were being protested during the strike.

Yes you can see the award winning internet production on YouTube, or purchase it through i-tunes but first see it mounted as the extraordinary live production at this  year's Fringe.

This is how I was introduced to the musical and time stood still.

Literally, Dr....

Dr Horrible

All gong and no dinner. A lot of Fringe shows suffer from this condition - a decent premise but miserable execution.  You see, a show about a black woman becoming the Queen of England seems like a sure Fringe bet.  Especially if you toss in a solid performer (Valerie Mason-John) with phenomenal British elocution wearing a silly blonde wig and hot pink prom dress.  But no - Brown Girl in the Ring is a full-on disaster.

Our erstwhile queen starts the show with a series of pointed proclamations for her Canadian subjects - then proceeds to descend into what I...

Brown GIrl in the Ring

7 (x1) Samurai is a comedy one man show is based on Akira Kurosawa's epic film Seven Samurai. You may also know this story from the 1960 western classic The Magnificent Seven.

7 (x1) Samurai

The performers in The Dali Hours are the Maple Salsa, from Alberta, who list two previous creations. Their program is full of words: "We reflect on time and childhood. Many are familiar with Salvador Dali as a painter, but few with his endeavours as a philosopher and intellectual.  We have based this piece in Dali's ideas of taking over the notion of time, bend it, expand it. We were brought back to the only stage of our lives when time was our best friend."   Their production is not: the only words are "over here" twice, some total distortion of simultaneous...

The Dali Hours

Director Kathy Parsons pulled out her clipboard, put on her plastic glasses and wanted to know what I did in order to escape.  My answer was incorporated into show.

Moments later the audience was put into the play in the fire escape. A photographer attempted to take a picture of a bride before the ceremony, but she ran up the steps and we followed. The bride literally had cold feet  - she wore moccasins. The photographer listened to her quandary.  “Divorce is always an option,” he suggested. She wanted to escape, (I’m not going to give the story away.)

An...

The artists have escaped from this photo

The Maltese Bodkin (abridged) – one cup Shakespeare, half a cup of Bogart then stir...

Play it again, Bill

The program brochure led me to expect at least a duologue when in fact this is another male monologue.  The brochure credits Jeff McMahan only as writer of The Boy who had a Mother, when also presumably he is the performer and probably self-directed.

The boy who had a mother

Our world is filled with underdogs, black sheep, wanna-be's and plain old dumb asses.

We have met them or at some point into our lives have found ourselves to be one. If you are one, don't worry, I'm not going to make fun of you. These stereotypes are the basis and common thread which brings the randomness that is A Girl Name Doug together.

A Girl Named Doug

Jon Paterson in Daniel MacIvor’s award winning play House is mesmerizing and explosive.  I left the theatre feeling like I needed a good stiff drink or a neck rub … preferably both.

Jon Paterson is in the House

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