Fringe a reminder we’re all playwrights and performers in our own lives

On Wednesday evening, in slightly grey weather, I headed for Théâtre Cercle Molière in St. Boniface to take in my first two performances of this year’s Winnipeg Fringe Festival.

The shows could not have been more different. The first, Afeni, was a biographical monologue about Black Panther activist Afeni Shakur, performed by Edmonton’s Onika Henry, who was making her Winnipeg debut. The second, Absolutely Not a Cult, was a wacky dark comedy by a trio out of New York.

It was just the opening night of the 12-day Fringe — so no reviews to guide audiences yet — but already both venues were bustling. Dozens of fans had come to see one of the two shows, based on nothing more than a brief description in the festival program and a hunch.

A spirit of curiosity. A public willingness to embrace the new, the untested, and even the totally unknown. An excitement to go out and discover, with no guarantees of what you’ll find. If you pick a Fringe show at random, it could bore you to death, or it could change your life. These are the qualities that make Fringe great, both on the stage and in the seats.