How many more of these fringe reviews could there be?

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This article was published 18/07/2022 (1473 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

AMUSED

Peachy Keen Productions

Tom Hendry Warehouse (Venue 6) to Sunday

If a friendship falls apart in the Twilight Zone, is there anyone there to hear it?

And if there is such a thing as a metaphysical comedy, Winnipeggers Sydney Hayduk and Lindsay Johnson have discovered it.

The two friends wake up somewhere. Where? They don’t know, but they know they are all alone in the universe in this one-hour show that combines surrealist escapism with deft physical comedy.

The Winnipeggers have been working together for years, and it shows. The actors are perfectly in tune with each other whether they are dancing, lip-syncing or shooting off rapid-fire banter as they explore their new space and deal with the realities of living in isolation from the world. Between the broader story of their friendship and its eventual breakdown are sketches from the multiverse involving online dating, Shakespeare, stoned thoughts and the creation of an excellent Tik Tok video.

It’s a thinker by two pros that will leave you feeling much like the title. ★★★1/2

— Rob Williams

 

AUDITION DEFICIT DISORDER

Bush Party Productions

MTC Warehouse (Venue 6) to Sunday

It’s a mystery how venues are assigned at the fringe. It supposedly comes down to stage needs, but it hurts to see masterpieces turn folks away, while this local dud plays to a nearly empty MTC Warehouse.

The locally produced comedy is supposed to be about auditions, but it’s really a poorly done high school play. The male lead, Dakota Nickels, takes up too much time on stage and the conceit of a group of characters inhabiting one actor is a good premise wasted. These “characters” traffic in stereotypes of women, Russians, eccentric people, but are too silly and amateur to be offensive. They are naïve.

Nickels is a superb stunt person, and the falls and rolls and other actions done for little reason are impressive, although we seniors may worry someone might get hurt. The play is a father-son effort and there’s never any sense anyone is trying to be glib about any of the big themes attempted. Well-rehearsed, and everyone does their best but … you know. ★★

— Lara Rae

 

BEFORE BREAKFAST: AN OPERA IN ONE ACT

Naomi Forman Productions

WAG — Muriel Richardson Auditorium (Venue 12) to Sunday

The fringe can be a dog’s breakfast: a mix of the caviar stirred in with Cheetos and popcorn. It’s all tasty but sometimes you want something rich and just a tad rarefied — and what could be better than a one-act opera at the WAG?

This 45-minute two-hander (for one voice) elongates an early Eugene O’Neill monologue, perhaps an early attempt at Mary Tyrone in Long Day’s Journey into Night. The singing from Brandon soprano Naomi Forman is supreme, every word and gesture coherent and note-perfect; her youthful silent partner (Naomi’s daughter Anne Forman) is also a revelation.

The usual O’Neill gloom — alcoholism, unfulfilled dreams and unhappiness — are rolled out, but the music is so dynamic and interesting, it is understandable that after the composer and librettist (Thomas Pasatieri and Frank Corsaro) retooled the piece, it enjoyed an uptick in new performances. The blocking is questionable on occasion: lot of singing being directed towards the side of the stage, which makes dramatic but not technical sense. But it’s a small plaint. This is a high-octane injection of high art into our lives for much less than the price of eight chicken wings in the fringe park. ★★★★★

— Lara Rae

 

BUCKETS OF BLOOD — FAIRY TALES NOT FOR KIDS

Stories Alive

Planetarium Auditorium (Venue 5) to Sunday

This storytelling show from Brit Eden Ballantyne replaces a newer show about yoga called Namaste, so it is a bit harder to look up. But if you’d like a short primer on Grimm’s tales with three examples of the goriest from the canon, along with witty digressions into Snow White and Rapunzel, come on down.

The tales are told in that “big” way storytelling people tell stories. But it’s a good time and our Scheherazade is a charming human who really engages and gets down there with us (in the crowd, before the show, legs hanging over the stage) and Eden just a fun host/teacher to spend time with at the coveted air-conditioned Planetarium Auditorium. Certainly worth the time! ★★★★

— Lara Rae

 

DADDY’S BOY

Erik de Waal

Planetarium Auditorium (Venue 5) to Saturday

Erik de Waal has built himself a solid reputation as a storyteller, but Daddy’s Boy feels like another level in his craft. Few words are wasted as he weaves together tales about growing up on the family farm, and protests (of a sort) against apartheid in his native South Africa. But the bulk of the narrative is revealed in stories surrounding his relationship with his father, who battled for years against Parkinson’s disease. These reflections form a beautiful affirmation of life with serious emotional heft.

It is a memorable feat when a storyteller can hold an audience’s rapt attention throughout an entire production. De Waal excels in this medium, earning both laughter and tears throughout the 60-minute performance; there were few dry eyes left when the lights came back on. ★★★★★

— Matt Schaubroeck

 

EVERYBODY ON THE MOON IS IRISH

Theatre Dance Kids

MTYP Mainstage (Kids Venue) to Sunday

When a trio of children accidentally land on the moon, they are shocked to discover a colony of leprechauns who demand that their heads be removed unless they can explain the meaning of happiness, after which they can return home. It’s a fever dream of a comedy, with a premise that seems lost in space.

Although the plot is confounding, there is no blame to be placed on the performers. Cast members bring their talents and a visible passion for theatre as they launch themselves into their roles with wild abandon. While individual performances are entertaining enough, the overall production hasn’t translated to an engaging audience experience.

While the performers do their best to rise to the occasion of a full fringe performance, this madcap story doesn’t stick its landing. ★★

— Matt Schaubroeck

 

FIELD ZOOLOGY 201

Shawn O’Hara

Planetarium Auditorium (Venue 5) until Sunday

Brad Gooseberry is not like any field zoologist you have ever met, but his Victoria-based creator, Shawn O’Hara, clearly knows the field. Armed with this knowledge in his back pocket, he is free to let his comic alter ego run riot.

Anyone with an appreciation for a well-rounded sketch character — one who is also skilled in prop comedy, great one-liners and fabulous Q&A improv — will enjoy this comic safari over its too short, one-hour, joy-filled excursion. It’s hard to bottle lightning twice and to return with an even funnier sequel to Field Zoology 101, and that warrants an additional one star to the review. ★★★★★

— Lara Rae

 

GOD IS A SCOTTISH DRAG QUEEN

Mike Delamont

MTYP Mainstage (Venue 21) to Sunday

OMG – he’s baaaaack!! For the last 10 years, Victoria, B.C.-based standup comedian Mike Delamont has burned up stages at the Winnipeg fringe with a whopping eight productions now under his belt.

“God” is back in town, dressed in an ‘80s floral power suit and squeezed into “sausage casing” Spanx to offer highlights from those shows, including some really funny, au courant pandemic jokes.

If you could bottle Delamont’s high-octane energy, you’d easily solve the energy crisis with his thick brogue easily tripping one-liners off his tongue, not to mention razor sharp comedic timing. He’s at his best with his biblical material — as God should be — including riffing on Adam and Eve, Jacob, and Noah, but also throws in jokes about turkeys, various bodily functions and those requisite fart jokes, told with the glee of a 10-year old kid in a kilt. ★★★★

— Holly Harris

 

JOKE SONG

All Fives

Comedy at Wee Johnny’s (Venue 15) to Saturday

It’s ’80s, ‘90s and whatever silly lyrics happen to rhyme. Joke Song, a musical comedy sketch show written and performed by the local Hunks collective (Dana Smith, Tim Gray, Matt Nightingale and Rory Fallis) takes well-known melodies to bizarre and ridiculous new places.

The 45-minute show has range — not necessarily of the musical variety, although some of the comedians can genuinely hold a tune — featuring parodies of megahits and one-hit-wonders by the likes of Radiohead, Dolly Parton and Len. It’s got the format of Weird Al with the obscurity of Lonely Island. The set is supported by humorous visuals, lyric videos and guidance from an actual musician, Rusty Matyas.

Pop music and standup fans alike will appreciate the well-tuned refrains and clever turns of phrase. Come for Swines to Clive and stay for Mambo No. 137. ★★★1/2

— Eva Wasney

 

JULIET: A REVENGE COMEDY

Monster Theatre

King’s Head Pub (Venue 14) to Sunday

How do you successfully reinvent some of the world’s best-known stories and most celebrated characters? By unravelling them completely, of course. Vancouver’s Monster Theatre offers a rip-roaring revue of William Shakespeare’s renowned works and the female characters he’s damned to an eternity of death and suffering.

Juliet has plunged a dagger into her heart thousands upon thousands of times in the 425 years since her star-crossed tale was published. What if, for once, she decided not to die? The effervescent Lili Beaudoin takes the title character on an hilarious time- and space-travelling adventure to discover an alternate ending, collecting a cast of equally doomed lady comrades — all played by the supremely talented Carly Pokoradi — along the way.

The fast-paced show is peppered with expert callbacks and deft fourth-wall breaking. It’s clever commentary on the rough treatment of women by a lionized male author (played by Ryan Gladstone). Juliet: A Revenge Comedy is an example of the new heights that can be achieved when we rethink tropes as old as time. ★★★★★

— Eva Wasney

 

LIST OF PEOPLE I’VE KILLED (A LOVE STORY)

PMF Productions

Planetarium Auditorium (Venue 5) until Sunday

The blurb tells us we are stepping into local artist Tannis Kelm’s dimension. Kelm has an artistic personality and in this piece, she hints at some of the struggles that might have helped shape who she is. Basically, Kelm makes intangible references to events in her life that are connected to the death or sometimes birth of famous people she admires.

Kelm brings a voice that many hear and understand, but there is a lot of inside-baseball, some of it honestly only fully clear to the performer. If it is meant to be funny, it really isn’t. And if it is meant to be real, she needs to elaborate on this coincidental link and why she thinks or pretends to think she has “killed” these people.

A need for more structure is evident. We need a road map into Tannis’s world, otherwise it sometime feels like a folk singer going on too long between numbers. The dramedy needs coherence and editing and exposition. It feels like exposure without focus and that makes it hard to see what is really going on. ★★1/2

— Lara Rae

 

LOST AND FOUNDLING

MTYP’s Summer Studio

MTYP Mainstage (Venue 21) to Saturday

This gentle, 75-minute “retail fairy tale” performed by a local cast of 12 youthful actors tells the coming-of-age story of “Price,” a wide-eyed innocent born in the aisles of the Mega Price Mart.

As she sets out on her journey to the store’s Lost and Found department, she ultimately discovers herself, while encountering a series of Alice in Wonderland-like characters including the Slasher, the Demanding Shopper and ominously, a quasi-Greek chorus, the Line, with their masked faces giving this reviewer the willies. The leads, including a pair of narrators, are strong, and the ensemble itself is well rehearsed, although the show could easily be whittled by at least 15 (or more) minutes.

The narrative is often cheesier than the sampler snack trays in the store’s aisles, and a few more musical/dance numbers would kick it up a notch. Still, kudos to these budding thespians for giving it their all. ★★★

— Holly Harris

 

MURMURS OF EARTH

MaxQ Productions

Rachel Browne Theatre (Venue 8) to Sunday

Local group MaxQ Productions presents a 60-minute play by Winnipegger Gilles Messier about how a mixed group of scientists, led by Carl Sagan and including various cultural experts, created a record of human achievement that was launched into space in 1977. Unfortunately, the effort was compromised by bureaucratic interference and — perhaps — Sagan’s growing affair with a team member and his desire to divorce his wife, one of the founders of the project.

To the play’s credit, the dynamic between this private sordid matter versus the record’s public presentation of all that is good in humanity is well done. Best of all are the startling photos from numbers of works of art, paeans to the Earth’s beauty.

The performance is at least enthusiastic, but the overall point is well worn: yes, we are all part of the cosmos, isn’t that nice? ★★

—Rory Runnells

 

PACO ERHARD: WORST. GERMAN. EVER

Paco Erhard

Cinematheque (Venue 7) until Sunday

There has been a lot of water under the bridge since English-speaking German standup Paco Erhard last brought an amusing monologue to town. His previous show gave us superficial insights into life in Germany and the usual stereotypes, but this show enters the third dimension. His great one-liners are still there (Germans invented recycling so they could still be Nazis about something) but we also are gifted with a heartfelt look at German masculinity, the rise of the right in Europe and reconciling with a father he could never reach until, ironically, his dad was losing his sense of self to dementia.

What a moving use of time this artist has put to the last three years of not touring! Sometimes, we do just need to stop moving to see what is front of us. Men are so powerful when they express their vulnerabilities; this entire 75-minute show was a lovely surprise and very funny. ★★★★1/2

— Lara Rae

 

A THOUSAND WORDS

C. Neil Parsons

Rachel Browne Theatre (Venue 8) to Sunday

In a somewhat overlong 75 minutes, American artist C. Neil Parsons has pieced together photos, letters and sound recordings of his father, Chris, who served in Vietnam mainly as a photographer. The photos are inherently moving, aching with loss and tragic resonance for both the lives we see and the deeply troubled time in which they were taken. His father’s story alone is enough for a moving theatrical experience, especially his recognition, years later, of the PTSD he suffered.

Throughout, however, we get Parson’s story of his physical sufferings told, and presented metaphorically, by his physical writhing and trombone playing. His attempt to bridge with his father’s suffering could be profound. But well-intentioned Parsons attempts too much when he aims to unite in some way various contemporary social movements with his own PTSD. His father’s story unites us all; enough said. ★★★

—Rory Runnells

THREE

Bossy Flyer

MTYP Mainstage (Venue 21) to Saturday

This physical theatre show travelling here from Long Beach, Calif., promised so much. Inspired by Sartre’s 1944 existential play No Exit and performed by Ezra Lebank, Cynthia Price and Taylor Casas, its 55 minutes (billed as 60) felt like an eternity thanks to an overabundance of pregnant pauses, weighty silences and cryptic relationships without any compelling imagery. Its undeniably impressive acrobatic tricks, including handstands and flips, were too few and far in between.

Last staged here in 2019, the show’s philosophical premise, in which three deceased characters are trapped in hell — suggested here by a taped off rectangle onstage — is admittedly a tough sell, given there’s no dialogue, though each cast member is clearly committed to their performance. It’s also never a good sign when the soundtrack is more engaging than the action.

While these things can often boil down to a matter of taste, this reviewer spent much of the night longing for an exit of her own. ★★1/2

— Holly Harris

 

UNDERBELLY

Aaron Malkin

Tom Hendry Warehouse (Venue 6) to Sunday

Laundry days bring out the monster in Nayana Fielkov.

The Vancouver writer-performer is a person possessed in this fast-paced, 45-minute one-woman absurdist piece that mixes laughs with intense physical work. Using projections on a shower curtain, Fielkov shows off her routine for getting ready to take on the day, which includes putting on makeup, brushing her teeth and picking her nose with a giant brush.

She leaves the shower area in a frilly dress to sing while trying to battle an inner monster, which tries take over her chores and disrupt her day. The monster grows throughout the show from a clever hat to a giant prop as the transformation becomes complete. Along the way, there are some tears (splash-zone alert), a make-out session with a robe, a little body dismemberment and a surreal supper made of literal finger food.

Underbelly will put your brain in a bizarre spin cycle. ★★★

— Rob Williams