canadian

Frances Koncan has written a bold exploration of white male power, residential schools and oppression, whether formally institutionalized or directly ingrained in our psyche.

As we follow our young heroine through time and space, we visit a residential school where children are stripped of everything from their clothing to their dignity and identity; a white man’s 90s basement where he holds indigenous women hostage; and a post-apocalyptic future where men are nothing more than furniture.

At first the transitions can be hard to follow between the different times and places but if you let go of your...

Improvising for 45 minutes with one suggestion and only two improv artists is a serious challenge, but Devin Mackenzie and Tom Hill make it work, for the most part. I prefer the quick changing action in a series of improv games. So if you are like me, this one act show might not live up to your expectations.

With two stories lines (or was that four?) and six characters, confusion of Shakespearean proportions abounds. Love triangles, poisoned mangos, and lunching on shrimp while sleeping against the backdrop of an opera kept both the audience and all six characters...

Sam S Mullins’ solo performance Grandma’s Dead is fairly typical Fringe fare: a dramedy solo play where a single actor plays a variety of characters. Unfortunately, this particular example falls a bit short of the form’s potential. The concept is an interesting one. Sam gets a call from his brother Chad informing him that their Grandmother has died, and that they have to drive from Vancouver to middle-of-nowhere Saskatchewan so that someone from the family can see her burial. Presumably, as the two brothers make their way across the country, they will rediscover their lost relationship and get caught up...

I love a good story, especially if it is artfully delivered. It was only natural that I would fall in love with The Wild Dog Waits On The Concrete Path. Written by and starring Nathan Howe, TWDWOTCP hooked me from its opening moments. Clever direction from Charlie Peters and simple, effective visuals by Brittany Lloyd make this a don’t-miss-it Fringe event.

Out to make a difference in the lives of his soon-to-be students, the naively optimistic new Principal takes us on his journey from...

Folk singer and storyteller Corin Raymond brings warmth and wit to his autobiographical one-man show The Great Canadian Tire Money Caper, which tells the true story of how he paid for the making of his 2013 album Paper Nickels with Canadian Tire Money.  Right off the bat, Raymond sets up the casual, folksy charm that largely defines the show. From his blue jeans and slightly-ruffled-rolled-up-to the-elbows-dress-shirt to his off the cuff...

Vancouver: What a premise, I thought. If I ever ride the rails from coast to coast, what more could I ask for than a Canadian soundtrack performed live by a guitar virtuoso? Not much but the artists themselves and the time-travelling ability to catch the train in 1969.

Colin Godbout