Vancouver Fringe 2012 Reviews

When I first read the flyer I thought that a life changing on the flip of a dime story would be a morose journey fueled by emotion and probably unashamedly highlighting a few taboo subjects along the way. So as I settled in for what I thought would be a less than humorous play, you can imagine my surprise when the stage erupted with the charismatic and charming Megan Phillips.

Multi-multi term politician Kimberly White White (Priscilla Yakielashek) has returned to the Manitoba riding where she was first elected to give an address and share the “real story” of her rise from the daughter of a white trash criminal (“We weren’t trailer trash, trailers weren’t fast enough for Daddy.

For this piece created by Liesl Lafferty, essentially a 45-minute walking tour of Granville Island (which you can take at any time between 5pm and 9pm Monday to Friday and between Noon and 9pm on weekends), you are handed a map, a small mp3 player and headphones and are guided by the new “voices inside your head” replacing the ones that are regularly in there.

Written and directed by Theresa Hamilton, The Missing Piece is the story of two high school friends who ditch the grad party in Chilliwack for a twosome night of camping and beer or root beer disguised as beer. Daniel Bergeron and Jeff den Hartog play the two young friends who shotgun beers and talk through their girlfriend problems.

In “Bi, Hung Fit … and Married”, Mark Bentley Cohen tells the story of how he pried opened the closet door even though he thought marriage and kids had sealed it shut. It’s a simple one-man show with a sparse set, but Mark’s openness, humility and humour are intricate and pull the audience in.

“Romance” is a David Mamet play presented by the Queer Arts Society. The play is about justice, world peace, people and everything else. It reminded me of this saying we had when I worked in campus radio “we offend everyone equally.” This work pushed every political button I have and I laughed the whole way through it.

The Abyss Burrow is a one-woman show that takes you through the walls of a well into the memories a young woman’s life. Through music, interpretive dance and monologue, writer and performer, Vanessa Quesnelle weaves together a great piece of theatre.