Reviews

  • At the start of the show we are welcomed by Ian Ferrier, the storyteller and musician in Bear Dreams. He tells us that this company is from Montreal and that on their tour they have sought out a member of the literary community in each city to join them and share their art at the start of the show.  He introduced us to BC Poet Hillary Peach.  Hillary shared her poem about snakes and took the audience on an enjoyable emotional ride, asking what you would do if you woke up with a rattlesnake on...

  • Andrew Wade is an award winning playwright and graduate of the University of Victoria who claims to be The Most Honest Man in the World. His obsession with honesty has led him to create this unscripted show.

    He has creatively crafted his own version of a lie detector which he explains to us in great detail and has his stage set with evidence from his life: notes, poetry, other assorted items from his past to enhance his storytelling. Wade utilizes cue cards to spark real memories and tells us stories...

  • East Vancouver storyteller, musician and clown Jim Sands takes us on a whimsical trip through a day in the life of a not so attractive plus-sized German man-boy, Hansel. He is on a quest to find a girlfriend in Vancouver. Having a companion means everything in Hansel’s shy life. Firstly it will help our simple and sensitive character set his parents back home in Hamburg at ease, but also to reassure himself that there is a soulmate for everyone.

    This one-man play was written and directed by Gina Bastone, and in 60...

  • Oh! the Humanity lived up to my high expectations. The description of “a masterfully witty script” through a “filter of jet black comedy” is exactly my favorite kind of Fringe show. And I got not one, not two, but five great scripts.

    Maryanne Renzetti and Brad Duffy take the play through the characters' range of emotions from confusion, loss, anger, frustration in a way that even a day later makes me smile and chuckle as I write this. The situations are ones we've either been in...

  • The show tells the story about Bumbels, whose plane has stalled on the tarmac. Clutching a one-way ticket to his dreams, with his heart (Kiki) and his mind (Fink) at odds, Bumbels must choose between clinging to the past or leaping into the unknown.

    I would highly recommend joining the three adorable clownish characters Kiki, Fink, and Bumbles and embracing the exhilarating journey of taking flight through aerial acrobatics, cirque, physics, mythology, legends, poetic whimsy, and imagination. In 60 minutes you will have an amazing adventure and fall in love with...

  • Starstuff: Per Aspera Ad Astra, written and directed by Derek Chan, tells the story of astronaut Thomas Malinsky and his perilous journey to a planet far away in a one-person spaceship.

    The story is complex and multilayered. Although the story is philosophical and historical, it is overly repetitive and difficult to follow. It is challenging to determine what play the writer/director was aiming for. It seems like he tries to draw parallels between the birth of a child and space exploration. In spite of the fact that...

  • Arts Umbrella—a perfectly intimate stage for this beautiful and tragic monologue that I think everyone with a family will relate to. A single airplane seat is perched at the front of the room/theatre, where sits writer and performer, Dolores Drake. She has nervously buckled herself in, ready to set out on her first plane trip to visit her granddaughter in Toronto. It’s been five years. Drake’s character is playfully chatty with the type of spice that we love.

    Her portrayal of a hardworking and well-intentioned maritime matriarch is spot on. You will...

  • "Small Town Hoser Spic" is written and performed by Pedro Chamale. Anything with the word Hoser in the title must have significant Canadian content, eh? The title Small Town Hoser Spicdescribes it all. Pedro is an immigrant from Honduras, but only knows one part of his identity: that of a small town in Northern B.C. [Editorial Correction: Pedro Chamale's parents are Guatemalan; he is...

  • What a great solo performance from writer and director, Christina Andreola. Over the past five years, she has documented all of the nitty-gritty details from her dating life. Oh yeah, and she has a spreadsheet. The Dudes of My Life is a tell-all tale about the awkwardness, passions, and crazies that are intertwined in the rat trap of dating life. That revolving door of Dicks and Divas that now has Apps. Swipe left, swipe right?

    Throughout the play, Andreola dives back into her spreadsheet to...

  • Is this a parody or an adaptation of one of Shakespeare’s most gruesome plays? Well it is both I think. Shakespeare himself (Kazz Leskard) makes many flavoured directorial appearances throughout the show, trying his best to keep the vision of the play on a “happy” path. That’s a tall order, for this story has more abominations per act than any other of Shakespeare’s works. Not much love and joy to draw from. Director Andy Toth and the amazing cast knock this side-splitting musical out of the park. The singing, lyrics, dance choreography, and musical...

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