Kuwaiti Moonshine is a solid one-man show written by and starring Ottawa native, Tim Murphy. It tells the story of Andy, a well-meaning Canadian young adult, who after spending too many years in post-secondary education, having one too many failed relationships, and suffering one to many drinking binges accepts a job in a foreign country. He tells his parents he has decided on Kuwait because drinking is forbidden. He refers to it is a kind of self-proclaimed rehab.
This theory however, we discover, is untrue and through the course of the play the politics of bootlegged alcohol and home brew rum...
Don’t invite yourself. It started pleasantly enough. Coyote (Kaylin Metchie) met us at the edge of the playing space and invited us in to the House of Raven, recommending which seat we should take. Coyote explained some of the customs and expectations of us as invited guests in Raven's home. Raven (Ridley Wallace) arrives shortly thereafter and begins to tell his story of how he created the Earth and man. He never gets to complete his story however because he is rudely interrupted by Morgan (Leonie Armstrong) who appears nosily on his doorstep and demands to be...
We are all geeky about something. To be a geek means to be unapologetically passionate about something that you love and mediums that move you. What are you geeky about? This is the premise of Geek Life.
The lights go down and a geeky sound montage begins. Star Wars. Star Trek. Doctor Who. Aji, pronounced, “Awe gee,” Slater enters the stage and presents us with a stream of consciousness about how he came to be a geek that literally grew up to run away with the circus. The simple staging works and Slater is a loveable and non-threatening presence....
The target audience for ZOMG is fascinated by zombies, a fan of slasher movies, and enjoys the new genre of horror comedy - not me! A woman (Jodie Nichols) tells of looking after four little girls, Guides, in a zombie apocalypse, and of all the violence involved in protecting them.
She wears combat boots and camouflage trousers, instantly revealing. She talks of her use of crowbars and tire irons as weapons, appears with a shotgun and tommygun (outdated term, I know). She sounds to enjoy hitting out, shooting, killing. The gruesome content makes it dificult for me to comment on the performance.
Classic Fringe! With a late start the cast of the opening show was perhaps struggling to find their confidence but while young, they’re obviously troopers.
Javia Selina (Veronica) and Jina Anika (Simone) share the stage nicely with good vocals and believability in their roles as best girlfriends. Kalvin Olafson (Theo) is solid in stage presence and his characterization of the bookish thug with a bit of a crush and Daniel Cardoso (Edwin) amps up his ambitious and hyperbolic Edwin with some pretty suave dance moves.
The interesting Manhattan Transfer-style songs were somewhat drowned out by the background music which was...
Summer Shapiro enters the stage clothed in a white southern belle dress. With the raise of an eyebrow and an intense stare she begins to set the stage for what looks like to be a dinner date. It is immediately clear there is no fourth wall. She can see us and we can see her. No sooner is the romantic evening assembled; it comes crashing down around her, literally and figuratively. She then spends the rest of the show, sometimes successfully and sometimes in vain, trying to pick up the pieces.
Entering the Performance Works venue I really didn’t know...
The Fringe program notes: "inspired by a real New Brunswick murder story." The play opens with the murder as a dumb-show (shades of Hamlet), a young man suddenly stabbing a rather older man, so the piece is not who-dun-it but WHY-dun-it.
A 17-year-old high schooler has conflicts with his well-meaning but explosive mother. (She is a single parent and I wanted at least a reference to the absent father). The mother catches him lying, then she loses her job and lies about it. They have a young woman, ostensibly lesbian, as a boarder who lives in the storage room....
When I saw Brian Anderson on stage as Arnie in Arnie the Carnie's House of Mystery, my hopes were high, as I had seen him several times performing with Vancouver TheatreSports League. My expectations were well-met with this informative, whimsical, and thoroughly enjoyable production.
Arnie leads us through the life and work of Simon Mackenzie, a mentalist. But is Mackenzie's life and fiery death itself real? A Google search afterwards brought up no leads. But just sit back and enjoy the story.
Simon's career trajectory follows a common arc for mentalists. Beginning with amateurish tricks, his illusions and techniques (demonstrated...
If five sets of shamrock pastied boobs bouncing fiercely onstage within the first 20 seconds of the show doesn’t endear you to this comedy ensemble, nothing will!
I won’t single out any performer in this review because they each have strong stage presence, delivery, comedic timing and delightful audience rapport. Jackie Blackmore, Lauren Martin, Megan Phillips, Sidika Larbes, and Iva Kapsikova met while performing with the VFS Sketch Company and the chemistry amongst them is dynamite.
The new kid at school, the poker game, sibling loyalty, pressure tactics for signing a contract and tellers dealing with troublesome...
Watching Tonya Jone Miller in Threads is an emotional experience. Spanning a time period from 1962 - 1979, Miller's play tells the true story of her American mother, Donna Miller. As a girl who grew up in rural Indiana, Donna Miller's life journey took her to Vietnam in 1968 as a teacher at the Buddhist University in Saigon. How she got there, what happened to her and the consequences of that time are the subject of this riveting theatrical tale.
As an adult, the playwright began to learn more about her mother's life and her own Vietnamese heritage (from her father). Inspired by solo shows...
