I tend to like political drama, so The Troubles gets an automatic +1 magic boost from me. This one-woman show by Stephanie Henderson is all about “the Troubles” of sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland. She ambitiously plays a number of characters, trying to show what motivates everyone from the Molotov Cocktail-throwing thug to an old man who has seen the violence and laments his helplessness, to the eight-year old girl who has already made up her mind to seek vengeance for her blown-up brother and mother. The characters certainly give a broader perspective, even if each of them is a...
Drama, Multimedia, Monologue, New Work - http://www.resoundingscreamtheatre.com/
James Melcher puts on a touching performance in his autobiographical play, My Marvelous Melcher Machine, about growing up with more than his fair share of funerals and near-constant change. The themes of death and change are up-front the whole time, oddly without being overly sad or tear-jerky – though the story seems a bit random throughout, with jumps in chronology that I didn’t always get.
Melcher makes very effective use of his outdoor space by the marina on Granville Island (and after sitting in a slightly stuffy theatre earlier, laying out on a picnic blanket under a...
Comedy, Improv, Physical Theatre, All Ages - http://www.jamesmelcher.net/
Sylvestre wants a husband. This funny, sad, often silly woman thought her troubles were over when her cousin sent her in a crate as a mail-order bride to a Canadian man. Sadly, her groom-to-be died as she emerged from the box, so she must keep searching for the man who will complete her life.
Underbelly is by far my favorite show I’ve seen yet at the Fringe (and I’ve seen a lot so far). It’s an unforgettable performance inspired by the hallucinatory semi-biographical story of novelist junkie essayist homosexual wife-shooting literary exterminator and frequent defendant William S. Burroughs.
Hanafuda Denki only has three performances in total (last one is Sunday at 10:10pm) so get your tickets while you can! Imported from Tokyo, the experience of this show was so frantic, fantastical and fragmented that prose cannot do it justice. I recommend that you go and see it with your own eyes.
Comedy, Dance, Drama, Musical Theatre, All Ages - http://www.ryuzanji.com/
WOW! In the random shuffling of Fringe review assignments, I got sent off to war. The War of 1812 that is. And – I had a fairly wacky good time – despite my technical difficulties.
Podcast + Flashmob + Simon Says + Battle Re-enactment
This show features a monologue by Chris Wakaluk in the Origins Coffee Shop about 55 minutes in length. When I first sat in the audience, I was distracted by the fabulous smell of coffee (and wishing that I had a cup). I noticed a slip of paper on each seat – I picked mine up.
Brace yourself for 90 minutes of awareness raising and emotion wrenching from Burnt Thicket theatre. Because this drama addresses an issue that’s a matter of life and death for hundreds of thousands of people worldwide we are asked to watch, to listen and to take action.
Theatre of the Beat brings us a lively tale inspired by a true story in Gadfly. It's the journey of Sam Steiner, a young American Mennonite who is struggling to balance his conservative upbringing and the political realities of the late 1960s. The play was commissioned by Conrad Grebel University College and the Mennonite Historical Society of Canada.
Comedy, Drama, New Work http://www.theatreofthebeat.com
A Short History of My Life as a Bear + Nancy of the Pizza Garden are two short plays written by Kempton Dexter and Jacques Lalonde, produced by One Crazy Frenchman and a Big Bear Productions. The plays are running at the Havana Theatre, a cozy performance space in the back of the homonymous restaurant, on Commercial Drive.
Nancy, which is directed by Anthony F. Ingram, opened the night. Set in an art studio, the show is a dialogue between Travis (Richard Newman), a painter who is especially fond of landscapes and man on horses, and Alex (Michael Kopsa), an...
