Reviews

  • Hands Around - Double Sided Sex

    Hands Around by Arthur Schnitzler, translated by A. Koren, adapted by Dylan Coulter, is disturbing because, though first read aloud in 1900, it is relevant today in its far too realistic account of the messy, gory, sinister assortment that is love.

    Set in 1980, Vienna, the story follows ten individuals as they power-play each other in the name of love. As Hands Around progresses, lips are kissed, promises are broken and betrayal becomes expected. There is not simply one perspective of love. One man believes that "all men, really, become disgusted by love." A married man admits to his...

    September 13th, 2016 · By Jenna Diamante
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  • Zeppelin Was A Cover Band - Still Rocking It

    The first time I saw Robert Plant walk on stage I screamed like the fan girl I was. When John Bonham died, I cried. So when Stadium Tour brought Zeppelin was a Cover Band to Vancouver Fringe this year, I was curious to say the least.  

    Part dinner conversation, part documentary, and part rock concert, Stefan Cedilot takes the audience from Africa to the Mississippi Delta and Chicago to England where the four members of Led Zeppelin got together and became one of the greatest bands of all time. From session musician to the genius behind their...

    September 13th, 2016 · By Melody Owen
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  • The “F” Words – Fun and Fiery

    There’s an obvious choice of word that comes to mind when you hear “the F word”.

    It’s the polite stand-in for an expression of profanity, although the full range of this word’s meanings and uses are substantially more diverse. As far as connotations of the word go, it’s very useful. But it’s far from being the most expressive, exciting, or meaningful "F" word in the English vocabulary. Through well-integrated and interspersed PowerPoint slides, playwright and performer Yvette Dudley-Neuman introduces and unravels the definitions of some of the more overlooked "F" words, exploring their significance through the life of...

    September 13th, 2016 · By Sonja Cvoric
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  • Best Picture – You’ll Recognize at LEAST One

    This is a fast-moving review of the last 88 years of Oscars, and will work best for you if you’re a film buff, but really, anyone who has been to the movies anytime in the past century (that’s most of us) will remember some of these films. They’re rapidly and irreverently evoked by this high-speed, mobile-faced team. There’s Casablanca (of course), a bit of every song from Mary Poppins, (uh-oh, or was it Sound of Music?), a painful pronouncement from The King’s Speech, a longer one from Forrest Gump, a puppet version of Kramer v Kramer, and evocations of...

    September 13th, 2016 · By Keith Wilkinson
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  • Great Day for Up - Not to Understand But to Experience

    Great Day For Up was written and performed by Jonathan Young while he was a student at Studio 58 in 1996 and the version presented in the 2016 Vancouver Fringe Festival is an evolution of that student project. Using the lighting, sound and space of theatre, Young presents a homunculus who struggles with angst and self-doubt to finally have an epiphany.

    I am so relieved that they provided an afterward in the program to Great Day For Up. After the 30-minute show I left the theatre confused and disoriented. To provide some context, I like shows that have a...

    September 13th, 2016 · By Stephanie Lo
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  • Generation Hot: Program B - 3 Amazing Shows in 1

    This show is actually 3 smaller shows strung together with perfect harmony. Each show is just as well done and poignant as the last. The acting for all three was phenomenal. I laughed, I cried and I had some ideas to chew on as I left.

    Show #1 was called Living on the Grid. This story of a tree come to life was really touching. I really felt for the tree and even felt a little teary towards this cute but driven story. Big props go to Olivia Etey on a beautiful masterpiece. Symbolism with foam boards and...

    September 13th, 2016 · By Julia Fox
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  • Peripeteia - Worth the Search

    I'm a big fan of the site-specific shows. Since I loved The Elegant Ladies Collective's Eidola (the women from Shakespeare), I was pretty sure I'd like Peripeteia too. And I did.

    The Elegant Ladies Collective was founded by Leslie Stark in 2014. For Peripeteia she has pulled together 12 (and this number is important, so pay attention) individual performances of “turning points”, added an opening context builder, a conclusion/epilogue, and a bit of audience participation. You get a variety of performances in a beautiful setting and some things to ponder.

    The performances range from opera to improv dance...

    September 13th, 2016 · By Mary Bennet
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  • Happiness (TM) – Smile and the Fringe Smiles With You

    Can happiness be trademarked? Can two guys looking for happiness, prosperity and luxury get along? Can they really do 500 pushups?

    The situation is this. We're witnessing the launch and behind-the-scenes rehearsal for not one, not two, but three new HPL(TM) products designed for your consumer pleasure. At a price, you can be happy. Yes, you!

    Tony Adams and Cory Thibert are of the Fringey high-energy duo style. Verbal and physical pacing play off each other from the start with the, “We're so happy you're here” handshakes of the audience to the final (rather absurd—in a good way) scene. In...

    September 13th, 2016 · By Mary Bennett
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  • 2 Ruby Knockers, 1 Jaded Dick - Puns, Magic and Audience Participation

    2 Ruby Knockers, 1 Jaded Dick is performed by actor and playwright Tim Motley from Melbourne, Australia.

    The lights went on and a rumpled sort of Humphrey Bogart, in the requisite raincoat, appeared. Smoking a cigarette, and talking like someone out of a B detective movie -  in both dialect and dialogue. I think if it had only been this, and our “Dick” had only told a few jokes I would have been satisfied. But there was more – much more.

    Tim Motley – ( insert your joke here ________) - the only actor in the play (other than a few...

    September 13th, 2016 · By Randall MacKinnon
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  • Space Hippo – Weird and Silly in the Good Way

    Weird! Silly! Only at the Fringe are these high compliments. Add in a couple of hundred shadow puppets, an environmental message, a multiracial performance team and you've got Space Hippo.

    The show was sold-out and the entire audience seemed to love it.  I'm a fan of Mind of a Snail local shadow puppet troupe and I'll bet they and their other fans love this show. Shadow-puppet-love was visceral and audible. Endorphins were just all over the place. Go and soak up the good cheer.

    The creators and performers are Daniel Wishes and Seri Yanai and they are, well,...

    September 13th, 2016 · By Mary Bennett
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