vanfringe

If they are willing to do it in the rain – I’m willing to watch it in the rain.  These young artists took on powerboats, reminding us that Vancouver is in a rain forest and the most dreaded of Granville Island obstacles – drunk rich people.

Made up of a combination of verse, modern lines and with a through line of the five steps to acceptance of death, Phycopomp is the story of Glauce (daughter of the king of Corinth and Jason’s second wife) who is murdered by Medea and preparing to cross the river Styx.  We stand at the...

Comedy, Drama, New Work - http://www.psychetheatre.com/

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. We were someone else’s Chevy trash”) to Prime Minister of Canada and ultimately the first Canadian President of the United States of North America.

It is 2084 and the countries of Canada, the United States and Mexico have created the corporate invention of the United States of North America, it only...

Comedy, Monologue

Created by a group of Grade 10 students from Carson Graham Secondary in North Vancouver, RIOT explores what happened on June 15, 2011, just before and after game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals. The students are remounting an award-winning show in the first week of school led by teacher Rob Walker.

Taking inspiration from the hit television show GLEE, the Grade 10 students created a play about what happened in their own community. It's exciting to see work by a large group of students (26 in the cast, 2 in the band and likely another 3-4 on the tech...

Multimedia, New Work, Musical Theatre, All Ages

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.  It is an interesting concept, one that I think might have some appeal, though perhaps not as part of a Fringe Festival.

 
Having spent much time here, I did find it interesting...
Comedy, New Work - http://www.liesllafferty.ca/

This campy fun site specific show will make you laugh without feeling the guilt you get from watching Toddlers and Tiaras or Honey boo boo. Make your way over to the Playground next to the Water Park on Granville Island and be prepared to be transported to an out of this world Beauty Pageant.  First you will need to get comfortable and find a seat on the concrete curved walls – (the front row is more comfortable if you have long legs) – although I am sure by the end of the Fringe this show will have a row or...

Comedy, New Work, All Ages

This is a show unlike anything you have seen before – a wordless combination of physical theatre/comedy, grotesque clown / bouffon and dance that just may transform you.

Performer Sandrine Lafond brings her show Little Lady from Las Vegas – one of my favorite places & the transformation capital of the world.  Whether it be transforming a desert into an oasis, a hotel into a pyramid or castle or transforming a human’s face, teeth, boobs & abs to create the perfect body for lounging by the pool - Vegas is the place.  Lafond herself has recently transformed from Cirque Du...

Dance, Clown, Physical Theatre, All Ages - http://sandrinelafond.com/

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. Teamed with producer and wife Lianna Walden, the story unfolds far beyond the constructs of Mark’s closet and portrays a changing marriage and a husband and wife’s changing love.

The script is taut, well-paced and above all honest, which makes it such a sexy show....

Performance Art, Queer - http://www.facebook.com/bihungfitandmarried

Professor Stephen Heatley and accompanist Richard Link give a musical and personal lecture on a variety of topics: getting older, getting wiser, Thomas Mann novellas and the acceptance of shame through dance. It’s not the typical university lecture with fluorescent lights and squeaky desks but a calmer, more living room type lecture. That is, more of a scholastic cabaret.

Cabaret

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. The play quickly drops the girlfriend façade and pulls at the main drama, the boys’ long standing attraction to each other.

Staged at the Picnic Pavilion, the outdoor setting adds nicely to the camping theme. Even the flannelled Australians at the...

Comedy, Drama, Queer, New Work

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.

Drama

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