If there's a "Local-girl-makes-good" Cinderella story at this year's Fringe it's Missie Peters' Public Confessions of a Public Servant. Peters managed to pack the Victoria Event Centre on a Tuesday night, only her third show of the festival. Confessions is also her first Fringe perrformance.
Jayson McDonald just might be the busiest man at this year's Fringe.
He's performing in two shows: Celebrity Cult, an hour long two-hander and Gun Powder, his solo show. Last night he performed them back to back. That can't be easy - but he sure made it look that way.
Jayson has brought Gun Powder to Victoria before as part of last spring's Uno Fest where it was a big hit. It's a welcome return - McDonald is a perennial Fringe favorite, starring in noteworthy solo shows Giant Invisible Robot, Boat Load and Fall Fair. That's an impressive resumé....
He's back. Brit comic Rob Gee has returned to The Fringe with The Genghis Khan Guide to Etiquette a show having, in his own words, "nothing to do with Genghis Khan, and even less to do with etiquette".
Gee was a huge hit at last year's Fringe with his show Fruitcake - true tales from his time as a nurse in a psych ward. Although Khan may not be as good as his previous effort Gee is still a pleasure to see, and with word of mouth and rave reviews, he'll no doubt sell out the rest of his run....
A Scottish farm couple near Saskatoon share a wee nip of the finest - like a fury worm wrapping around your heart - while planning a roast pork dinner for their daughter's sweetheart. An owl calls from the barn, sounding obviously human.
"Don't touch me there, Robbie," says Mary.
"Why not?"
"I like it too much."
In Thank You My Love, Goodbye currently on at the Victoria Fringe, it's the beginning of World War II, and Robbie is off with his Canadian brothers to fight the Huns one more time. Over the course of the next...
Actually, he's not. That's just the name of the show. Which is a bit strange, because, Dave Morris is a really nice guy. Maybe he's just trying to get in touch with his inner bad boy, or perhaps it's just a clever marketing device. Hopefully this show will get Dave the exposure he deserves by introducing him to larger audience that doesn't usually go out to see improv.
So yes, the show is a one-man improv - but don't let that scare you away. Morris knows his stuff. It's not an easy task to hold...
The new Peter n' Chris show Peter n' Chris Save The World! may indeed have enough energy to actually save the planet. Or at least the Victoria Fringe.Not that the Fringe needs saving - just yet. With over 60 shows and some seventeen venues the Victoria Fringe seems healthier than ever.
Pity the poor Fringers though, they have to decide what shows to see, and when to see them. I was so overwhelmed myself that I ended up at the Pn'C by mistake, thinking there was another show at the same venue. No one to blame but myself, as...
In Spin, Ben, the governor of Maryland, finds himself in political hot water for "copping a feel." His spin doctor, Billie, who "manipulates events in the service of truth," convinces the gov to recruit Ted, US Marine, astronaut and state hero, to join the ticket and assure re-election.But they also have to woo Ted's wife, Sally. After two years of being an Earth-widow, she just wants her man to herself for a while. Further complicating matters, she's infertile.
"I wish they had kids," says Billie. "American are the sappiest people on the planet."
Smalltown: A Pickup Musical is an original musical by Amiel Gladstone and Lucas Myers, directed by Matthew Payne, and with musical direction and arrangements by Brad L'Cuyer. A SKAM production currently on as part of the Victoria Fringe Festival it is staged from the back of a pickup truck in an urban park where wind and sun serve as mics and lighting, and a nearby shipping container is backstage and green room. 20-meter Garry oaks frame the action - perfect props for the opening song lyrics "...after the last tree falls."
The performances in Bard on the Beach's Henry V are excellent. The script, on the other hand is tired, dated, and old. Is it arrogant to critique a master like William Shakespeare? Perhaps. But the fact is that in a canon of nearly fourty plays only a handful are worth doing. The rest could really benefit from innovative make overs and reinterpretations. And unfortunately there isn't enough innovation in this production to save it.
The play begins with Henry primed to engage in a war to take over France. In a humorous passage, a clergyman justifies...
From the first words uttered onstage, I was elated. The rhythm and timbre of the dialogue suggested a lost Michel Tremblay play, with gorgeous repetitions, layered character conversations. However, things quickly become absurd, and then macabre, and then they fell apart.
With Aftershock (on as part of this year's SummerWorks), playwright Evan Tsitsias offers meditations on beauty, possession, belonging and home. Anna has just returned home from an Extreme Makeover show. Her physical beauty is utterly shocking and in some cases overbearing to her trailer park family and boyfriend. But no sooner does she return home, then she becomes...
