The strength of the 12 Minute Max showcases is in their brevity. At their best, the performances are like haiku: pointed and poetic, double-edged in their meanings. On the whole, this year's showcased were strong, and kudos must go not only to choreographers and performers, but to the curators as well, who assembled an original and entertaining line-up for 2010.
The UNO festival, by it's very nature, has its limitations; there are only two venues, and no production has more than three shows. Some shows deserve both a larger venue, and a longer run, if only to accommodate the number of people who want to see them.
In his review in the Georgia Straight, Colin Thomas describes Deborah Williams, who plays Becky in Becky’s New Car (on now at the Arts Club), as “so perfect for the role—she brings such warmth and comedic skill to it—that it feels like the part could have been written for her”. Thomas is bang on. I can’t imagine what this show would have been without Williams.
Thank God for Deborah Williams as Shirley...we mean Becky
One of the best things about both the UNO Fest (currently on at the moment) and the Victoria Fringe Festival is that it allows room for both the seasoned pros, and the up-and-comers.
Borrowing a scene from Superman, Chris Gibbs in Like Father, Like Son? Sorry (on now in Victoria as part of the Uno Fest) sweeps onstage with the plastic baby that would grow up to be Christopher Reeve. From here, he slides out of his robe and into a long reflection on his own fitness as a father. He then quickly adjusts the baby’s head so that it’s flat, unblinking, empty, lifeless, soullessly accusing blue eyes bore through the being of some unfortunate man in the front row. Gibbs is not one to let sincerity smother comedy for long.
Oldies play. Onstage is a plywood Toxbox which seems to have grown a skullet of red yarn. Following one of these threads onstage is redheaded sixth-grader Nicholas. Redheaded Stepchild begins (as part of this year's Uno Fest).
Johnnie Walker is redheaded and he wants you to know about it
If you kept your ears open around last year’s Fringe festivals, you probably picked up a shred of conversation or two about Chris Gibbs in The Power of Ignorance which is back in Victoria for a return engagement at the Uno Fest. Gibbs plays idiot-savant motivational speaker Vaguen – here to teach you (!) no less than nineteen (!) ways your ignorance (?) can save and better your daily life.
Choice Words: Secrets and Truths is unusual among this year’s Uno Fest shows. Instead of a single actor and their trusty technician, it offers the audience a pack of professional storytellers, folklorists, fairytale spinners and traditionally styled musicians (and their trusty technician). It’s a taste of oral traditions that does a good job cleansing your theatrical palate after a week of “first-person” actors.
Japanglish, a tight and intelligent one-woman show, centres on the defining moments of a Japanese-Canadian family straddling two almost incompatible cultures. As their daughter embodies Canadian sensibilities, the parents struggle to fit into a new place and new language.
