Evacuated! Winnipeg Fringe Festival 5 Stars This show surpassed my expectations.  Based upon the sparse program blurb and the basic poster design, I expected another self-indulgent personal narrative story, which is becoming increasingly common at the Winnipeg Fringe.   I couldn’t have been more wrong.  And I am delighted about that.  ‘Evacuated!’ is a fascinating […]

Hockey Night at the Puck & Pickle Pub Winnipeg Fringe Festival 4 Stars What do you get with you put two talented Fringe actors playing a handful of different characters in a pub with a roomful of hockey fans? Cheerful pandemonium.  And that’s a wonderful thing.   Hockey Night at the Puck & Pickle Pub […]

With almost 200 choices, it can be really hard to narrow down one’s selections.  So here are eight amazing/interesting/quirky shows (in alphabetical order) to add to your schedule: The Ballad of Frank Allen From the bizarre minds of Fringe faves Shane Adamczak (Zack Adams, 3x Just For Laughs Award Nominee) and Al Lafrance (The Quitter) […]

Moonlight After Midnight Toronto Fringe Festival 4 Stars   Moonlight After Midnight is a mysterious romance, written by Fringe veteran Martin Dockery, and starring Dockery, as well as Vanessa Quesnelle.  The show is clever, fast-paced and wordy, and was clearly enjoyed by both audience and actors.   Dockery and Quesnelle both commit fully to their […]

Chris & Travis Regina Fringe Festival 4 Stars   ‘An improvised show performed entirely in gibberish’ – I admit, at first I was leery.  However, the concept worked, and what followed was an unexpected treat.   Chris Ross and Travis Bernhardt work well together and make good use of the stage at the Unitarian Church.  […]

The Cockwhisperer Regina Fringe Festival 3 Stars Part personal monologue and part stand-up comedy, Colette Kendall’s one-woman show didn’t seem to know exactly what it should be.  It started with a stand-up comedy routine, which often didn’t seem to quite land with the audience.  Twice, Kendall blamed the audience for not ‘getting’ the jokes, which […]

  The Ballad of Frank Allen Regina Fringe Festival 4 Stars   This two-hander is a thoroughly enjoyable comic romp. The premise is a very Fringey version of ‘Ratatouille’:  a man is living in another man’s beard, and can (sometimes) control his movements, and (sometimes) communicate with him.  Why?  Because it’s Fringe!  Why not?   […]

The Prehistory of Moses P Regina Fringe Festival 5 Stars   Erik deWaal is a master storyteller.  From the images he evokes to the timbre and tone of his voice subtly shifting to create a dramatic arc, watching one of his shows is an delight.  And ‘The Prehistory of Moses P’, a tale of apartheid […]

Inventor of All Things Regina Fringe Festival 5 Stars   Jem Rolls is a consummate poet and a ranter extraordinaire.  But who knew that he was a talented storyteller, too?   In ‘Inventor of All Things’, a departure from his usual fare in both style and content, Rolls recounts the story of Leo Szilard is […]

Wooster Sauce Regina Fringe Festival 4 Stars This is a zany yet highbrow hour of accents, sherry and schoolgirls.  It’s perfect for both fans of P.G. Wodehouse who are well familiar with the famous ‘Jeeves’ character, as well as those of us whose ideas of the British class system were molded by hours of binge-watching […]