Shylock (John Huston) Winnipeg Fringe Festival 5 Stars I confess, I was a bit worried when the theatre doors closed and the house lights dimmed.  80 minutes?  One man emoting for 80 minutes?  Because 60 minutes can seem interminable, but 80… I needn’t have worried.  Shylock was excellent.  John Huston is amazingly talented, and he […]

Mittelschmerz (Kim Zeglinski) Regina Fringe Festival 2.5 Stars This show is meant to be an edgy exploration of aging, relationships, and the menstrual cycle.  It was well-attended and well put-together, and other people seemed to enjoy it quite a bit.  However, for me, the topic seemed somewhat over-rehearsed and self-indulgent. The topics of ‘Motherhood’ and […]

Roller Derby Saved My Soul (Nancy Kenny) Victoria Fringe Festival 4.5 Stars This delightful show was the ideal fare for a sunny Victoria afternoon.  In Roller Derby Saved My Soul, Kenny tells the story of a girl’s introduction to Roller Derby – of how through the confidence she gained from the sport, she changed from […]

Strip or Die! (Rosie Delight: The Amazing One Woman Burlesque Show) Victoria Fringe Festival NO Stars This was an unequivocal mess. It is described as:  “One point four billion years ago, the first multicellular life was formed. It was named Rosie Delight. Over millions of millennia, it has picked up the talents to bewilder and […]

Animal Love (Annette Roman) Victoria Fringe Festival 1.5 Stars This show made me angry. Not because of the themes, or the content, but because I feel like a horrible person for giving it a bad review. But it did not work.  The rote delivery of the script, lack of thematic arc…  And what was most […]

Medicine (T.J. Dawe) Victoria Fringe Festival 3.5 Stars I have heard T.J. Dawe referred to as a ‘Fringe God’ or a ‘Fringe Legend’ – his reputation has spread throughout the country (and possibly beyond), and after several years of hearing about him, I was looking forward to finally seeing Dawe in action. And…he was good.  […]

Magic Unicorn Island Victoria Fringe Festival 4.5 Stars In Magic Unicorn Island, Jayson MacDonald creates the world.  No, not ‘a’ world, but the word.  This one.  With planets and waters and stars.  And people.  And war.  And a dystopic future that is, dismayingly, not unfathomable. In MacDonald’s version of our world, the children have had […]

N.O.N.C.E. Victoria Fringe Festival 4.5 Stars I confess:  I’m a sucker for a good poet.  And a good poet telling a compelling story…? N.O.N.C.E is comprised of Steve Larkin’s retelling of his time as a poet-in-residence at a UK prison.  And not a corporate, white-collar detention centre, either.  He swapped ideas and rhymes with murderers, […]

Christmas in Bakersfield Victoria Fringe Festival 3 Stars In the quagmire of Edmonton or Winnipeg Fringe Festival Personal Monologues, Christmas in Bakersfield might easily be overlooked. Which would be unfortunate. Bakersfield is Les Kurkendaal’s telling of his experiences visiting his boyfriend’s family one Christmas – as a gay man and African American – and of […]

The Hatter Victoria Fringe Festival 3 Stars The Mad Hatter is a character that most of us know from Alice in Wonderland. But who is he really? And what is his ‘madness’? And wait – is that free tea on stage? Andrew Wade takes elements and themes from the Alice in Wonderland and Jabberwocky to […]