It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Superman! (Plain Jane) Edmonton Fringe Festival 4.5 Stars What was composer Charles Strouse thinking? He had just won a Tony award for Bye Bye Birdie.  His future mistakes (Such as Annie 2: Miss Hannigan’s Revenge) were years ahead of him.  There were just so, so many things that […]

Keith Brown Exchange (Keith Brown) Edmonton Fringe Festival 3.5 Stars Who doesn’t love a good magic show?  Throw in a shot glass, a bottle of vinegar and a dozen (apparently) delicious sewing needles, and I’m in. Keith Brown’s Exchange is a lovely magic show.  The man is approachable, affable, and charming.  His magic contains truly […]

Camel Camel (Glittergizzard) Edmonton Fringe Festival 3.5 Stars Existential clowning.  That’s what this is, really.  Exploring life and death and transformation, through clown. This is very much what Vaudeville used to be.  It could be seen as a commentary on society – on theatre, on change.  On death, on how relationships alter and yet remain […]

Moonlight After Midnight Edmonton Fringe Festival 4.5 Stars   Moonlight After Midnight is a meld of mystery and ghost story. It is a visually minimalist work, relying on character development and the richness of the prose to transform the almost empty stage into a shabby, moonlit hotel room, in one of the cold, still, loneliest […]

The Death of Brian (Theatresimple) Edmonton Fringe Festival 4 Stars   Brian is dead.  Sort of.  He’s definitely naked, and…what is that he’s eating?! The Death of Brian is a one-man zombie show, told from the point of view of an infected, reanimated zombie corpse.  I happen to love zombies, so this was an easy […]

Best Picture (RibbitRePublic) Edmonton Fringe Festival 4 Stars Now I understand Sharknado.  After all, sharks are cool, and tornadoes can be pretty amazing.  So why not combine them both and let the madness ensue? And that is pretty much what happened with Best Picture.  The ‘power combination’ of Kurt Fitzpatrick, Tara Travis and Jon Paterson […]

Mr. and Mrs. Alexander: Sideshows & Psychics (You Rung? Productions) Edmonton Fringe Festival 5 Stars I loved this show. From the period-appropriate costumes, the perfect characterization, the polished physicality to the compelling plot, fascinating historic context and truly talented sleight-of-hand (and other) tricks, this was a hugely enjoyable treat. It is clear that much research and […]

The Legend of White Woman Creek (The Coldharts) Edmonton Fringe Festival 4 Stars The Legend of White Woman Creek is described as a ‘folk opera’.  However, I don’t want to review it as an opera.  The staging is minimal, much of the characterization is ‘telling’ instead of ‘showing’ (although the ‘telling’ is always done in […]

The Quitter (Al LaFrance) Edmonton Fringe Festival 3 Stars Fringe festivals around the world are rife with personal monologue stories.  Everyone has a story to tell.  Sometimes they’re riveting, sometimes they’re disturbing, and sometimes, as in the case of Al LaFrance’s The Quitter, they’re fine. This is Al’s story – about how from a young […]

Fugly (The Janes) Edmonton Fringe Festival 2 Stars According to the company’s website, Fugly: [D]eals with the struggle to be authentic in a world that values quite the opposite.  This show is stylish, satirical, and yet so personal. It’s an Alice-In-Wonderland metaphor.  They do a good job of making that clear.  And the props and […]