Fringe Festival mainstay Erik De Waal brings his larger-than-life self back to Venue 8 with his familiar cast of South African animal puppets and some exciting new fables to share.

The second story concerns not animals, but children. Little Tembhi is left in the care of her older brother. She slips out the back door and loses her doll in the river. She follows the doll right to the edge of the forest where a horrible man (a cannibal who eats children!) is waiting to pop her in a sack! Can Tembhi's brother get her before it's too late? De Waal will tell you -- but only if you promise not to "scream like a baby!"

Always professional, De Waal enchants and engages his audience with his high energy, sense of humour, and genuine love of his craft. The man just knows how to tell a story. Arrive early -- the very first show was almost completely sold out. Great for all kids up to age 10.

CRUMBS SELLS OUT
CRUMBS
The King's Head (Venue 14), to July 26

In the program for their 2008 Fringe Show, renowned local improv outfit CRUMBS thanks the Winnipeg Free Press for "the five star reviews." I'm pretty sure they're being sarcastic, so I almost hate to ruin the joke.

After 11 years together, CRUMBS are indeed masters of long-form improv, pursuing three stories through three different rounds. Their audiences know and love them. And DJ Hunnicutt has a knack for finding the best tunes to fit a scene -- on our night, a moseying country riff for a soliloquy about Safeway and a New Agey soundscape for Steve Sim and Lee White's spontaneous contemporary dance.

HANDS OFF
Hot Thespian Action
The Playhouse Studio (Venue 3), to July 25

No such dynamic exists among the five members of Winnipeg's own Hot Thespian Action. The three women in the troupe, Shannon Guile, Jacqueline Loewen and Jane Testar, not only outnumber their two male partners (Garth Merekley and Ryan Miller), they're more physical and bolder in their comedy contributions, especially in sketches that include a mime throwdown, a robotic girls' night out, a glimpse into the tragic downward spiral of air freshener addiction, and a flat-out hilarious staging of The Miracle of Birth. But there are no weak links in the troupe and everyone gets a chance to shine, whether it's Miller's interpretation of a young/old dog, or Testar's choice of a heartfelt, folkie interpretation to ask the musical question: Don't You Wish Your Girlfriend Was Hot Like Me?

If you've blundered into a lot of bad comedy at the Fringe, Hands Off feels -- contrary to its title -- as reviving as a high-end spa treatment administered by caring professionals who know how to rub you the right way.

PERSEUS & MEDUSA
Struts & Frets Players
The Conservatory (Venue 7), to July 26

This is a stage production of the biggest, most tragic, Greek hero epic ever.

And it's hilarious!

Taking their source material from the story of how Perseus slew the Gorgon Medusa, Winnipeg's Struts & Frets Players, directed by Carolyn Gray, have crafted a funny, well-paced, retelling of what is actually a pretty convoluted myth.

A slightly loopy oracle (Jessy Ardern) warns Acrisius (Dan Augusta) that his daughter's son Perseus (Ariel Levine) will be the cause of his death. This sets off a chain of events that leads to the quest to kill Medusa. Shadow puppets, masks, and a "leggy" sea monster add to the goofy adventure.

There are a lot of funnybones on that stage. These actors have great timing and know how to deliver a comic line, which they do, one right after another. S&F Players recommends it especially for kids, but this teenage troupe has pulled off the trick of mounting a production that defies any age limit for the audience.

SHADOWS IN BLOOM
Gemma Wilcox
MTC Backstage at the Mainstage (Venue 1), to July 26

Fringe favourite Gemma Wilcox (Best of Fest show The Honeymoon Period is Officially Over, 2007) inhabits another full cast of characters -- most of them human -- in this one-woman finale to a semi-autobiographical quintet of connected but stand-alone plays.

This time out, the Colorado-based British performer moves her main character, Sandra, to London to be close to her sexy sax-playing boyfriend Pete. Two weeks later, the relationship is on the rocks. Pete's daughter, Lou, hates her, and Sandra is jealous of some of the adult women in Pete's life. With her 30th birthday approaching, her biological clock is ticking and Sandra wants Pete to make an official commitment.

She may get a happy ending, but the journey here is more important than the destination. Wilcox pulls off a deft display of character-hopping, bouncing among a multitude of roles, from a comic gay houseplant named Kevin to a sultry nightclub singer and even a pair of doomed lobsters, without ever dropping the story's thread.

The external action is impressive enough, but the most powerful scenes are the physical depictions of Sandra's inner turmoil -- she mimes sticking a knife in her heart when Pete makes an insensitive comment and, later, a moment of visceral rage paints a picture so realistic, it has the audience cringing in horror. It's quite a feat, and sure bet for your fringe budget.

THE SHAKESPEARE SHOW
Monster Theatre
PTE Mainstage (Venue 16), to July 27

Much like Rick Chafe's Shakespeare's Dog, The Shakespeare Show poses a theory as to how an illiterate son of a glover could become the world's greatest playwright. Monster Theatre's Ryan Gladstone takes the contrarian view that Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford wrote all those plays, using the name of a dopey house-handler named Shakespeareso that the nobleman could keep secret his lowly pastime.

While de Vere ruminates about whether "to write or not to write," Shakespeare is characterized as a dim-witted opportunist who discovered the script for Hamlet in the stables and believed Chester the horse wrote it.

Gladstone brings the bawdy world of Shakespeare, whoever he might be, to life with a verve that is entertaining throughout. While he plays Shakespeare as a dimwit, Tara Travis is impressive as the forgotten de Vere and most of the other characters.

The Shakespeare Show stands out in the festival for having something to say, and saying it with purpose and humour.

SHERLOCK HOLMES & THE SALINE SOLUTION
Sound & Fury
Gas Station Theatre (Venue 18), to July 26

Richard Maritzer, Shelby Bond and Vinny Cardinale had a large first-night turn-out of Sound & Fury fans in uproarious laughter before they even began their performance. In turn, the three were having a hard time stifling their smiles and giggles as everyone on both sides of the footlights at the Gas Station Theatre enjoyed themselves.

As they have done to much hilarity with the Bard's plays, the Los Angeles-based troupe lampooned Sherlock Holmes and give it a typical Sound & Fury twist. Leading man Martizer got tricked out of playing Holmes by Bond, who dons the great fictional detective's deerstalker cap and portrays him as a dim-witted goof. "The game is afeet," enthuses Bond. Maritzer is demoted to the role of Dr. Watson, but plays his character as the much sharper sleuth.

Throughout the show, the local favourites added asides (a joke about Confusion Corner brought down the house) and generally had a ball with sexual double entendres and Sherlockian satire.

SINGING AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD
Chanting Raven Productions
Planetarium Auditorium (Venue 10), to July 26

If you missed this grippingly honest autobiographical tale of musician Randy Rutherford's battle with congenital hearing loss at last year's festival, don't make the same mistake again this year.

The San Francisco native, donning a digital ear piece, serves up a lyrical 80-minute performance driven by powerful storytelling that pops with unexpected humour and the kind of music that makes your hair stand up.

Rutherford transports the audience back to his carefree youth in the 1970s when love was in the air and being paid to play the acoustic guitar at Alaska's Fancy Moose Saloon was like having died and gone to heaven. When the music starts slipping away, so does Rutherford's perfect life, and it takes one last visit from someone he cares deeply about to appreciate the importance of dreaming no matter what life throws your way.

Heart-rendingly beautiful. A must-see.

SPIRAL DIVE
Theatrepublic
Onstage at the Playhouse (Venue 4), to July 26.

FROM an Edmonton company that has mounted several best-of-fringe efforts, this 90-minute Second World War drama boasts a superb script from veteran playwright Kenneth Brown and first-rate performances from a three-member cast.

The story is a staple of Canadian war dramas. An innocent young man joins the air force, leaves his girl back home and confronts experiences overseas, both good and bad, that will him last a lifetime.

Blake William Turner deserves full marks for his portrayal of the prairie-born flyboy, and his co-stars, Caley Suliak and Bryan D. Webb, who essay several supporting roles each, are every bit his match.

It's amazing what they do armed with a few simple props, real acting technique and Brown's brilliant narrative skills. Life always seems more intense in periods of war -- when duty and death, courage and passion are all around -- and this production brings them all into sharp focus.

THE TRICKY PART
Heart & Eyes
Red River College (Venue 11), to July 25

American Martin Moran's powerful memoir maps his painful journey after he is sexually molested at age 12 by a male counsellor at a Catholic boys camp. Moran performed The Tricky Part off-Broadway in 2004 but it is South African actor Peter Hayes who is introducing this deeply moving one-man show to the Canadian fringe festival circuit.

Moran chronicles his early upbringing as a Roman Catholic in Denver before proceeding to a candid account of the affair and a confrontation he had 30 years later with his abuser, an ex-seminarian. Although emotionally broken to the point of two suicide attempts, Moran endures to find forgiveness for his victimizer and himself, while at the same time finding a measure of redemption.

The visceral performance by Hayes captures all the victim's emotional confusion, feelings of spiritual abandonment and desperate need to take back his stolen soul. Despite its 90-minute length, The Tricky Part requires further contemplation, so you might not want to hurry off afterwards to some mindless comedy.