Five-star fringe

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This article was published 21/07/2016 (3376 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Free Press team of reviewers checked out all 169 Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival shows for 2016 and decided that 17 were five-star shows. 

We’ve assembled all the original reviews for those shows below as a handy guide for theatre-goers who are preparing for the festival’s final weekend. 

Catch up on the latest Fringe news in our special section, and read reviews of all 169 plays in our reviews section.  (Glutton for punishment? Check out the 1- and 1.5-star rated plays here.)

The Fringe winds up July 24.

Curious Contagious

A unicorn trying to open a big-box doughnut franchise gets infected by a virus in this arty shadow puppet and light projection show.

Sounds a bit twee, I know. But it’s delightful, innovative and beautiful, and created with minute, technical care, as anyone familiar with the past fringe work of Vancouver puppeteers Chloe Ziner and Jessica Gabriel will know.

We watch the goofy little viruses explore the primeval crazy quilt of the unicorn’s innards, and we see the unicorn grapple with the vagaries of his corporate overlords. There’s even a surprisingly melancholy twist, offering a gentle reflection on our fragile natures.

Some funny, deadpan narration and a jazzy, moody soundtrack, created entirely by Ziner and Gabriel, are the cherries on top of this luscious thing. Great for kids and adults alike. Sit up front so you don’t miss any details. (Location, showtimes, reader reviews.)

— Mary Agnes Welch

God is a Scottish Drag Queen IV

No matter how many comedies you attend at the fringe festival, it is hard not be struck by how long and loud, not to mention frequent, the laughs are at one of Mike Delamont’s performances of God is a Scottish Drag Queen.

All that hilarity for $10 an hour is a bargain cost-conscious Winnipeggers are willing to pay if Drag Queen’s string of sellouts is any indication. It’s like the second coming when a roar greets Delamont as he strolls barefoot onto the MTYP stage as the Lord in that by-now-familiar light-green power suit to launch the fourth instalment of his franchise.

It seems so effortless for this comic deity, who matches biblical accuracy with one-liners and observations. His mention of Justin Trudeau’s effect on women is accompanied by an ungodly knees-open flash that serves as Delamont’s hilarious exclamation point.

Those continued laughs suggest the Drag Queen series will last into divine double-digits. (Location, showtimes, reader reviews.)

— Kevin Prokosh

Erik de Waal’s Head in the Clouds

“South Af-raconteur” Erik de Waal is captivating as always, sharing the stories of his life as he lays bare the conflicted and contradictory relationship his country has with itself, his abiding affection for his deeply wounded homeland and his unrelenting optimism for its future.

Growing up on a South African farm, he was far from much of the turmoil of apartheid, in a home where another set of values were promoted. Away at high school, he discovered he had been in a world away, and he came of age as the country began to roil and rebel.

He tells of the African men who influenced him as a storyteller, of the heroism and outrages he witnessed and his own adventures going from boy to man. De Waal delivers an emotional and inspiring 60-minute journey into hope. (Location, showtimes, reader reviews.)

— Wendy King

Shakespeare Crackpot

Montreal’s Keir Cutler delivers a rollicking professorial rant about the value of higher education and the “authorship question” (was Shakespeare for real?) and ties it all together with his own family’s remarkable achievements, scholarly and otherwise.

The good doctor (that’s a PhD) pillories, to hilarious effect, the academics who protect and promote the dogma they love in a system designed to discourage the thing it is supposed to promote: critical thinking. Recounting his own experience as a student, he tells how he learned to play the game — trading marks for fealty to the canon — as a road to scholarly success.

But Cutler abandons all that to pique his audience’s curiosity and jostle their funny bones in a 60-minute class on Shakespeare and scholarship in the one comedy show where you find yourself actually wanting to take notes. (Location, showtimes, reader reviews.)

— Wendy King

H.U.N.K.S.

Freshly formed in 2015, the six-person Winnipeg sketch comedy troupe H.U.N.K.S. rocked the Winnipeg fringe last year and in 2016, they prove it was no fluke.

Skilfully incorporating video into their hour-long show, the five guys and a gal quickly riffle through a diversity of vigorously paced sketches touching on a janitorial-centred variation of Good Will Hunting, risks in the illegal gun trade, butt-punching and the lack of real crime-fighting functionality in a Wonder Woman costume.

They deserve the best possible venue for their stuff, and at Tom Hendry Warehouse, they’ve got it. These guys — Matt Nightingale, Dana Smith, Tim Gray, Sam McLean, Quinn Greene and Rory Fallis — are so good, they don’t even need Skeletor. (Location, showtimes, reader reviews.)

— Randall King

The Elephant Girls

“It’s going to get nasty.” Fair warning from hard-as-nails hellion Maggie Hale in this absorbing drama based on the true story of a notorious girl gang that terrorized London in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Written and performed by Toronto’s Margo MacDonald, it finds the dapper Maggie ensconced in her local pub, where she spills the secrets of the gang and her own sordid past as its enforcer.

Sporting a man’s suit, a Cockney accent and a menacing attitude, MacDonald is captivating as Maggie slowly strips away her armour, revealing a history of violence, depravation and intensely steamy sexual experience.

Recalling her love for the gang’s “queen,” the daring exploits of their crew of “dippers, hoisters and boosters,” and the events that led to their downfall, she’s an utterly entrancing storyteller. (Location, showtimes, reader reviews.)

— Pat St. Germain

The Neighbourhood Watch

The Neighbourhood Watch folks are experienced improv performers, and it shows.

In 45 minutes, the six Winnipeg performers sucked the audience into a vividly crafted small town and managed to make them laugh, groan and genuinely care about the townsfolks’ bizarre problems.

The action never lagged, and the story was at turns delightful, heartbreaking and laugh-out-loud ridiculous. (Location, showtimes, reader reviews.)

— Aidan Geary

Vladimir Is Dead

Vladimir Is Dead, from Toronto-based collective The Never and the Yes, is a piece of theatre that packs a punch — straight to the heart.

Expertly performed by brother-sister duo Laurel and Griffin Schell, Vladimir is Dead explores the relationship between Lily and her beloved pet fish, Vladimir. The two reflect on their life together at Vladimir’s funeral, all the while learning more about one another in death than they ever did in life. Both Schells quietly, yet powerfully, draw the audience in and create characters that feel both real and familiar. Indu Iyer’s vivid writing, paired with the Schells’ compelling performances and tangible chemistry, creates a beautiful and poignant piece of theatre. (Location, showtimes, reader reviews.)

— Alexandra De Pape

Heavenly Bodies

First things first: everyone should see this show.

Winnipeg playwright and actress Gislina Patterson is captivating as she weaves a story of a young woman’s sexual assault, playing the part of both victim and aggressor with grace, honesty and a reeling sensation of barely controlled emotion.

Blurring the lines between theatre and performance art, reality often takes a back seat to the characters’ feelings and perceptions, giving off a sense of drunken, alluring unreality. It’s a vulnerable, squirm-in-your-chair, immersive performance that showcases the best of what experimental theatre can do.

Unrelated but worthy of kudos: the venue had an unexpected power outage five minutes before curtain on Saturday and didn’t skip a beat while the show ran on emergency power. (Location, showtimes, reader reviews.)

— Aidan Geary

Eleanor’s Story: An American Girl in Hitler’s Germany

Harrowing, occasionally humorous and brutally honest, California writer-performer Ingrid Garner’s gripping one-hour drama opens on an ominous note. It’s the fall of 1939, and nine-year-old Eleanor’s father has just accepted a job with an electrical company in Berlin.

Setting sail from New Jersey, the family learns in mid-Atlantic that Germany is at war, but there’s no turning back.

A distillation of the autobiography of Eleanor Ramrath Garner, Garner’s grandmother, Eleanor’s Story is told from a unique perspective. Young and naive, she doesn’t want to miss out on the fun when all her friends join the Hitler Youth, and she’s soon accustomed to thrusting her arm in the air and shouting “Heil Hitler!”

But childhood becomes a distant memory as the war grows all too real, bringing first a trickle, then a flood of death and devastation to her door. (Location, showtimes, reader reviews.)

— Pat St. Germain

Fruit Flies Like a Banana

It is very hard to describe what Boston’s Hilary Abigana, C. Neil Parsons and Greg Jukes do in their 60-minute show. It’s part symphony, part modern dance, part game show and part comedy. It all adds up to a wholly charming entertainment.

Imagine Greg playing a toy piano suspended upside down being held by Hilary and Neil. Or Neil and Hilary “skating,” using office chairs while playing the trombone and the flute.

One number is a palindrome. It ends and begins using the same ballet sequence. The music is flawless and their timing impeccable. This is their first Winnipeg fringe appearance — let’s hope they come back again. (Location, showtimes, reader reviews.)

— Shannon Sampert

2 For Tea

Never has tea been more meticulously positioned, poured and supped than in 2 for Tea, performed by James and Jamesy out of Sussex, England.

This is the kind of comedy that induces full-out belly laughs all the way through — the combination of the duo’s physical comedy, their interactions with the crowd and interactions with each other create a magical whirlwind where anything seems plausible.

One minute, they’re serving tea to soldiers on the front lines; the next, a simple tea party has turned into a crazy family photo session that ends with a fatal (for some) ambulance ride.

Fair warning, there is a lot of audience participation (kudos to the four audience members at Wednesday’s 8:15 p.m. show for outstanding contributions), but it only adds to the hilarity and charm of this wonderful show. (Location, showtimes, reader reviews.)

— Erin Lebar

Jonno

Jonno (Ray Strachan) is a narcissistic, deeply insecure radio personality/author who gets violent with the women he dates. He says he’s a feminist and that he “loves women.” He says women just don’t “get him.” Most women have known men like Jonno, and that’s just one truth playwright Alix Sobler drops in a searing play full of them.

Don’t get too hung up on the source of inspiration for this show, though. It’s actually about four women — played by the estimable cast of Stephanie Sy, Charlene Van Buekenhout, Elena Anciro and Alicia Johnston — who are taking back their power.

It’s a smart, challenging and often harrowing piece that delves deep into very current conversations about everything from victim blaming to the ways in which women tear each other down for not doing feminism right — but it’s also very funny, too.

(Rob McLaughlin is wonderful as Mr. Donkey Long Ears). Oh, and the satisfying ending will make you stand up and cheer. Whatever you do, don’t miss this show. (Location, showtimes, reader reviews.)

— Jen Zoratti

Paradise Lost

Fringers with long memories might remember the English Suitcase Theatre Company’s breathtaking production of Dr. Faustus. As part of that lineage, Toronto-based playwright/director/actor Paul Van Dyck’s brilliant, 50-minute adaptation of 17th-century poet John Milton’s epic poem about heaven and hell, forbidden knowledge and fallen angels that he also performs is one of this year’s must-sees at the fringe.

The cherub-faced actor animates puppets representing Adam and Eve, as well as a hissing serpent, while navigating white silk banners that become heavenly wings. A rock ‘n’ roll soundtrack (which could have been cranked higher) — and yes, including the Rolling Stones’ Sympathy for the Devil — as well as creepy computer animation/video projections of licking flames and taunting skulls add a contemporary vibe, as well as fascinating subtext about celebrity stars we worship instead of deities.

Not least of all, the puppet show’s jaw-dropping, multi-layered imagery also speaks to the omnipresent temptation of technology in today’s digital world that’s become our own fateful fruit. (Location, showtimes, reader reviews.)

— Holly Harris

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the fifth fringe play tackled by local troupe Knavish Hedgehogs, and they do the Shakespearean comedy justice.

With minimalistic sets and clever use of the Prairie Theatre Exchange’s multiple stage entrances, the 10-piece group brings a fresh feel to the well-known comedy and works through the difficult dialogue flawlessly.

Particular highlights include Miranda Baran’s energetic and hilarious portrayal of Bottom, the eccentric actor-turned-donkey-turned-actor, and Daniel McIntyre-Ridd as the deadpan brick wall in the play within the play.

It’s a bit longer than your average fringe show (around 90 minutes), but it’s well worth the time investment. (Location, showtimes, reader reviews.)

— Erin Lebar

Gary

After Mel’s uncle Gary runs himself into his grave, she throws a dud of a wake and invites two friends to help clean out Gary’s apartment. There, unsettled by mortality and a gathering sexual tension, the trio careens into 60 minutes of what some have described as a “sexistential crisis.”

Don’t get it wrong: this show isn’t a downer. In fact, thanks to the whip-crack banter and electric chemistry of the three Ottawa actors, this steamy and decidedly R-rated comedy is scandalously funny. The laughs come hot and heavy, and the performances are sexy and fearless.

In the hands of lesser actors, some of the scenes could have been uncomfortable to witness. But so committed and appealing are actors Chelsea Young, Cory Thibert and Tony Adams, those parts are transformed into the show’s most deliciously entertaining moments. (Location, showtimes, reader reviews.)

— Melissa Martin

Falling Awake

Laughs will be your alarm clock if you get nightmares after watching this kooky display of physical comedy that re-enacts the often unexplainable notions we dream about when we seek some shut-eye.

The rubber-faced Nayana Fielkov dozes off at the beginning of Falling Awake, but that’s where the nonsense begins as Fielkov and her partner-in-mime, Matthew (Poki) McCorkle, combat thunderstorms, depict saucy seductions, display dizzying legerdemain and don eerie masks to play a fascinating game of chess that would baffle the most experienced of grandmasters.

This Vancouver-based duo, who are making their Winnipeg fringe debut, wrap the hour-long show up perfectly with a singalong to the famous Everly Brothers hit All I Have to Do Is Dream. Are fringe shows this good just a fantasy? Not anymore. (Location, showtimes, reader reviews.)

— Alan Small