Reel in more fringe play reviews

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This article was published 20/07/2024 (413 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Bloodsuckers! The Musical

Kiss the Giraffe Productions

Tom Hendry Warehouse (Venue 6), to July 27

You might be forgiven a little déjà vu when Kiss the Giraffe Productions remounts its hit Bloodsuckers! The Musical, which first premièred at the fringe in 2004. The briskly paced, 75-minute musical, with book, music and lyrics by Joseph Aragon, features many of those original cast members reprising their roles, augmented by KTG alumni.

American theme-park developer Jack Astor, performed with brash swagger by Kenneth Jackson, travels to Transylvania with business partners, Mary Brown (Lisa Tjaden) and Bill Smith (Sheldon Atts) to establish “Dracula Land.” Enter deliciously campy “king of the vampires,” Vlad (Ray Padua), who attempts to thwart his plans in his lust for blood, just as his sidekick, Natasha (Connie Dimen) plots her own revenge.

Aragon’s sharp, clever score of snazzy musical numbers has stood the test of time, with Tjaden in particular belting out her solos for all she’s worth. While it takes a while to adjust to performers singing sans microphones, the flashy Hollywood ending including a kick line caps this bloody blast from the past on a high note. 🐟🐟🐟🐟

— Holly Harris

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Captain Ted: Disabled Pirate

Strokes of Genius

One88 (Venue 23), to July 28

Ahoy, mateys! Welcome to a zany hour aboard the Inclusion, an inaccessible pirate ship helmed by a captain in a wheelchair and his swashbuckling crew. Capt. Ted (Mitch Krohn, a stroke survivor and the show’s creator) is determined to improve the convenience of his vessel, but upgrades are expensive. Let the plundering begin.

This informative local comedy features a cast of 10 multi-talented marauders with a range of real-life disabilities. While the humour hinges on the crew’s quirks, the moral of the story — rehashed during a closing monologue — focuses on acceptance and inclusion.

There’s a lot of exposition early on, but the pacing improves as the adventure ensues. Highlights include an offstage sex scene requiring ASL interpretation, a seeing-eye parrot and veiled digs at Winnipeg’s health-care system.

The venue has some tough sightlines, so arrive early to snag a good seat. Despite a misprint in the program, the second-floor room is indeed wheelchair accessible. 🐟🐟🐟 ½

— Eva Wasney

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Fly Through Time With Leapin’ Louie

Leapin’ Louie Comedy Productions

MTYP Mainstage (Kids Venue), to July 27

Leapin’ Louie (David Lichtenstein) wings in from Portland, Ore., to show Winnipeg kids the story of how long flight has been a thing on Earth.

With a stretched-out lariat rope as a timeline millions of years long, Leapin’ Louie juggles, jumps, unicycles, balances and rope twirls through the evolution of flight from the first takeoff by animals to the first lift-off by humans. His comedic cowboy stunts are paired up with each part of the timeline. Some dinosaurs may have “whipped” their tails — a perfect opportunity to demonstrate the whips. For the story of the Moon Bird, the house goes dark and out come the lighted juggling pins.

Augmented with some flying puppets and photographic slides, Leapin’ Louie delivers an enthusiastic performance (in spite of a small opening day turnout). 🐟🐟🐟

— Wendy King

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The Mirror Sphere: The Sworn Protector

Kirkatures

John Hirsch Mainstage (Venue 1), to Sunday, July 28

A musical that’s heavy on the music, The Mirror Sphere follows Boyo (Reynaldo Gomez), an elven warrior, and Star (Amber Westra), the beautiful princess, as they journey across the land of Fafu to defeat a dark Wizard.

The musical is half Lord of the Rings and half Legend of Zelda with a Rocky Horror soundtrack. Obvious care went into the creation of the lyrics; two standout songs are Akimbo and Mysterioso’s Revenge.

Star Reimer as the dark wizard Mysterioso is a highlight, moving about the stage like Galadriel played by Frank N Furter. Sarah Slagerman as Akimbo, the elven warrior, also shines whenever she’s onstage.

The Mirror Sphere feels like the middle of a trilogy rather than the start of a saga, but the spirit of ambition by its cast and crew make one eager for future works. 🐟🐟🐟 ½

— Sonya Ballantyne

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The River

Slice of Life Productions

MTYP Mainstage (Venue 21), to Saturday, July 27

At a riveting 80 minutes, The River by British playwright Jez Butterworth (Jerusalem) is a mysterious, deeply moving drama about a man bringing his (supposedly) new girlfriend to his remote cabin above a river on the special moonless night when he hooks a sea trout.

After this first intriguing scene, the next gives us a new woman as his girlfriend. There have been many more, or at least it seems so. There is more plot to come, but this is one play where the complex interaction of the obsessed man and the contrasting women isn’t confusing or elusive as the story evolves.

A ritual? Perhaps. Even thinking it’s a ghost story isn’t out of line. The production, directed by Winnipeg’s Emma Welham, is incisive, clear and blessedly straightforward, as it should be, letting the mystery of the characters’ flawed humanity shine forth. Butterworth is one playwright not to be missed. 🐟🐟🐟🐟

— Rory Runnells

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Rob Tezka: Magic Dropout

Rob Tezka Magic

PTE — Colin Jackson Studio (Venue 17), to Friday, July 26

British Columbia magician Rob Tezka blends sleight-of-hand and storytelling in this hour-long magic-meets-one-man show about failure.

It’s a canny choice to add an overarching narrative to a straight-ahead magic show, in Tezka’s case, about his defeats as a smart-but-slacking high school student who suddenly finds himself underwater in the world of academia. His stories set up the tricks in a way that is compelling but surface-skimming, and the take-home message about not having to wear your failures — literally, in this case, with personal shortcomings written on lanyards — is a bit heavy-handed.

But when it comes to the magic, Magic Dropout is a success. Tezka is an engaging presence, and his tricks are well paced and have enough “How’d he do that?” awe to keep an audience engaged to the very end. 🐟🐟🐟 ½

— Jen Zoratti

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The Savannah Sipping Society

R-G Productions

One88 (Venue 23), to Sunday, July 28

There’s far too much of a good thing happening on Randa’s verandah.

The Savannah Sipping Society — written by a trio of Americans and acted by a quartet of Winnipeggers — is a light-hearted comedy about unlikely friends who find common ground in their diverse personal struggles and a stiff drink.

The storyline and the acting are endearing, but the 90-minute production has too many props, too many costume changes, too many time hops. With five cocktails on the menu, the “sipping” layer of the show brings an excess of bottles and glassware to an already overflowing table. There’s also a set of crutches in use that go entirely unexplained and unincorporated in the plot.

While the actors nail their respective southern drawls, their volume and projection vary, making it difficult to catch the ample dialogue. Pared down and slowed down, this charming production has plenty of potential. 🐟🐟🐟

— Eva Wasney

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Shadow Necropolis

Mochinosha Puppet Company

The Rachel Browne Theatre (Venue 8), to Sunday, July 28

Kids Fringe is all very well, but one could build a case for a Young Adult Fringe for works such as Shadow Necropolis.

This puppetry spectacle follows Minerva, a young girl who is a hero in her dreams but a zero in the real world. When a traumatized schoolmate escapes into Minerva’s dreamworld, she must put aside her anxieties to find her new friend.

Never talking down to its audience, this play would be a great first-time fringe show for a pre-teen. It’s funny, clever and incredibly sweet. Though there are some initial hiccups at the start where it feels rushed, it falls into a nice rhythm and charms accordingly.

This is a show that shamelessly wears its heart on its sleeve: it feels like Spirited Away as directed by Tim Burton. 🐟🐟🐟🐟 ½

— Sonya Ballantyne

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Supernatural

Gregoire Entertainment

CCFM — Antoine Gaborieau Hall (Venue 19), to Sunday, July 28

With its seating at small tables and its curtained stage, the intimate, classy Gaborieau Hall is the perfect venue for this astounding “psychological magic show” by Winnipeg’s Patrick Gregoire. There’s a constant need for audience assistance, so you may be enlisted for roles such as calling out, “I have the Scroll of Destiny!”

Gregoire is a polished professional who radiates genuine love for creating wonder. He’s sometimes billed as “The Astonisher.” His feats in the 55-minute show really do astonish, and he generates a delicious aura of mystery with spacey music and the unifying concept that there are no coincidences.

Most of the feats involve Gregoire predicting numbers, some of them chosen by audience members from the infinite digits of the irrational number pi. How on earth does he do it? Only Destiny knows, but this trip into the realm of the irrational is a delightful escape. 🐟🐟🐟🐟

— Alison Mayes

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View From Sunset Towers

Shoestring Players

Tom Hendry Warehouse (Venue 6), to Sunday, July 28

To the strains of What a Wonderful World, we are introduced to an assembly of perspectives as this Winnipeg-based ensemble tackles the harsh realities of aging in 60 minutes.

Everything from mother-daughter dynamics and spousal bereavement to mounting health concerns (and hospital bills, natch), and fears of a life lived unfulfilled — these are relatable stories woven with familiar themes of aging, bereavement, separation and familial relationships, told with panache by a mostly senior cast.

The study of a daughter who grapples with her sense of responsibility and her desire for independence as she puts her life on hold to tend to an infirm parent is a marvellous example of restrained acting from both the players. With emotions kept barely in check, the scene generates a genuine sense of pathos. A couple of outdated observations on foreign food and beggars perpetuates stereotypes that detract from what is a poignant piece of theatre. 🐟🐟🐟 ½

— AV Kitching