Winnipeg Fringe Festival: 2023 show reviews

The Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival is back, with more than 140 companies bringing their original and adapted shows to the city from July 19 to 30.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/07/2023 (1188 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival is back, with more than 140 companies bringing their original and adapted shows to the city from July 19 to 30.

All of the Free Press’ reviews will be published here.  Find a show below and click to read its review.


Five-star shows from the fringe festival

Click here to read reviews of these shows

  • Drag Me To The Opera — Aida Cupcake Presents
  • Neechies — Broken Record Productions
  • Fake ‘N’ Bake — Oh Hello Productions!
  • Good Grief — Gangland Productions
  • (In)Decision — Drawing Board Productions
  • Ingénue: Deanna Durbin, Judy Garland, And The Golden Age Of Hollywood — Melanie Gall Presents
  • Six Chick Flicks — PKF Productions
  • World’s Fair 1876: The Centennial Exposition — JHG Creative
  • Adventure Of The Little Rooster — The Grand Salto Theatre
  • Catch Me In The Kitchen Story Adventures — Catch Me in the Kitchen
  • Epidermis Circus — SNAFU
  • Nashville Hurricane — Chase Padgett

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Winnipeg Fringe Festival lunch crowd at Old Market Square Thursday.
WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Winnipeg Fringe Festival lunch crowd at Old Market Square Thursday.


DAY 1: July 19, 2023

The first of many fringe play reviews are in… take your pick

Click here to read reviews of these shows

  • Anesti Danelis: This Show Will Change Your Life — Anesti Danelis
  • Another Very Serious Night With Barney Morin — River Road Productions
  • August Quarterly Report — Tattooed Egg
  • Booger Red — Jim Loucks
  • Dungeons & Shakespeare — Shelby Bond
  • Eleanor’s Story: Life After War — Ingrid Garner
  • Everything is Super Wow — Ira Cooper
  • Jem Rolls Maximum Crusoe — Big Word / Jem Rolls
  • La La Luna Sea — All About Theatre
  • Lia & Dor — Cristina Tudor
  • A Masters Guide to Beginners Improv — SensibleChuckle Theatre
  • Mindreader — Patrick Gregoire
  • One Night Only — Nicholas Eddie
  • Private Parts: The Secrets We Keep — Joanna Rannelli
  • Rat Man Happy Place — Bruce Ryan Costella
  • This Calls for Danger — Hogans Circus

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Winnipeg Fringe Festival underway at Old Market Square Thursday.
WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Winnipeg Fringe Festival underway at Old Market Square Thursday.


DAY 1: July 19, 2023

Part II: Click here to read reviews of these shows

  • All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten — Shoestring Players
  • The American Songbook Experience — Melanie Gall Presents
  • Anatomica — Ragmop Theatre
  • At The Table With Keith Brown — Keith Brown
  • Dangerous Mind — Strange Danger
  • The Dreams of Nebuchadnezzar — Geraüschbiest
  • Drag Me To The Opera — Aida Cupcake Presents
  • Ma Buhay: The Road To Rainbow Stage — Ma-Buhay! A New Musical
  • My Dad Isn’t Danny DeVito — Anthony DeVito
  • Neechies — Broken Record Productions
  • A One Human Being, Potentially Comedic Performance of Les Mis — Living the Dream
  • Otto And Astrid’s Joint Solo Project — Salvador Dinosaur
  • Sapphire Butterfly Blue — MTYP’s Summer Studio
  • Why Not Murder Mother — TBA Productions
  • World’s Greatest* Dad — Morgan Cranny

JESSICA LEE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
A pedestrian reads posters for the Fringe Festival in the Exchange District.
JESSICA LEE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

A pedestrian reads posters for the Fringe Festival in the Exchange District.


Day 2: July 20, 2023

Part I: Click here to read reviews of these shows

  • Aliens of Extraordinary Ability — The Crosseyed Rascals
  • Creating Rem Lazar — Rem Lezar Theatre
  • Fake ‘N’ Bake — Oh Hello Productions!
  • Field Zoology 101 — Shaun O’Hara
  • Generic Male: Just What We Need, Another Show About Men — Push Physical Theatre
  • Good Grief — Gangland Productions
  • How I Met My Neurodivergent Friend — Autistic Productions
  • Hooked? — All About Theatre Kids
  • Improvision: Motley Canoe — ImproVision
  • Keeping the Moon — It’s all Relative Productions
  • Lessons They Won’t Let us Teach in School — Joseph-Herd Productions
  • Long Night of the American Dream — Concrete Drops Theatre
  • Mail Ordered — Shanice Stanislaus
  • Murder… In the Fourth Degree — H.A.N.D.
  • Obsession: The Elizabeth Smart Musical — Goltsman-Ferris Productions
  • One Man Batman Parody — Rod Peter Jr.
  • Robert Will Show you the Door (Tales of Being Fired) — Susan Jeremy Productions
  • Stacey-Jean At Your Side — SJeanS Productions
  • Stroke of Luck — Gravity still works
  • Tree — Natasha Mercado
  • Wolfhaven Presents: King, Magician, Lover — Wolfhaven Productions
  • Women — The Sexy Snakes

JESSICA LEE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Marianne Morash looks at show listings at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival.
JESSICA LEE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Marianne Morash looks at show listings at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival.


Day 3: July 21, 2023

Part I: Click here to read reviews of these shows

  • A Is For Anxiety Apples
  • The Barn Identity
  • Barry Potter And The Magic Of Wizardry
  • Broadway At The Blue Elephant
  • The Case Of The Mysterious Mystery: A Not Quite Sherlock Mystery
  • The Comaback Kid
  • Flourish
  • Fringe Open Mic
  • God Is A Scottish Drag Queen
  • (In)Decision
  • Influenced
  • Ingénue: Deanna Durbin, Judy Garland, And The Golden Age Of Hollywood
  • The Merkin Sisters: Deux
  • The Perfect Pants
  • Pull Yourself Together
  • A Series Of Card Tricks Done In A Row
  • Six Chick Flicks
  • Teaching Shakespeare
  • Twenty Four
  • World’s Fair 1876: The Centennial Exposition
  • 1 Stand-up Comedy Show, Please
  • A Wpg Stand-up Comedy Show

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
T8 the Gr8 (Tait Palsson) wows Lilly (five) and Josephine (six) Fenn with magic tricks and juggling outside of Old Market Square at the launch of Fringe Festival.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

T8 the Gr8 (Tait Palsson) wows Lilly (five) and Josephine (six) Fenn with magic tricks and juggling outside of Old Market Square at the launch of Fringe Festival.


Day 4: July 22, 2023

Part I: Click here to read reviews of these shows

  • 90 Lies An Hour: Paul Strickland — Paul Strickland Presents
  • The Barbarian Bombshells — The Barbarian Bombshells
  • Blabbermouth, The Puff Monster and the Wolf — Merlyn Productions
  • Break Time — Swingset
  • Bremner Sings: Everything in New Orleans is a Good Idea — Big Empty Barn Productions
  • Clueless In Za — Erik de Waal
  • Conquest Of The Air — Jurasco
  • Dude, Where’s My Karma? — Fedor Comedy
  • The Fool — Monster Theatre
  • How To Live Forever — Hypothetical Productions
  • The Last Five Years — Hot Reject Productions
  • The Life Henri — Still Your Friend
  • Little Shop Of Horrors — The Dramatic Theatre Company
  • Me: Roar — Alembic Theatre Creations
  • Midnight — Meraki Theatre Productions
  • My Body Of Work — Holly M. Brinkman
  • Old God — Splash Time
  • Pramkicker — An Seanchaí
  • The Seat Next to the King — Root Sky Productions
  • Specimen Sherman — Dark Horse Theatre
  • The Smallest Stupid Improv Show — The Improv Company
  • Staffroom — Scattered Minds Theatre

Day 4: July 22, 2023

Part II: Click here to read reviews of these shows

  • Adventure Of The Little Rooster — The Grand Salto Theatre
  • African Folktales With Erik De Waal — Yap Theatre
  • A.W.O.L. — Rob Gee
  • Bookmarks — Local Rascal Productions
  • Breaking Bard — Seismic Shift Productions
  • Catch Me In The Kitchen Story Adventures — Catch Me in the Kitchen
  • Dog Gone — Far Fetched Productions
  • Donating Sperm To My Sister’s Wife — Kelly Finnegan Productions
  • Epidermis Circus — SNAFU
  • An Evening of Magic & Illusion — Horus Eye Productions
  • Every Good Story Ends With One — Martin Dockery
  • Everybody — Actors Studio
  • The Family Crow: A Murder Mystery — The Pucking Fuppet Co.
  • Grease, Too! — Tyson Comedy
  • I Lost On Jeopardy — So Lonely Productions
  • The Murky Place — Subscatter Productions
  • The Magic Of Chanelle Munroe Presents: Five Ways To Kill A Magician — Magician and the Muse Inc.
  • The Magician’s Apprentices — Comedy Illusions of Greg Wood
  • Matt & Ben — Hill Party Productions
  • Muse: An Experiment In Storytelling And Life Drawing — Cameryn Moore / Little Black Book
  • Nashville Hurricane — Chase Padgett
  • Neurohilarity — Neurohilarity
  • Ookie Dokie — Physically Speaking
  • Opera Mouse — Melanie Gall Presents for Kids
  • Pool (No Water) — 10..9..8 Productions
  • Sad Girl Songs — Gwen Coburn
  • Saplings — One Trunk Theatre
  • The Sherlock Holmes Experience — Best Medicine Productions
  • The Tempest — Indifferently Reformed
  • The Ultimate Actor’s Nightmare — Axiom Theatre
  • A Work In Progress — Crosswalk Productions

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Olivia (left, 10), Aubrey (nine), Kaytee (10), and Martha (10), do gymnastic tricks as The Funky Miracles play at Old Market Square.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Olivia (left, 10), Aubrey (nine), Kaytee (10), and Martha (10), do gymnastic tricks as The Funky Miracles play at Old Market Square.


Day 4: July 22, 2023

Part III: Click here to read reviews of these shows

  • Always Because: The Adventures of Maggie and Meghan — Us <3
  • Countdown to Babylon — MaxQ Productions
  • The Dungeons ‘N’ Dragons Improv Show XIV — Miki Media
  • The Elephant in the Room — Priyanka Shetty
  • For Science! — Small Matters Productions
  • The Horrible Friends: Free Beer: Last Call — The Horrible Friends
  • James & Jamesy: Easy as Pie — James & Jamesy
  • Laughing Yoga — The Musical — Laughing Lion Wellness Therapy
  • Lesbihonest — Pitchin’in Productions
  • Let’s Talk About Your Death — Allspice Theatre
  • Washed Up — Awkward Cheese Co.

 

History

Updated on Sunday, July 23, 2023 5:00 PM CDT: Updates with new reviews

Updated on Tuesday, July 25, 2023 2:06 PM CDT: Updates with five-star show list

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