Fringe reviews #3: You’re sinking in quicksand. Someone calls it immersive.

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This article was published 18/07/2025 (420 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BOB MARLEY: HOW REGGAE CHANGED THE WORLD

Duane Forrest

John Hirsch Mainstage (Venue 1), to July 26

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Toronto’s Duane Forrest, a talented musician and storyteller, takes us on a 60-minute journey to show the way reggae music has impacted his life as a Jamaican-Canadian.

This journey is not without its bumps, however, as Forrest speaks about slavery, minority-on-minority violence and the struggle to fit into the “white” world.

In spite of the dark valleys we enter, the mountaintops Forrest’s voice and guitar take the audience to best capture the beauty of Bob Marley’s music and reggae as a whole.

Forrest’s genuine likability and beautiful singing voice are the standouts of this show. Even if you are not a fan of Bob Marley, you will be, especially after Forrest’s beautiful rendition of No Woman No Cry.

— Sonya Ballantyne

CRABS GONE WILD

Pinchy Productions

PTE — Colin Jackson Studio (Venue 17), to July 27

⭐

Winnipeg’s Pinchy Productions clearly meant this to be a Who’s On First-style wordplay comedy hinged on the misunderstanding involving the name of a certain crustacean.

The problem is, it’s just the same joke over and over again, for 40 tedious minutes (less than the advertised 60) — and the joke is a real groaner.

The plot, and that is being extremely generous, involves a couple who have met over a dating site and bond over their love of fishing. His mother and her best friend (who improbably also know each other) believe they’ve been bonded by something else entirely.

The two leads have zero chemistry, but that’s the literal least of this show’s problems. This cringefest features a truly baffling number of clunky, overlong scene changes and cumbersome, literal trip-hazard props for a script that, again, has one joke. Throw this one back.

— Jen Zoratti

ELEANOR’S STORY: AN AMERICAN GIRL IN HITLER’S GERMANY

Snafu

PTE — Cherry Karpyshin Mainstage (Venue 16), to July 27

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

You’re going to have to remember to breathe during this powerful one-woman drama written and performed by Los Angeles’ Ingrid Garner.

Based on her grandmother Eleanor Ramrath Garner’s bestselling memoir, this true story begins in the pretty New Jersey home of nine-year-old Eleanor, an American girl whose German-born father is forcing her family to relocate to Germany after accepting a job in Berlin. It’s 1939.

Eleanor spends her formative years trapped in Hitler’s hell, struggling to make sense of the fascism and antisemitism she’s witnessing and experiencing horrors no child (or anyone) ever should. (A scene in which she details seeing her first dead body won’t soon leave you.)

Garner beautifully brings her grandmother’s story to the stage with nuance, care and grace, and deftly portrays every member of her family. The stage is spare but effective: two chairs and a steamer trunk double as everything from the family table to the body of a dying solider.

This is a difficult, poignant show. But as an American woman in Trump’s America, Garner herself acknowledges that it’s a timely one, too.

— Jen Zoratti

FANADDICT

Hypothetical Projects

Rachel Browne Theatre (Venue 8), to July 26

⭐⭐⭐

It’s unclear where the Bjornson twins live, but what’s indisputable is where they were schooled: on the internet.

Not just raised by YouTube, but by a YouTuber, Luke (Ethan Stark) and his sister Lindsay were unwittingly drafted into a digital version of the Hollywood studio system, tasked with racking up views to pay the bills and ostensibly save for their future: whatever it takes to keep the channel afloat.

Written by 2023 Harry S. Rintoul Award for best new Manitoban play finalist Daphne Finlayson, FanAddict is an hour-long livestream through the choppiest waters of the digital-familial divide.

When the connection is strong — as it is when Luke meets a lifelong fan (Shanice Raymond) — audiences should like and subscribe.

But the production isn’t without its glitches: a key final exchange happens through teensy-tiny text, projected on the theatre’s back wall, which unfortunately renders its main character’s closure inaccessible, unrealized and on mute.

But unlike most of a digital creator’s parasocial interactions, it does happen in semi-privacy.

— Ben Waldman

GLITTERBOMB: A SIBLING BONDING STORY

Yet Another Venture

Asper Centre for Theatre & Film (Venue 10), to July 26

⭐⭐⭐

This 50-minute dramedy written and directed by Winnipeg’s Rosalie Best incisively explores a complicated triangle of dynamics among three adult siblings — but it definitely skews more drama than comedy.

Sisters Joan (Caleigh MacDonald, a standout Eldest Daughter) and Millie (Jen Gieg) are having a bonding sleepover and decide to try hallucinogens. They promptly freak out, calling their brother David (Lucas Boudreau) to come sit with them and guide them through their trip.

In the process, hard truths about their childhoods — and how they’ve coloured their current relationships — emerge.

Best’s dialogue, as written, is natural and realistic — and the actors capture all the judgment, tension and defensiveness these still-hurting siblings feel — but it sometimes comes out stiff on delivery, making the comedic moments, especially, fall flat.

Drug storylines are also very tricky to do well. As Millie says herself, it’s annoying to be a sober person around people on drugs.

Thankfully, it works here, though maybe not in the comedic way intended.

— Jen Zoratti

JIMMY HOGG: POTAYTO, POTAHTO

Jimmy Hogg

RRC Polytech (Venue 11), to July 26

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Boisterous, bearded, British-born storyteller Jimmy Hogg is back with a riotous tale that covers everything from his childhood with his aphorism-spouting Nan to his time managing a pub in Chatham to his one-upping rec-league footie teammates — with many, many digressions along the way.

Hogg is a raconteur of the finest order, his mile-a-minute-delivery — think an amped-up John Oliver — tumbling out as he paces the stage. His vignettes are so rich with detail, you can practically smell them, and you may never hear UB40’s Red Red Wine the same way again.

His deceptively rambling monologue, with every offroad moment mapped out meticulously, is more pointed than it first seems, although it would be nice to have the theme of masculine aggression woven more consistently throughout the work and perhaps some kind of emotional payoff.

It’s (just under, as per Nan’s instructions) an hour very well spent.

— Jill Wilson

NEW WAVE YOUR BEHAVIOUR

Hamilton 7

Centre culturel franco-manitobain (Venue 4), to July 27

⭐⭐⭐ ½

Tor Lukasik-Foss returns to the fringe with his one-hour one-man ode to finding meaning through music — specifically the synth-heavy hits of the ’80s.

After the death of his mother, the Hamilton, Ont.-based playwright/actor found himself suffering dissociative episodes. A fateful free trial of Sirius XM radio sees him working through his midlife malaise by categorizing the archetypes of new wave singers.

Lukasik-Foss is a puckish performer with a charming looseness, especially during his original songs (which are hilariously/impressively accurate).

However, he’s unfortunately dwarfed on the massive CCFM stage, taking away from more intimate moments (which would benefit from being explored in more detail; his crisis, while poignant, feels underexplained).

The material might land better with audience members who, like the star and this reviewer, are in their 50s, but his healing message strikes a universally sweet chord.

— Jill Wilson

OVERSHARER

Two Bits Productions

Son of a Warehouse (Venue 5), to July 26

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Does it seem like everyone has ADHD these days? If you’re an adult woman, that’s probably because the algorithm knows you better than you know yourself.

Winnipeg comedian Kristen Einarson delves into her late-in-life diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in this funny, sincere storytelling show.

She covers the diagnostic criteria and ADHD gender gap, before taking the audience on a neurodivergent treasure hunt through childhood journals depicting hyperfixations, social alienation and insatiable creativity.

Diagnosis at 29 was a tough pill to swallow (not literally; the meds have been a blessing), but there were lifelong signs.

There are plenty of unhinged stories and moments of genuine vulnerability. A slideshow and PSA-style interludes add production value to an otherwise solid standup set.

Einarson’s delivery is excellent and the hour-long show is well-crafted, if occasionally scattered — ADHD, amirite?

It’s also sneakily informative. Those without a pre-existing diagnosis might even leave with a few questions for their family doctor.

— Eva Wasney

REWRITTEN

Meraki Theatre for Kids

Kids Venue MTYP — Mainstage, to July 27

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This 30-minute drama-sometimes-musical follows a group of well-known fairy-tale characters as they set out to change their destinies.

A lot of adult productions could learn a thing or two about storytelling and set design from this wonderful bite-sized work that tackles a lot of grown-up topics, specifically the importance of making one’s own choices.

This original story, co-directed by Kennedy Huckerby, Ben Townsley and U of W alum Taylor Gregory, with original music by Micah Buenafe, was able to keep its rowdy audience captivated despite the (very real) construction work going on in the main lobby throughout the show.

Hannah Schaeffer as Scarlet was a highlight and handled the construction distraction with the grace of a Disney princess. Sam Elkin and Agnes Fournier were wonderful as the Narrator and Jack, respectively, but one wishes there had been more time for Alice Christopher as Goldilocks.

Bring your little ones to check out this adorable story.

— Sonya Ballantyne

THE SINGING PSYCHIC GAME SHOW

Glint of Light Ltd.

Tom Hendry Warehouse (Venue 6), to July 27

⭐⭐⭐

Don’t worry, my loves, the audience participation in this wacky mystical musical game show is, largely, a group project.

Dressed in a groovy maxi dress, London-based creator and performer Marysia Trembecka is warm and engaging while doling out lyrical tarot cards and delivering wholesome song-based prophecies.

There’s group dancing, team games, bingo and psychic Jenga, all of which are twists on the same premise: using popular music to divine the audience’s past, present and future. There’s also standup comedy and a surprisingly earnest concert performance.

The lack of structure and sound issues, however, took away from the mission. Some games took too long to set up, others felt repetitive.

The show would be improved with a wireless microphone. Trembecka frequently walked off mic, straining her delivery in the midsized venue. Shoutout to the technician, who had a lot on their plate between running the lights and queuing up surprise songs.

Will the Singing Psychic bring about world peace? Who’s to say, but it’s a fun, feel-good hour despite the chaos.

— Eva Wasney