Fringe reviews #10: A street performer convinces you to join the circus

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This article was published 20/07/2025 (443 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

100% WIZARD

Picaro Enterprises

The Rachel Browne Theatre (Venue 8), to Sunday

⭐⭐⭐ ½

With an abundance of fringe magic shows pushing supernatural hokum to sell their acts, London, Ont.’s Keith Brown is a breath of fresh air amid the smoky hoo-hah.

Brown is an affable beardo with an understated mastery of card tricks incorporating impressive memory work. In a display of versatility, the hour-long show even features a mini-monologue about the history of playing cards and their relationship to measurements of time (52 cards represent 52 weeks and four suits correspond to four seasons, etc.), sure to be a surprise for many.

The tricks are nothing fancy, but Brown’s enthusiasm is disarming to the extent volunteers look pretty pleased to be sharing his stage. You can’t ask more than that.

— Randall King

ALRIGHT: SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF LIVING

Four Face Productions

Planetarium Auditorium (Venue 9), to Sunday

⭐⭐⭐ ½

Clocking in at just under an hour, this show focuses on storyteller Nisha Coleman encountering friends or family members dealing with mental illness and suicidal ideation. These encounters also include her own bouts of despair, including a sudden run-in with police during a wellness check.

Though beautiful, there is a feeling of being rushed through each story, giving us no time to sit with the feelings we’ve just been given. The direction and lighting design are wonderful, but there are times Coleman would have benefited from a microphone to amplify her voice, as the sound cues sometimes drown her out.

Coleman’s story about not reconnecting with a friend right before that friend died by suicide was the true beating heart of the show, as Coleman deals with the “what-ifs” of the days before that ultimately lead to no answers.

— Sonya Ballantyne

CROAKINOLE & CROAKETTE!

Croakinole & Croakette

Kids Venue MTYP — Mainstage, to Sunday

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Kermit will be shivering in his boots; he’s met his match in Croakinole and Croakette.

It’s no mean feat keeping a crowd of young ‘uns entertained for 45 minutes straight, especially if you’re of the amphibian persuasion, but that’s exactly what these two frogs manage to do during their high-energy set.

Packing in 10 songs across various genres, from pop and punk to dance, hip-hop, rock ‘n’ roll and even a perfectly executed jazz number, the non-stop fun, action-packed show will have even the grumpiest of grown-ups smiling in minutes.

Embark on a musical journey that’ll have you on your feet dancing in the aisles with your kids as you twist, turn, twirl and hop along to the block-rocking beats.

Real-life partners Mario and Brittany Lagassé make a lovely duo, successfully infecting the audience with their joie de vivre. A must-see.

— AV Kitching

IF DAY

MaxQ Productions

Tom Hendry Warehouse (Venue 6), to Sunday

⭐⭐⭐ ½

One of Winnipeg’s most fascinating and troubling wartime fables goosesteps to the Warehouse in If Day, MaxQ Productions’ followup to last year’s Nuclear Family.

Wartime anxieties are again on the drawing table for writers Gilles Messier and Jess Morgan, who pick their fictionalized story up in the winter of 1942, when J.D. Perrin (Khald Nuristani), the chairman of the Greater Winnipeg Victory Loan, devises a plot that could make Max Bialystock blush: to raise funds for the war effort, Perrin hires an exiled film director (Élie Tardiff-Breen) to stage a faux Nazi invasion.

Meanwhile, a John Loewen (Andreas Detillieux) and an Essie Schwartz (Krista Austin) are thrust into the pages of a dime-store pulp comic to ward off the enemies, including a country-club elitist (Stephen Gatphoh) eager to don a brownshirt.

If Day is well-executed and ambitious, and should give local history buffs a minor thrill, but the script’s twists and turns are far too aggressively telegraphed for too many surprising footprints on a battlefield that’s feeling all too familiar lately.

— Ben Waldman

ITALIAN MONDAY IMPROV WITH KEVIN ALEXANDER

Stealth Check Productions

Tom Hendry Theatre (Venue 6), to Sunday

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Kevin Alexander and his crew are phenomenal at their craft. This tight-knit local ensemble of four is engaging from the first moment and didn’t miss a beat as they weave audience suggestions —names, objects, and ideas — into the story with creativity and precision. These seeds, planted early on, bloom into moments that are both hilarious and unexpectedly emotional.

If you’re coming to this show expecting rapid-fire, game-show-style improv skits, you won’t find that here. Instead, this is a thoughtful, character-driven piece that follows Kevin, a struggling improv actor sacrificing almost everything in pursuit of his dream.

What sets this show apart is the cast’s ability to shift between the emotional weight of the story and laugh-out-loud moments. The transitions feel seamless, the acting is heartfelt, and the result is a layered performance that showcases the depth improv theatre can offer when done well.

It’s not just a comedy show, it’s a story with soul, heart and a lot of laughs.

— Shelley Cook

LATE-IN-LIFE LESBIAN

Kind Crow Productions

Planetarium Auditorium (Venue 9), to Saturday

⭐⭐⭐ ½

Comedian Shane Thevenot, hailing from the backwoods of Portage la Prairie, delivers an autobiographical 70-minute standup routine about coming out as a non-binary lesbian at the tender age of 32.

Thevenot is a natural-born raconteur who regales us with tales about growing up as a “good Christian girl” (who ironically wound up a sex ed teacher at high school), enduring a year of bad dates after moving to Montreal during the global pandemic and ultimately accepting their true identity after moving back to Winnipeg.

Yep, there are plenty of F-bombs and a content warning. Thevenot’s monologue meanders at times (Plato overstayed his welcome, as did the toilet brush story) and the narrative could easily be whittled by at least 15 minutes. The show is at its best during its more animated moments, and stronger direction by Lucy Gervais would ideally have had Thevenot use the stage more fully. Still, you can’t diss someone for speaking their rainbow-coloured truths in a predominantly blue-vs.-pink world, and root for any true seeker on a late-blooming journey of self-discovery and empowerment.

— Holly Harris

MONEY FISH: BALLS, BALLS, BALLS

Hercinia Arts Collective

Kids Venue MTYP — Mainstage, to Saturday

⭐⭐⭐ ½

This terrific trio of talented acrobatic fish channel the physical comedy stylings of the Marx Brothers blended with the slapstick genius of Charlie Chaplin in this absurd and fun parody that features juggling, acrobatics and dance.

Successfully dancing ballet in flipper-clad feet is a remarkable feat and the three ladies of Toronto-based non-profit Hercinia Arts Collective — Kirsten Edwards, Emily Hughes and Natalie Parkinson Dupley — do it with aplomb, generating oohs, aaahs and wows from the appreciative audience.

Balls of all sizes abound, rolling around the stage and sometimes off it (sit right in the front row if you’ve got kids who like to get involved). The front seats are also the best spots to get the full effect of the myriad facial expressions as the troop tumble, contort, sway, flip and balance their way through an array of recognizable tunes over 45 minutes. It’s a hoot of a show that knows not to take itself too seriously.

— AV Kitching

SARAH TEAKLE’S CIRCUS SHOW!

Sarah Teakle

Kids Venue MTYP — Mainstage, to Sunday

⭐⭐⭐⭐

This 45-minute circus showcase starts as you enter the venue, with Sarah Teakle herself mingling amongst the crowd. The Winnipegger’s accessibility is one of the most endearing aspects of her performance, especially when she speaks about how long she has been working at learning her circus tricks (12 years!).

Teakle is not afraid of making mistakes and this humility draws you in. In an era where some kids are terrified of being “cringe,” talking about how important it is to keep trying even after you fail is a message many need to hear.

Teakle’s hula hooping is the standout of her show, but a too-long gag and sound problems mean some young minds will start to wander. On the whole, this is a fun, enjoyable outing; many of the kids on their way out were gushing, “Best show ever!” It would not be surprising if hula hoop purchases were in some of their futures.

— Sonya Ballantyne

SEASONS OF LOVE

Enigma Performance Company

John Hirsch Mainstage (Venue 1), to Saturday

⭐⭐⭐ ½

This gentle contemporary dance show about that which makes the world go ‘round offers an antidote to the sea of F-bombs regularly found at fringe.

Inspired by Max Richter’s Recomposed, a creative mash-up of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, 10 (mostly) local dancers (including youngest member Violet Connery-Dwyer, 11, highlighted during the piece’s earliest minutes), perform a series of unabashedly lyrical duets, trios, quartets and full ensemble sections choreographed by Brandon-born Willow Harvey as her first full-length work.

Despite its premise tipping towards cliché, there’s a lot of promise here. Harvey’s collaborative vision with director Anthony Ferens creates arresting, often sculptural images that surprise, including one poetic section where dancers sweep across the stage holding billowing white silk sheets. Others feel underdeveloped, such as when several pull their sheets over their heads to become mysterious silky ghosts that became a missed opportunity.

Still, there’s an ocean of heart in this show about love, and its 35 minutes (billed as 60) fly by faster than the timeless seasons themselves.

— Holly Harris

STORY WIZARDS

Piti Theatre Company

Kids Venue MTYP — Mainstage, to Thursday

⭐⭐⭐⭐ ½

This improv show unfolds when the Story Wizard seeks the help of the audience to help him write new tales after his stories are lost. Chaos ensues as the father-and-son duo behind Massachussets-based Piti Theatre Company go on a rollicking 45-minute ride, helmed by the imaginations of a gaggle of elementary school-aged children who take over the stage.

Immediate audience participation sees the unfolding of the most outlandish of plots, featuring a 75-year-old grumpy rainforest-dwelling leopard who yearns to be a chicken. Prompts by children are then woven into a tale that also features a frog, chicken nuggets and a black hole — disparate elements cleverly pulled together to make one fantastical, ludicrous, laugh-out loud whole.

An excellent exercise in storytelling, underpinned by the off-the-cuff musical compositions of the wizard’s real-life keyboard-playing son, it will likely inspire younger members of the audience to create even more magical adventures when they get home.

— AV Kitching