Fringe reviews #4: The next boss battle begins

1-MAN NO-SHOW

Zeek Tech Productions

Rachel Browne Theatre (Venue 8), to July 25

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This hour-long absurd comedy show from Toronto is a series of progressively ridiculous bits performed by Isaac Kessler. Mixing scripted comedy with witty improvisation, it involves heavy interaction with the crowd.

Kessler ropes you into his unpredictable, nonsensical antics immediately. You have no idea what you’re watching or why you’re playing along but you do get absorbed into the tomfoolery.

One of the most ridiculous skits was when Kessler dramatically unpeeled a banana and gave it to an audience member to throw bits into his mouth, all to Hans Zimmer’s Dune soundtrack.

It helps he has impeccable comedic timing and plays off the audience well.

This production will have you hanging onto every bit of Kessler’s absurd performance even as you’re asking yourself: What did I just watch?

— Tiago Resko

THE 7 LIVES OF LOUIS RIEL

I, Métis Productions

PTE — Cherry Karpyshin Main Stage (Venue 16), to July 26

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Originally created and performed by Monster Theatre’s Ryan Gladstone, this two-person production has been newly adapted by locals Katie German and Cory Wojcik, bringing a Métis flair and perspective to this story of the founder of Manitoba.

The hour-long show explores Riel’s life through seven different perspectives, each performed through a different theatrical genre. It’s an incredibly creative approach that transforms a history lesson into something funny and unexpected.

German and Wojcik are a delight to watch. They bring incredible energy, charm and impeccable comedic timing to the stage. They have good chemistry, and it seems they are having just as much fun performing as the audience has watching.

Opening night brought in a full house, and the audience responded with a well-deserved standing ovation at the end. It was Riel-ly good!

— Shelley Cook

BOOK LOVERS

TBA Productions

John Hirsch Mainstage (Venue 1), to July 26

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Let Winnipeg playwright Liz Farler’s latest offering be a warning that you need to choose wisely when inviting members to join your book club.

Jill is excited to host the first meeting of her new reading group. Her husband Derek has begrudgingly agreed to be a member, and in addition to a few close friends, Jill has invited her new co-worker and a woman who recently moved into the neighbourhood to participate. The goal of the evening, at least on the surface, is to drink wine and choose the first book the group will read. What could go wrong?

A lot, apparently. Unexpected guests arrive and it becomes clear that each of the nine people in Jill and Derek’s living room has a reason to be there that goes beyond simply a love for literature. Emotional manipulation and heated conversations ensue.

The 60-minute play strains credulity at times, and hopefully the actors project more in upcoming performances than they did on opening night, but if you suspend your disbelief just enough, you’ll enjoy this farcical comedy.

— Aaron Epp

THE FIRST VAMPIRE

Silver Lining Comedy

King’s Head Pub (Venue 14), to July 26

👾👾👾 ½

The same stormy night in Geneva saw the creation of two icons of horror literature, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and … The Vampyre!

OK, the latter may not be iconic exactly, but it was the first vampire in literature, preceding Bram Stoker’s Dracula by about 70 years. The story was written by a physician named John Polidori, who was chums with Lord Byron, who came up with the idea of the vampiric figure at the heart of Polidori’s fiction.

Vancouver writer-director Ryan Gladstone contrives to tell an afterlife meeting of Byron (Madeleine Humeny) and Polidori (Rebecca Wass) in which both figures attempt to settle the vampiric issue of who was feeding off of whom.

Humeny and Wass attack the roles with juicy humour grounded in old-school melodrama. At times, it’s quite funny, but it has a tragic pulse beneath the skin, examining the power dynamics in relationships involving the rich and/or famous.

— Randall King

GRIMM’S FAIRER TALES

Stories Alive

MTYP Mainstage (Kids Venue), to July 26

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U.K.-based storyteller Eden Ballantyne introduces kids to the catalogue of the Brothers Grimm, but with a twist: these are fairy tales with a feminist edge.

Starting with a brief history of the Grimm siblings and their story-collection process, Ballantyne — who is an incredibly engaging and endearing performer — swiftly moves into the first of three fables included in this 60-minute show. Each story required audience participation from some of the young fringers in the crowd; the children at this particular performance were eager and fantastic, guided beautifully by Ballantyne who offered encouraging words and enthusiasm all the way through without derailing the momentum of the tales.

Not every storyteller can maintain a sense of calm, fun and fluidity while feeding lines to volunteer kid actors, but the audience is in safe hands with Ballantyne.

— Erin Lebar

MOTHER’S SECRET

Broken Record Productions

Centre culturel franco-manitobain (Venue 4), to July 26

👾👾 ½

This 45-minute (billed as 60) comedy, offering a new twist on an old play by Anishinaabe playwright Jo MacDonald, tells the story of two daughters, Virginia (Calum Peppard) and Krystyna (Josie Long), conspiring to move their elderly mother Pearl (Judy Arnason) into an assisted living facility run by Vera (Alison Kolisnyk).

The feisty 70-year-old resists (sort of), choosing instead to move into a retirement home for former spies. Her mysterious past is ultimately revealed when a pistol-packing Franco (Paul Nash) suddenly appears, seeking revenge for his paternal grandfather’s betrayal.

You know there’s trouble ahead when the set-change music packs more dramatic punch than what’s onstage. Actual suspense is often MIA, despite director Ryan Osodo’s best attempts to conjure a sense of urgency and intrigue with his actors. Their characters falling into cookie-cutter stereotypes isn’t helped by several gaping holes in the narrative, further shot through with uncomfortable ageism (why wouldn’t an older person know their way around technology?).

Several cheesy flashback scenes and social media references intended to inject topical humour into the play fell flatter than a pancake, as did its anticlimactic denouement, making this comedy sadly DOA.

— Holly Harris

THE NAKED MENNONITE: GENESIS

Real Live Entertainment

Club 200 (Venue 29), to July 26

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Returning to the fringe festival with a brand new offering, Stephen Harder — the stage name of Steinbach’s Alan Fehr, who also wrote this one-man show — explores the first book of the Old Testament through the lens of his evangelical upbringing, his Bible college education and current events that see an increasing amount of people use biblical literalism to justify their politics.

If you’ve never been to a Mennonite burlesque show, Harder tells the audience, “it’s a little bit sexy, a little bit silly and a little bit awkward.” Emphasis on “awkward,” in this case. Harder attempts to present a dramatic work that ridicules by means of grotesque exaggeration or comic imitation — the definition of burlesque — but many of the jokes don’t land.

As Harder careens through some of Genesis’s best known stories, the show starts to feel less like a comedic performance and more like a rushed exegesis.

Harder knows his scriptures, and audience members will be reminded how truly wild many biblical stories are, but The Naked Mennonite: Genesis is no revelation.

— Aaron Epp

SHORT KING

Sweet Action Theatre

MTYP Mainstage (Kids Venue), to July 26

👾👾👾 ½

Gordon Neill’s Short King explores complicated ideas of grief and loss wrapped in a bubble of silly songs and fart jokes that will elicit giggles from old and young attendees alike. While the larger themes may not be entirely understood by kids under the age of 10, there’s lots to enjoy for younger viewers, including loads of audience participation opportunities for those more extroverted children.

The story itself, though endearing and obviously close to the performer’s heart, could use a bit of a bit of work in the first and last 10 minutes as it felt a bit slow to get going and a bit clunky to end, but the laughs offered from the middle portion of this 45-minute show are well worth the price of admission.

— Erin Lebar

THE SUMMER I TURNED SPARKLY

Meraki Theatre

Centre culturel franco-manitoban (Venue 19), to July 26

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Winnipeg-based Meraki Theatre offers up a comedy musical mashup that conjoins two beloved (and memed) romance franchises — The Summer I Turned Pretty and Twilight.

The musical follows 17-year-old Belly trying to reinvent herself as Bella over summer holidays, all while navigating a love triangle with her childhood friends and stepbrothers: the brooding and distant Conrad Cullen and buff golden-retriever boyfriend Jacob Fisher. Decisions, decisions, which one will she choose?

The show does a great job of leaning into the lovable-but-weird quirks from each franchise, sprinkling tons of references throughout the 60-minute run time. The cast’s commitment to the jokes and recurring bits was sufficiently dedicated that they even made themselves crack up at times.

It was clear how much fun the company had while creating the show, a feeling that was consistently reciprocated by the audience.

— Tyler Hodgson

THOR’S A DICK: VIKING LEGENDS NOT FOR KIDS

Stories Alive

MTYP Richardson Studio (Venue 22), to July 26

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All aboard for this seafaring journey from the charming British storyteller Eden Ballantyne, who repackages several key stories from Norse mythology from Asgard and beyond. “It all began with blood,” announces Ballantyne, who is also presenting Grimm’s Fairier Tales at the MTYP Kids Venue.

If you expect a horned helmet, the tunic-clad Ballantyne has bad news — much of what we “know” about vikings is inaccurate. However, he’s happy to correct the record and provide additional insights into ancient visions of Loki, Freya and the Master Builder.

Though these stories are shared with joy and compelling energy — and a well-intentioned attempt at shadow theatre — Ballantyne struggles to establish meaningful narrative connection between adjacent myths. With a greater emphasis on flow, this hour-long voyage could be more memorable and much more buoyant.

— Ben Waldman