Top of the leaderboard: Our five-star fringe reviews

ALEXANDER MANTIA’S ZUCCHINI CLUB

Alexander Mantia Puppetry

Théâtre Cercle Molière (Venue 3), to July 26

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Pasquale Provolone is on a mission to protect his garden — and his prized Bella Zucchini — from local wildlife. Toronto-based Alexander Mantia pulls out all of the stops during this 55-minute puppet performance, creating a variety show extraordinaire.

The “Goombas” er, audience members, meet a cast of 10 unique puppets who perform endearing songs, slam poetry, standup comedy and dance spectacles.

This laugh-out-loud act leans into the animals’ characteristics and tropes — including the Opossum, who is talented at impersonating death and muses about taking the show on the road — and is layered with brilliant wordplay.

Mantia’s puppeteering creates a joyous atmosphere. While the show is moderately reliant on audience participation, it’s called upon in a way that is highly inviting and extremely complementary to the tone of the production.

Playful and hilarious, it is filled with a whimsical cast one could only dream of encountering in one’s own garden.

— Nadya Pankiw

DEAD CHEF

JHG Creative

The Gargoyle Theatre (Venue 25), to July 26

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With a dash of Weekend at Bernie’s, a pinch of The Bear and a soupçon of Ratatouille, Winnipeg’s JHG Creative serves up a slapstick comedy musical that goes down a treat.

Here’s the premise: the Waters brothers (Connor Joseph and Cuinn Joseph), owners of the chichi French restaurant Eau Bouillante (lol), are shocked to discover the body of head chef Sophie van Bleu (Monique Gauthier) in the kitchen.

Sacre bleu! Not on the very night they are trying to earn their first Michelin star!

And so, they decide to fake their way through dinner service, pretending Sophie is still alive. (This is, obviously, a very black comedy — but it’s strangely moving, too.)

The power of JHG Creatives is that they are clearly ardent students of the musical. The reprise, the patter song, the “I Want” song — their well-constructed shows have them all, and the musicality is consistently impressive.

While Benjamin Krawchuk’s turn as French-Canadian garçon Ramsay de Mignon (lol) was top notch, the real star of this show is Gauthier, the titular Dead Chef whose physical comedy chops — especially in a CCTV-footage style sequence in which she must repeatedly reperform her series of ultimately fatal kitchen mishaps in forward and reverse — are, quite simply, chef’s kiss.

— Jen Zoratti

EL DIABLO OF THE CARDS 2.0

Ewerton Martins

Son of Warehouse (Venue 5), to July 26

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“I came back more diabolical this time,” Brazil-based clown and magician Ewerton Martins told the crowd on opening night of this 60-minute show, which he first brought to the festival in 2024.

There were more than 50 people in the audience, including a dozen or so who sat onstage with Martins.

It was all hands on deck for those attendees, as Martins called on them to pick cards and shuffle as he performed his prestidigitation. The dazzling sleight-of-hand tricks came at an astonishing rate, each more impressive than the one before it.

Martins is a masterful performer who had audience members laughing before the show even started. He’s brought his act to as many countries as there are cards in a deck, and it’s a treat to have him back in Winnipeg performing a show that’s fun for all ages.

“I don’t want magic, I want a miracle,” Martins says, and he delivers. Hail El Diablo!

— Aaron Epp

ELEANOR’S STORY: LIFE AFTER WAR

Ingrid Garner

Planetarium Auditorium (Venue 9), to July 26

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A story of survival as timely now as ever, this devastating yet sweet post-Second World War memoir is not without hope.

Los-Angeles-based performer Ingrid Garner brings to life her grandmother Eleanor Ramrath Garner’s memories in a graceful performance that lends ease to extremely difficult subject matter.

Ramrath Garner, now 96, wrote a book about her childhood experiences as an American living in Adolf Hitler’s Germany from 1939 to 1946. Her granddaughter adapted it for the stage (Eleanor’s Story: An American Girl In Hitler’s Germany) and now returns with this well-produced, engrossing sequel.

The war is over, and 16-year-old Eleanor is in high school in the U.S., going to sockhops and history class — but trauma followed her home.

Garner, who’s been performing Eleanor’s story on tour for about a decade, plays more than 10 characters with just three props and spare but superb lighting and sound cues.

Don’t miss your chance to see this standalone sequel, even if you haven’t seen the first one. You won’t soon forget it.

— Katie May

ERIKA MACDONALD: TEA TIME

Erika MacDonald

Aceartinc. (Venue 24), to July 26

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It might seem as if Erika MacDonald is doing nothing but making endless cups of (properly prepared!) tea in this utter delight of a solo show, but the Kentucky-based writer and performer is doing so, so much more.

The preparation of tea is about ritual and, as such, is steeped (sorry) in metaphor. This show is really about time and how important it is to take yours — especially if you are prone, like MacDonald, to finding yourself in the bottomless ocean of depression.

Don’t expect straight-ahead storytelling; this show’s magic is in its quirks. There’s call-and-response. There’s an audience Q&A. There’s even a sneaky mindfulness meditation.

MacDonald herself is such an engaging, warm and naturally funny presence — “Do you like how I used the word “steep” to bleep out the word f–?”— that you’ll relish spending these moments with her. A true original.

— Jen Zoratti

EVIE & ALFIE: A VERY BRITISH LOVE STORY

Stéphanie Morin Robert Performance Society

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

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In a pair of beautifully calibrated performances, British-born fringe veterans Alex Dallas of Sensible Footwear and Jimmy Hogg (Mashed, Venue 16) portray the titular couple in this absolutely lovely, moving 60-minute two-hander about a long marriage.

We meet the couple in their retirement, peaceably reading together, gently bickering over birds and biccies; Evie tells her husband to put them on a plate rather than bringing the whole tin. “You know how you are.”

We’re then taken through their relationship — meeting, courtship, marriage, childbirth, middle age, dotage — with all its joy and pain and boredom and bumps in the road (Dallas’s portrayal of a 50-year-old woman’s impotent rage and regret is something to behold).

It’s a pitch-perfect portrait of imperfect, abiding love that’s larded with laughter and full of familiar domestic detail that sidesteps stereotype.

“You know how you are,” Evie says, but what she means is “I know who you are, and I’m the only one who does.”

— Jill Wilson

GOOSE! NIGHT OF THE COBRA CHICKEN

Faux Ghost

MTYP Richardson Studio Theatre (Venue 22), to July 26

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If you thought geese were scary before, imagine a world where climate catastrophe has rendered them ravenous for blood — human blood.

Enter an immersive horror-comedy bursting with camp, drama, faux-gore, flashbacks and synth-backed dance sequences. Enter … the goose-pocalypse.

The audience is invited to participate from the outset, having been welcomed into the “safe house” with a pamphlet on surviving the goose-led massacres.

The premise of this 50-minute production from Winnipeg-based Faux Ghost is hilariously ridiculous. The execution is seriously stellar.

The show rests on magnetic performances from Andrew Broaddus and Alexandra Chubaty Boychuk, who deliver an electrifying, comical, sometimes even scary cast of characters. The story is well-thought-out, complete with dramatic back stories and a shocking twist.

Goose! is a fresh, fun, delightfully cheesy riff on the horror-comedy genre that perfectly captures the spirit of the fringe.

— Julia-Simone Rutgers

JIMMY HOGG: MASHED

Jimmy Hogg

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

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After sold-out runs at the last two fringes, and an incident involving a daycare, a nursing home, and a popular British insult, comedian Jimmy Hogg set out to write a show without any swearing. In this brand-new performance, he succeeded. Well, almost.

There is a story at the heart of Mashed, drawn from Hogg’s past as a verified Cool Young Man.

But let’s be honest: the story is just a backdrop for the comedian to let loose his talent.

Hogg is a master of his craft. From the second he takes the stage, he owns it. He’s relentlessly energetic, rakishly charismatic, and just the right amount of deranged.

The main thrust of his tale is woven with sharp asides, tangents tacked onto tangents, and uproarious pops of crowd interaction. (Don’t forget, Jimmy: you promised more pickerel next year.)

Every bit of it is funny, and not a moment goes to waste.

— Melissa Martin

MIDDLE CHILD 

Snafu

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

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This hysterical hour-long comedy is about a middle child and the two siblings who constantly overshadow her.

Co-creators Kathleen Greenfield, Jack Widow and Tony Adams also star in the show and deliver incredible performances playing exaggerated stereotypes: the golden child/older brother, the attention-seeking younger sister and the overlooked middle child.

Through their distorted recreations of their own births and memories of their cold alcoholic father and judgemental almond mom, they explore the childhood that made them.

The humour is often very raunchy, but it works and you can tell the performers are having fun with what they’re doing, which rubs off on the crowd.

Even factoring in the exaggeration, the show proves very relatable. You may recognize your own family members in the characters of this crazy family.

— Tiago Resko

OUR FATHER

Stark Raving

John Hirsch Mainstage (Venue 1), to July 25

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Estranged oil-and-water siblings try to find enough common ground to prepare for the funeral of their very difficult father. It’s a classic setup well explored in numerous stories, films and plays.

This production, written by Winnipegger Ethan Stark — a Harry S. Rintoul-nominated playwright — subverts that cosy grief framework by not just draping it across the arms of a bible-thumper’s cross, but doing so with profound love and a fierce sense of play.

As siblings Sophie and Oliver meet, repeated dead-naming reveals one character as trans in a conservative Christian family.

That narrative tension is ripped apart by voice-of-God audio intrusions that confound first the audience, then the actors and finally the playwright, who charges the stage and demands — speaking to the ether — to know what is happening.

By the end, father and adult child have gentle but firm words, one heart is both broken and mended, faith and a green-haired God are lifted gloriously whole from the Bible and, just before the theatre leapt to its collective feet, at least a dozen audience members were audibly sobbing.

Follow this playwright.

— Denise Duguay

OVERSHARER

Einarson Productions

Son of Warehouse (Venue 5), to July 26

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Locals know Kristen Einarson as a successful standup with numerous credits, but fewer know of her late-adult diagnosis of ADHD, attributable to a phenomenon called patriarchal medicine, where women’s health concerns are ignored.

Delivered in sections, dealing with childhood through puberty and into adulthood, this 60-minute show includes the predictable job firings and the roller coaster of impressing others and then disappointing them. You could nearly hear the forceful nods of neurodivergent folks in the house.

In the tradition of Australian comic Hannah Gadsby (Nanette), this brave and vulnerable woman stops letting us off the hook with laughs and exposes the immense pain this invisible disability can cause.

Now for a few bucks you can grow wise and more understanding while laughing out loud.

Laughter is the best medicine (unless, to quote Norm McDonald, you’re diabetic, then insulin is the best medicine).

Kudos to a well-organized, focused, informative and, finally, deeply moving show.

— Lara Rae

PROMISE & PROMISCUITY: A NEW MUSICAL BY JANE AUSTEN & PENNY ASHTON

Matthew Harvey

John Hirsch Mainstage (Venue 1), to July 26

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Jane Austen fans with any sense won’t have to be persuaded to see Penny Ashton’s latest one-woman production, which uses the beloved English author’s works as the inspiration for a 75-minute comedy with musical numbers.

But you don’t have to be a Janeite to get a kick out of the New Zealander’s show, as the delightfully charming Ashton performs a dozen or so different characters, including writer Elspeth, who, along with her sister Cordelia and their mother, are broke after her father lost all the family’s money and died.

The three get invited to a upper-class ball where Elspeth catches the eye of the rich Reginald, whose mother believes Elspeth to be too lowly for her son.

Ashton is a force of nature who sings, dances, cracks jokes, loves a double entendre (did we mention the ball?) and is a gifted physical comedian.

The script, written by Ashton with quotes from Austen, is filled with modern references turned on their head: it’s safe to say you won’t hear a version of Bon’s Jovi’s You Give Love a Bad Name quite like this.

— Rob Williams

TENDERLY: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF NAT KING COLE

Duane Forrest Productions

MTYP — Mainstage (Venue 21), to July 26

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Montreal-based actor/musician/playwright Duane Forrest, who electrified fringe audiences last year with his tribute to Bob Marley, returns, this time with an all-new, tender homage to American jazz icon Nat King Cole.

The charismatic performer is a natural-born raconteur, charming us with his buttery-smooth vocals and easy guitar licks as he delivers such perennial Cole classics as Sweet Lorraine, Straighten Up and Fly Right and The Very Thought of You, seamlessly weaving them into his compelling narrative.

The 75-minute musical also juxtaposes his own experiences of being racially profiled with those affecting Cole in 1950s America. His deeply felt performances of Strange Fruit, Smile and Nature Boy give true meaning to Unforgettable.

More archival slide/film projections would be welcome. A tiny vintage radio propped on a speaker feels weirdly superfluous.

But these are mere quibbles for this otherwise arresting championing of dignity, grace, vision, and mostly, the power of resilience.

— Holly Harris

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

THE EVOLUTION OF A BROKEN HEART

Quantum Leap Productions

Rachel Browne Theatre (Venue 8), to Sunday

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Orlando’s Michelina Moen and Cristina Ramos are electric in this utterly absorbing hour-long experimental contemporary dance work that is, quite incredibly, improvised.

While the costumes, projections and music provide a loose framework for the duo, the movement is in the moment. Both deliver kinetic, fully inhabited performances; every arch of the foot to contorted face is communicating with the audience.

As the title suggests, the piece is a life cycle of love, desire, heartache, grief and rebirth. In one standout sequence, the two are dressed in prim 1950s dresses dancing to Paul Anka’s crooner Put Your Head On My Shoulder.

But they seem itchy. Uncomfortable. As though raw, animal desire is threatening to claw its way out from the inside and ruin the demure facade.

Near the end, Moen and Ramos bring lights into the audience and illuminate people’s faces, and make intimate, face-to-face contact, holding their gazes in a dozen wordless conversations.

It’s an uncomfortable but oddly wonderful moment of connection, a reminder of what live art can be.

Note: this production is only on until Sunday.

— Jen Zoratti

THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW

The Dramatic Theatre Company

John Hirsch Mainstage (Venue 1), to July 26

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To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the stage production of the Rocky Horror Show, local groups the Dramatic Theatre Company and the North Kildonan Community Players team up for an ambitious 90-minute take on the ribald rock ‘n’ roll musical.

Newly engaged couple Brad and Janet are caught in a storm and end up at the mansion run by the flamboyant, lingerie-clad Dr. Frank-N-Furter (a striking Lorraine James), who has created a physically perfect specimen, Rocky, to use as a sex toy.

The house is filled with an assortment of oddballs, who at first scare the couple, then titillate and thrill them as they succumb to the doctor’s secrets of seduction. The pelvic thrust really did drive them insane.

The 14-member cast and five-piece band (a program would have been helpful) are game for everything Richard O’Brien’s script throws at them (although audience members shouldn’t: crowd vocalization is encouraged, projectiles aren’t).

O’Brien’s songs are stronger in the first half of the show, but dammit, Janet, the choreography is impressive throughout, and fans of the cult classic will be happy to do the time warp again with this talented crew.

— Rob Williams

TONY WRESTLES A STRANGER

Tony Adams

Centre culturel franco-manitobain (Venue 4), to July 25

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“Do we really need more white men talking about masculinity?” Yes, if Victoria’s Tony Adams is the one talking. (Though Adams’ pronouns are they/them.)

This solo sketch show is a fringe masterpiece. Over 60 very strange, very smart minutes Adams skewers toxic masculinity and the performative male while wrestling (literally, at times) with their own place in that world.

The emotional swings are surprisingly wide for a show with a garbage can full of hot dogs — and heartache, apparently.

You’ll laugh, you’ll cringe, you might even cry as Adams grapples with an ever-present absent father and the problematic male role models who filled the void. Sections on identity and body image are particularly poignant.

The audience engagement and word play are excellent, as is the supporting media, which includes montages of trucks and manly men doing manly things.

This topical and disarming production is a must-see.

— Eva Wasney

TYMISHA HARRIS, A CABARET OF LEGENDS

Dynamite Lunchbox Entertainment

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

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Come for the voice, stay for the charisma, costumes and potent storytelling.

Orlando entertainer Tymisha Harris makes a triumphant return to Winnipeg after wowing fringe audiences as the groundbreaking artist and activist Josephine Baker nearly a decade ago.

In her new one-woman cabaret, Harris takes on a bevy of Black female icons, from Ella Fitzgerald and Nina Simone to Tina Turner (again, wow) and Beyoncé, while letting her own brand of sharp comedy shine through.

She introduces each legend with brief history lessons and personal stories that paint a picture of race relations in America past and present. Between powerful ballads, Harris glows and glitters through smart, smooth costume changes.

Harris is a comfortable and confident performer who makes excellent use of the space provided, shifting around the stage and mingling in the aisles during the 60-minute performance.

The only criticism? This show deserves a bigger venue.

— Eva Wasney