On the town with Fringe fest artists

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/07/2024 (800 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Jem Rolls

Somewhere in the world

First fringe: 2003

Current show: The Kid Was a Spy

Never forget your first

First Winnipeg was mental. I knew something was brewing west of Toronto, and I got here and there was a wholly new crazedness in the fever of excitement at the festival. The teeming hordes were so very, very up for it.

When I’m in town, I always visit

Ken’s Chinese Restaurant on Ellice for the soft-shell crab, and the walk along the river from the MTC to the Osborne Bridge.

Winnipeg’s current slogan is “Made from What’s Real.” Some people don’t like it, others do. What slogan would you suggest?

From concrete atoll to concrete atoll, across the sea of green.

What’s the most challenging part of performing on the fringe circuit?

Remembering to eat, trying to sleep.

The theme this year is Gone Fringin’: Venture into Our Neck of the Woods. Describe your neck of the woods in one sentence.

Conservative and military and devoid of art

Describe your show in five words or fewer.

True story: Kid Saves World?

Erika MacDonald and Paul Strickland

Covington, Ky.

First fringe: 2015

Current show: 1NCE Upon a Lie

When I’m in town, I always visit

Paul: Before I ever went to Winnipeg I was a very big fan of (director) Guy Maddin. I was pleasantly surprised to find the city as complex, surreal and delightful as his films. Every time I go I have to visit Garbage Hill.

When people ask about your Winnipeg fringe experiences, which stories spring to mind?

Paul: My second year in Winnipeg I was talking with a patron after a show and I randomly mentioned the Golden Boy statue at the top of the Capitol (sic) building. The patron immediately produced a Golden Boy statue pin and gave it to me as a gift. That is not the kind of thing that happens in every city.

What’s the best thing you ever ate in Winnipeg?

Paul: I still dream of Boon Burger, but I had a burger at Nonsuch Brewing Company last year that changed my life.

Erika: Any place that will serve me real food after midnight is amazing, and I can’t go to Winnipeg and not eat that Butter Chicken Roti at the King’s Head.

Based on your visits, what suggestions do you think the city should incorporate to improve itself?

Paul: Starting with the admission that I ain’t got one qualification to justify an answer to this question, I will say this: Winnipeg is a very self-aware city. Every Winnipegger I’ve hung out with knows what their city’s problems are. So maybe what the City of Winnipeg should do is listen to Winnipeggers. That’s certainly something that should be happening more where I live.

What’s the most challenging part of performing on the fringe circuit?

Paul: As long as I’ve been doing this, the degree of emotional volatility that exists within the fringe performer community — myself included — never seems to decrease. Even in years where I’m having a great run, some of my best friends are struggling. That’s probably a vote in favour of community.

There are a lot of magic shows this year. If you could pull off one magic trick, what would it be?

Paul: Selling as many tickets to a one-man storytelling show as a magic show does.

The theme this year is Gone Fringin’: Venture into Our Neck of the Woods. Describe your neck of the woods in one sentence.

Paul: We live in Covington, Kentucky, a town that is exactly what you imagine and not at all what you imagine at the same time.

Erika: Without air-conditioning I would never live there.

The fringe can be exhausting. Share your secret to keeping your energy up.

I recently performed 22 storytelling shows in 21 days at Kentucky and Ohio libraries for children of all ages — and I loved it. Eight shows in twelve days for theatre-going adult audiences is gonna feel like a dream.

Erika: Tim Hortons medium steeped tea with two milks.

Describe your show in five words or fewer.

Lies, lies and more lies.

Ben Waldman
Reporter

Ben Waldman is a National Newspaper Award-nominated reporter on the Arts & Life desk at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg, Ben completed three internships with the Free Press while earning his degree at Ryerson University’s (now Toronto Metropolitan University’s) School of Journalism before joining the newsroom full-time in 2019. Read more about Ben.

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