LAS MUJERONAS
Ay, me! The flamenco performance Las Mujeronas had me hollering “Olé!”, laughing, and crying all sorts of tears — from pain, from joy, and from the sheer, extravagant beauty of it. The program that Jhoely Triana Flamenco is presenting at the Vancouver Fringe combines...
DADDY BEAR & MAN P*SSY
Watching Daddy Bear & Man P*ssy, I went through a portal. In this performance, husband-and-husband team Steve Wright and Jeff Narayan tell the story of their relationship — mostly untheatrically. They stand side by side and take turns delivering information. Both...
LET’S NOT TURN ON EACH OTHER! (VANCOUVER FRINGE)
Do you know what’s worse than realizing you’re wasting your time at a show? Having that realization when you’re outside, you’re already freezing, and there’s a whole lot of show left. In Let’s Not Turn on Each Other!, writer/performers Michael Watt and Jacqueline...
SOLOVELA, AN IMPROVISED SOLO TELENOVELA (VANCOUVER FRINGE)
Of the nine shows I’ve seen at the Fringe so far, Diane Jorge’s Solovela, an Improvised Solo Telenovela succeeds most thoroughly on its own terms. As the title lets us know, Jorge performs the body of the show by herself. But first she interviews an audience volunteer...
CANDY (VANCOUVER FRINGE)
There’s so much to like in Travis Abels’s solo show, Candy. But the centre doesn’t hold. Abels sets up the narrative frame: he’s going on a journey to the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland, where, legend has it, if you stand on the edge at sunset, you can see your future....
THE GUYS I F*CKED (VANCOUVER FRINGE)
I know the word fuck is in the title, but that’s not going to stop me from nerding out. Narrative tension, which provokes interest, comes from not knowing how things will work out, what insight the protagonist might gain. Watching The Guys I F*cked, I was so far ahead...
CULTS (VANCOUVER FRINGE)
Blair Moro’s script is a staged lecture about cults, the tactics of their leaders and the abuses visited upon their members. Mostly what I got from it is some horrific imagery that I can’t do anything with and that will stay lodged in me for a long time. Moro notes...
THE TRUTH AND DARERS (VANCOUVER FRINGE)
Fresh talent, deep emotions: The Truth and Darers is my kind of show. In Shanti Harris’s script, a group of young teens gathers in an abandoned barn in their isolated, impoverished, rural community for a high-stakes game of Truth or Dare. If you lie or don’t complete...
COLONIAL CIRCUS-HISTORY, CLOWN STYLE (VANCOUVER FRINGE)
Ripples of surprised laughter flowed through my body as I watched Colonial Circus – History, Clown Style. That’s because this show is taking full advantage of the space that the Fringe creates for audacity and experimentation. Off the top, performer/creators Shreya...
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