Acting at the Fringe

Kyle Jespersen delivers one of the standout performances at the Fringe. (Okay, so this photo isn’t from The Fighting Season, but it’s him.)

There’s a lot of excellent acting at the Vancouver Fringe this year.

Under Evan Frayne’s direction, everybody in The Fighting Season is terrific. I’m talking about Kyle Jespersen, Tom Pickett, and Siona Gareau-Brennan. Jespersen’s portrait of a traumatized medic is a heartbreaker.

I was very excited to discover Naomi Vogt in Faroe Islands, which is playing with Ostrich. Her performance as a disappointed environmentalist is so seamless that you might think what she’s doing doesn’t take much skill. Don’t make that mistake.

And, if you want to know something about timing, watch Peter Carlone and Chris Wilson (Peter n’ Chris present: Here Lies Chris) in action.

One weekend left, folks. Wallow.

P.S. And then there’s Chase Padgett, whom I saw in Nashville Hurricane after I wrote this post. I’d seen this show years ago and had forgotten how good he is. Five vivid characterizations from this guy. Amazing.

P.P.S. The folks from Rumble would like me to credit the photo of Kyle, which I snatched from the internet. Apparently, it’s from Rumble’s production of Penelope, and the pic was taken by Chikenskratch Productions.