PLAN V (Vancouver Fringe)
The two sections of Plan V are so distinct they might as well be different scripts. The shorter one works. In the longer, opening section of her solo show, Eleanor O’Brien takes on the persona of Mama V, a pink-track-suited proselytizer in the revolutionary Pussy...
A CABARET OF LEGENDS (Vancouver Fringe)
Peak experience. Really. Tymisha Harris’s A Cabaret of Legends had me in tears. Harris’s voice is so rich and pitch-perfect, it feels surreal sometimes that she’s singing live. A celebration of Black female singers, A Cabaret of Legends overflows with substance....
AN AUTISTIC PRIEST AND A DOG WALK INTO A BAR (Vancouver Fringe)
You preach, brother! The premise of Jean-Daniel Ó Donncada’s solo show is that we’re attending a meeting of the St. Steven’s Youth Group. It’s led by Ó Donncada, a real-life Presbyterian minister, who’s also very smart and very funny. At one point, Ó Donncada shows a...
FOURTH AVENUE (BROOKLYN) – (Vancouver Fringe)
You’ve got to love a whodunnit in which the who is capitalism. In Fourth Avenue (Brooklyn), which is being performed by co-creators Emily Louise Perkins and Moti Margolin, a guy named Boris is being interrogated because he’s suspected of murdering the...
LOVE, SHARKS & FRENCHING (Vancouver Fringe)
Lou Laurence, who wrote this piece and is performing it, has charm to burn and an appealingly deep and raspy singing voice. Overall, though, Love, Sharks & Frenching is only intermittently engaging. The premise is that Laurence is conducting a scientific...
THE BISCUITEATER (Vancouver Fringe)
One of the first notes I wrote was, “This actor is not relaxed.” Two short pages later I wrote, “The characterization of the grandma is the best.” That second note marked the beginning of a theatrical seduction. In The Biscuiteater, writer and solo performer Jim...
DUCK DUCK MOOSE (Vancouver Fringe)
To make improv work, you need three things: audience goodwill, creative players, and a format that allows them to shine. Goodwill was flowing when I saw Duck Duck Moose and every one of the players had a moment or two in which they showed their potential. But the...
FREE KITTENS (Vancouver Fringe)
I took part in the standing ovation (rarely happens). I bought the T-shirt (never happens). I loved this show. Megan Milton’s comic monologue is about being an “abortion survivor”, somebody who believes her high-school-age mom wasn’t prepared to have kids and should...
EMIL AMOK: 69 (Vancouver Fringe)
There are riches in Emil Amok: 69, but you’ve got to negotiate a lot of clutter to get to them. In his anecdotal stand-up set, writer and performer Emil Amok Guillermo adopts an alienatingly hyperactive persona, his delivery is all over the place, and many of his...
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