FRINGE: 2 great STORYTELLING shows
AWKWARD HUG (Stage 11) is the perfect show to see if your family was a little weird, and you always felt a little out of place.
Actor and playwright Cory Thibert takes you back in time to 2009 when he was just 19 years old. His story recounts his family’s move from their old house to a two-bedroom apartment in a low-income neighbourhood of Ottawa. He always knew his family was different, but he never really knew why until he was forced to face decades of family possessions while downsizing for the move.
This spectacular coming-of-age story will make you laugh, cry and everything in between. The actor is remarkable, so in tune with himself that you really feel like you’re watching his life unfold before your eyes.
5 out of 5
***
Are you looking for a Fringe first? Look no further. Presented for the first year ever, Ryan Gladstone’s Every Story Ever Told (Stage 36) features familiar tales – but like you’ve never heard them before. It begins with a passionate and animated retelling of children’s bedtime stories, but quickly evolves into a spellbinding account of stories from the ages. Dozens of your favourite tales, films, legends and myths are recounted in rapid succession in a 60 minute show. The Vancouver Fringe veteran weaves every fable into another like a sarcastic, theatrical Shahrazad.
Wildly entertaining, outrageous, brilliant and inspiring, Gladstone’s new work is an intriguing compilation of humour, metaphor and an analysis of the human experience. A definite must see!
5 out of 5
