2 MORE MASTERS of the Fringe

2 MORE MASTERS of the Fringe

No Exit By Bright Young Things, Venue 12 (Varscona Theatre) A man enters a room. It’s set in Stygian darkness … a couple of sticks of furniture … some pillars, one with a statue on it. It’s hot … a little too hot. No pictures. No mirrors. The lights never turn off. A man turns […]

End of the Earth

End of the Earth

3 HUNGARY Fringe plays

3 HUNGARY Fringe plays

The Inventor of All Things By big word performance, UK, Venue 13, Old Strathcona Library Jem Rolls returns to this year’s Fringe with his successful 2015 spoken word performance detailing the strangely forgotten life of pioneering nuclear physicist savant Leo Szilard, Hungary’s early 20th Century approximation of a much more interesting Sheldon Cooper. Thank God […]

REVIEW: k.d. lang soars in Edmonton

REVIEW: k.d. lang soars in Edmonton

The entire run-through of Ingénue, k.d. lang’s seismic-shifting album that propelled her from prairie good ol’ gal to Grammy-winning superstar didn’t exactly rock the house at the Jubilee Auditorium on Saturday night. It didn’t need to. Despite lang’s powerful voice, put to great use during her roughly 80-minute set, the former Edmontonian stuck to the […]

2 UNEXPECTED Fringe hits

2 UNEXPECTED Fringe hits

Make a right turn at the Fringe and you find an old favourite. Turn left and you come across something you might have never expected. That’s part of the fun. Onions and Garlic Empress of Blandings Productions, Venue 11  (Studio Theatre) The multi-talented Dave Clarke is a familiar Fringe participant, but his co-writer for Onions […]

2 SCARY Fringe plays

2 SCARY Fringe plays

The scary thing about trying to see a scary play at the Fringe is how few truly scary plays there seem to be. So many comedies, so much improv, so many real life dramas – scary enough – and oh, so many musicals. Yet there are chills to be had if you look. Just be […]

2 MASTERS OF THE FRINGE

2 MASTERS OF THE FRINGE

Each year the captains of comedy and drama come to the Edmonton Fringe Theatre Festival with gifts of superb entertainment. Regular Fringers will recognize these troupes and individuals as trailing long records of happy hours spent in the theatre. They are indeed Masters of the Fringe. Here are two of many: The Apple Tree From […]

MUSIC PREVIEW: Forever Rock

MUSIC PREVIEW: Forever Rock

Classic rock is on its way to becoming the new classical music. Think about it: Life is a Highway will be remembered long after it’s been forgotten as “that cool Rascal Flatts song.” Melodies will become more famous than their composers. Quick: Who wrote Raise a Little Hell? Took you a second, didn’t it? In […]

Metallica destroys Edmonton

Metallica destroys Edmonton

There was a lot of violent imagery on the big screens for the Metallica concert at Commonwealth Stadium Wednesday night. Couldn’t help but notice the icing on the cake: Wars, fights, death, destruction, fire and so on. Fitting. Just once it would be a hoot to see rainbows and butterflies accompanying such a massively brutal […]

Ghost of Joe Bird in new Fringe play

Ghost of Joe Bird in new Fringe play

It would be disrespectful to the memory of the late Joe Bird to show respect to his memory – according to his best friend and longtime comedy partner Wes Borg. Or words to that effect. It should be obvious that Borg’s new Fringe play Get Me The F#ck Out of Edmonton may contain salty language. […]

End of the Earth

End of the Earth

Folk fest plays second fiddle to elements

Folk fest plays second fiddle to elements

Let’s just get all of our “Four Strong Winds” jokes out of the way in the sopping wet aftermath of the 38th annual Edmonton Folk Music Festival. A Mighty Wind, too. The 38th annual fest started on Thursday with an evacuation due to dangerous gusts of wind causing alarming flopping TV screens, and ended Sunday […]