End of the Earth

End of the Earth

Beware of raccoons! NEXT COMIC: Is Bill Benson racist?       NEXT COMIC: Bob the Angry Flower does not condone murder:  

FRINGE 2019 HAT LINE: Street performers deserve our applause – and our money

FRINGE 2019 HAT LINE: Street performers deserve our applause – and our money

So that’s it for the 2019 Edmonton Fringe Theatre Festival. One more day. We’ve seen the 250 plays, give or take a play, gossiped about two different yet strangely related scandals (long story), and sampled fare from least three different curry stands. Now can we give a little love to our underrated and often poorly-treated […]

Bob the Angry Flower

Bob the Angry Flower

SOCIAL MEDIA HAPPENINGS

SOCIAL MEDIA HAPPENINGS

FRINGE 2019: Jesus battles Satan in convoluted adventure

FRINGE 2019: Jesus battles Satan in convoluted adventure

THE MASTER AND MARGARITA: the remix Stage 35 (La Cite Francophone Theatre) Seattle’s innovative company Theatre Simple has been bringing challenging theatre to the Fringe for many years. Think Escher’s Hands and The Caucasian Chalk Circle. Not just content to present original text, their work features imaginative movement and creativity and put their own unique […]

FRINGE 2019: The World’s Wife a dark, dangerous exploration of womankind

FRINGE 2019: The World’s Wife a dark, dangerous exploration of womankind

The World’s Wife Stage 8 (Old Strathcona Performing Arts Centre) The World’s Wife is a three person play that takes the audience on a chaotic, tradition upending journey through history, mythology, fairytale and, well, real life. The work is adapted from a cycle of poems from Scottish poet Carol Anne Duffy’s wry book of the […]

FRINGE 2019: 3 more MASTERS

FRINGE 2019: 3 more MASTERS

Crescendo!  Stage 12 (Varscona Theatre) This Plain Jane Theatre (and Chorus Productions) show wins this year’s award for the most agreeable surprise. The premise, as outlined in the program, didn’t show great promise – but the result is one of the most genuinely enjoyable experiences of the week. Crescendo! is not only a new musical, […]

FRINGE 2019: Early David Mamet lacks impact of his later work

FRINGE 2019: Early David Mamet lacks impact of his later work

A Life In The Theatre   Stage 29 (The Playhouse) David Mamet was just coming off a career as a failed actor in 1977 when we wrote A Life in the Theatre. It was a sardonic love letter to the theatre community, and a very young Mamet was just flexing his writing muscles. Later to come […]

FRINGE 2019: 2 dramatic DRAMAS

FRINGE 2019: 2 dramatic DRAMAS

After Miss Julie Stage 22 (The Grindstone) It’s 1888, and that Swedish rascal August Strindberg has done it again. In his best naturalistic style, he’s written a play about a bored aristocratic young lady named Miss Julie, who goes searching for sexual adventure below stairs, and finds a ready accomplice with the well-travelled, cultured Jean, […]

FRINGE 2019: It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that SWING!

FRINGE 2019: It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that SWING!

Swing Showcase Stage 18 (Sugar Swing Ballroom) Ah, the Fringe! At 258 shows, if you turn to the right you might enjoy one of a couple of burlesque shows. If you turn to the left – you might come up with Swing Showcase. Such was the case last year when we were pleasantly surprised by […]

FRINGE 2019: 2 amazing DANCE shows

FRINGE 2019: 2 amazing DANCE shows

Swipe Stage 4 (King Edward Elementary School) A few years back an inventive local dance company called Synaethesis Dance Theatre came up with a movement experience called Letters & Words. At its base, it was really a dance show but the company made it much more. It was a multimedia marvel – an immersing theatrical […]

FRINGE 2019: Field Zoology 101 lecture riddled with penis jokes

FRINGE 2019: Field Zoology 101 lecture riddled with penis jokes

Field Zoology 101   Stage 37 (Auditorium at Campus Saint-Jean)  Why has the world of science ignored the genius of zoologist and world adventurer Professor Bradley Q. Gooseberry? With his Tilly hat at a sober angle, his bony knees sticking out under his cargo shorts and his (suspicious) black mustache, he has set out on a […]