FRINGE 2019, a RANT: Boomer monologue reveals entire obnoxious generation
Tomatoes Tried To Kill Me but Banjos Saved My Life Stage 2 (Big Rock Backstage Theatre) Boomers unite – your 2019 fringe play is ready, not just for your viewing enjoyment, but to reinforce everything you’ve been told about the world! Clearly enough of them saw this one coming a mile away as they nearly […]
FRINGE 2019: Marcus Ryan takes us on a Catholic Pilgrimage in engaging play
Marcus Ryan – Walk This Que Stage 13 (Old Strathcona Public Library) Any non-Catholics out there interested in doing the 800 Km Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in Northern Spain in nearly 40-degree heat over the span of around 30 days? Thought not. There was an Australian kid named Marcus Ryan who did, for no earnest […]
FRINGE 2019: 3 plays chosen by the RANDOMIZER!
Let’s call these the random reviews – three plays brought to you by the 2019 Fringe website randomizer! So much entertainment choice. So little time. Fringe have given adventuresome (or indecisive, or lazy) theatergoers a way to simplify the selection process – requiring us only to forgive them for offering no refunds if the chosen […]
MASTERS OF FRINGE 2019: No mean girls allowed at inspired drag show
Flora & Fawna Have Beaver Fever (And So Does Fleurette) Stage 12 (Varscona Theatre) We are privileged to be allowed to attend the annual meeting of the NaturElles. When we first met the two founders Flora (Darrin Hagen) and Fawna (Trevor Schmidt) and their largely silent companion Fleurette (Brian Dooley), they were but eight years […]
MASTER OF FRINGE 2019: TWO an impressive acting duel, in a pub
TWO Stage 12 (Varscona Theatre) Jim Cartwright is a British screenwriter – penning such hits as Road and Little Voice. A couple of years back, he wrote a play called Two, a nostalgic tribute to that venerable British institution, the neighbourhood pub. The play is described by the author as, “No scenery, no props, no […]
FRINGE 2019: 1 marvelous magical mystery
Minerva – Queen of the Handcuffs Stage 17 The name Houdini still hovers over the world of magic – almost 100 years after his death. The master of “escapology” took the hocus pocus out of the ancient prerogatives of priests and charlatans and turned it into show business gold. There weren’t many females in the […]
PLAYBOT’s final FRINGE fantasy
EDITOR’S NOTE: Shortly after this story was first published in August 2018, the experimental A.I. program known as ‘PlayBot’ turned evil and had to be powered down permanently. This is its last report: *** FRINGE 2018 – By PLAYBOT Speaking as a computer algorithm developed to rewrite press releases in a snarky tone, I am […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Edmonton Rocks
This weekend is punctuated by the 2019 edition of the Edmonton Rock Music Festival, which traditionally falls on the weekend after folk fest. The organizers are known for bringing in some of the best classic rock artists of all time, particularly in the Canadian vein, and often those who don’t tour regularly anymore but save […]
Edmonton Rock Fest Producer Values Odd Career Path, Held Hostage by Rock ‘n’ Roll
Before Todd Crawshaw became the producer of the Edmonton Rock Music Festival, he worked at the Edmonton Maximum Security Prison as a violence cessation counselor. “I’d work with guys doing time for abuse of spouses and children in their lives, in a bid to help them develop easier ways to deal with problems instead of […]
Can’t Stand the Rain – Folk Fest 40 a wrap!
The Edmonton Folk Music Festival is one of those pivotal summer events that signal a forthcoming change in season. First comes the Folk Fest, shortly followed by the Fringe, and then the coming of First Winter. While the temperatures were definitely below average for August, the music in Gallagher Park certainly kept things hot. The […]
FOLK FEST REVIEW: Hozier gets hosed, hardy fans party to Church in the rain
At the first night of the 2019 Edmonton Folk Music Festival on Thursday, almost everyone had one thing on their mind: the weather. Organizers especially had their eyes on the weekend’s forecast – and they weren’t happy. Fortunately, the heavens held their gates closed (mostly) on Night One for an incredible variety of surprises from […]
7 Must-See Folk Fest Sessions
Hidden in the Edmonton Folk Music Festival’s massive weekend schedule are some real gems – mini-concerts you’d never see anywhere else, on six side stages strewn across the Gallagher Park site. The best might be overlooked if you’re not in the right place at the right time. They used to call them “Workshops,” but that […]
