Letters – Letters to Jenny – 2016

As a general rule, Fringers are more considerate the movie-goers about turning off their phones. Through 34 shows this year, I did not encounter a single phone attack—until last night.

I can understand how you might forget to turn off your phone; it’s understandable but not acceptable. Before every show, a public message comes on instructing you to turn off your phones. If you’re a new-comer, you’d hear the message like a warning from the Emergency Broadcast Channel. If you’re a veteran, the message might fly by you like the seat belt instructions on a plane. Ok, but as a veteran, you should already know better—your phone should be off.

When they say off, they mean OFF, not silent or vibrate. Guess what? When your phone vibrates, everyone around you can hear it. It’s not like you can answer or check anyhow, so what’s the point of leaving it on vibrate? If your phone vibrates during a show, you’re rude.

For those of you who do check, you may as well take a flashlight and shine it at people’s faces. Everyone within a 10 metre radius can see the glow emanating from your phone. If you’re looking at your phone in the middle of a performance, you’re a jerk.

If you leave your phone on, ringer and all, you’re an asshole. That’s what we got last night. During what was supposed to be an emotional moment, the phone chimed, distracting the entire audience. Worse, she made little effort to shut the thing off, haphazardly and casually reaching down. She did not reach into her purse until the third ring and it was six full chimes before she silenced it.

She destroyed the mood for everyone. Bravo for the performers who continued uninterrupted and unfazed, but for the rest of us, we missed a solid minute of solemn dialogue.

After the show, during acknowledgements, we discover that the phone offender is a Fringe Actor. That makes you an effing asshole. Imagine for a second if someone did that to you at your show. That was a disgrace.

Yes, I’m calling you out, Actor from The Writing on the Stall. You should be ashamed of yourself.

Ray Yuen


Hello Jenny Revue,

This year’s Fringe is turning out very nicely for our group so far, “Dark Horse Theatre”, and our show “The Companion” is doing very well indeed. Unfortunately my Fringe experience was marred last evening by a rather sour incident in the beer tent, just before our 11:15 show. I was out in full prisoner costume, complete with handcuffs, passing out handbills for our show and attempting to drum up business, as so many performers do. I was moving from table to table in the beer tent, doing my bit and drawing up as much interest as possible, when I approached a small group of youngish folks. I asked them if I could advertise my show; I was promptly told to “F*** Off” by a rude young man. Ouch. As performers, we need to do everything in our power to attract patrons, and that includes canvassing people around Fringe Central. I was not rude, overbearing, or pushy in any manner. That sort of a response to a show pitch just isn’t necessary. I continued to pass out handbills and do my advertising, but that crude reply put a damper on my evening. Our show went well, regardless. Onward and upward. This won’t ruin my year, it just points out an unpleasant side of some people. I hope that other performers aren’t having similar experiences.

Mike Seccombe

Dark Horse Theatre


It is ironic that the arbitrary assigning of venues does both the performers and the public a disservice. Amazing, sellout artists such as Martin Dockery are assigned 65 seat saunas and the public can’t get in. He is losing well-deserved revenue, with two productions at the same, horrible venue. Meanwhile amateur, poorly attended shows are given the almost 400 seat Warehouse. A lot of our Fringers are seniors and due to health and mobility issues are unable to attend 4th floor sweat boxes. This is very disturbing to me. Not fair to both sides as everyone loses.

Lisa Campbell

Editor’s Note:The venue in question, ACI Manitoba, is a BYOV which is booked by the performers as they did not win a spot in the Fringe lottery for a regular venue. There was also an elevator at this venue, though it may have been available only by request, and it was reported as air-conditioned by another patron.