The Buzz – Reviews – 2015

No-Nonsense

Possible Poutine Prods.—Alloway Hall (MMMN)

This one started out a little slowly, but it definitely picked up speed as it went. These five performers set about exploring the five senses using sketch comedy, and the result is hilarious.

Unfortunately, at the beginning, and at times throughout, they spoke a little too quickly and a little too quietly for me to hear them, and I missed a few of the jokes that other audience members closer to the stage picked up on, and I couldn’t really tell which sense belonged to which sketch sometimes, but if you just sit back and enjoy the show you’ll definitely get more than a few laughs out of it.

Arden Pruden

The Famous Haydell Sisters…

The Famous Haydell Sisters …—MTYP Mainstage

I’m not a country music fan but I still enjoyed this performance.

The lyrics were clever, harmonies were pretty, and the songs catchy; some are still in my head days later (in a good way)!

I loved that although the setting of the show was a concert on the comeback tour, it wasn’t JUST a concert. Through their song introductions the audience learns about their family life, upbringing, love affairs (presumed and otherwise), while each song reinforces those “values.”

Good fun. And remember YOLO!!

Joanne Nuys

340ft up close

Winnipeg Shibari Theatre—Eckhardt-Gramatté

Winnipeg Shibari Theatre Company chose “unclassifiable” for its genre listing in the Fringe guide, and it makes me wonder if they had any clear idea of what they were trying to accomplish. The beginning was good and the end was strong, but the middle portion lacked focus.

The initial set piece features a man intricately tying up a woman, dressed in a gold-coloured skin-tight outfit, and then hoisting her up on a wooden bondage suspension frame while she is seated in the lotus position.

After this, one man gives a short introduction explaining that this group wants to give people a behind-the-scenes peek at their activities. He also explains that he is “not an actor”, which made me wonder if this is “theatre.” He passes some ropes around to the audience and encourages them to move up closer to the equipment if they want to.

What follows is like peeking into a workshop, where almost a dozen people are engaging in tying-up activities. Most involve men tying up women, but there is at least one example of a woman tying herself up and managing to swing on one of the frames all by herself.

The narrator repeatedly called for the electro-style music to be turned off or down, but it continued. Was this a technical glitch or was the show trying to communicate something? The man walks around to talk to people in the audience and collect the ropes that have been circulating around the house.

During this time, I had an interesting one-on-one with him about the different types of rope that they use, and I appreciated that. Unfortunately, it was also during this middle part of the show that there was much audience chatter going on, as there was little to truly engage them.

Fortunately, dramatic focus returns in the last set piece. All but one man and one woman leave the stage, the lights are dimmed, and a string rendition of Every Breath You Take replaces the generic techno music.

The woman drops her robe and appears topless. The man blindfolds her and gently ties her up and lifts her on the frame. Later, he gently lowers her, unties her, and gives her a hug.

This was by far the strongest part of the show, especially for the palpable sense of relationship between the participants, both as characters and as performers.

Konrad Antony

World’s Greatest Dad*

Morgan Cranny—Son of Warehouse

Dad humor is in abundance this year at Son of Warehouse! If you don’t know what dad humour is, Morgan is happy to explain it, as well as all other things required to become the worlds greatest dad.

Morgan is endearing and gave a delightful performance as a dad just trying to do his best. The stories were genuinely funny and made me reminisce about my own dad.

This play is very cute. There was a little bit of mature content, but all in all it was a fairly tame (and cute) show.

Kaitlyn Kriss

Breadcrumbs

R-G Productions—MTC Up the Alley

This show does its best to emulate a story being told by an aged relative, and while physically this cast was on point, the delivery had several ups and downs that I couldn’t ignore.

You can easily tell which scenes the actors preferred rehearsing, as those two or three are the strong ones. It was a grim show, covering a very dark and topical (to an extent) subject, and while I commend them for tackling that doozey of a theme, they were lacking somewhat in presentation. It feels like a show that needs work.

Arden Pruden

The Manic Pixie Dream Girl

Peachy Keen Productions—PTE Studio

Romantic comedies, as a rule, tend to follow certain formulas. And that’s what the writer in Dream Girl is desperately trying to avoid. Unfortunately, it’s resulting in a huge writer’s block. Enter the title character to aid in writing his newest play—a muse who will not take no for and answer.

Justin Otto and Sydney Hayduk are magic in this play that takes the romantic comedy and turns it on its ear. It’s intelligent, funny and original, and very high energy.

Oh yes, and they take a wrecking ball to the fourth wall with hilarious effect. It’s in the Colin Jackson, so expect there to be few seats left as the Fringe progresses.

One of my top three so far at the Fringe.

Karl Eckstrand

The Manic Pixie Dream Girl

Peachy Keen Productions—PTE Studio

The Magic Pixie Dream Girl opens with the promise of a safe, comfortable, typical love story, then goes on to demonstrate exactly why we’ve had far too many.

The titular character is trying to salvage her mission to deliver a safe, saleable love story to a struggling playwright who insists on writing a story that features plausible characters instead.

The writing is spot on. When things are safe and predictable, the playwright is a success. When he tries to create characters with actual depth, he’s being shredded, all at the hands of a cookie-cutter character archetype fighting desperately for relevance.

As a second effort from a company that debuted last year, this is very promising stuff. Watching them grow and develop is going to be a treat.

Ryan Hauff

Blink’s Garden

Siloam Mission—Kids Venue, Crocus Bldg.

There are some very talented kids in this show. It’s an adorable fairy tale presentation that has the potential to be a slightly unnerving concept.

I did appreciate the live music, it added an almost folksy, homey feel to the show, and the songs were quite catchy.

The only issue I had was it seemed to be sending the message that, if fate doesn’t want you to have something, then no matter how hard you work, you won’t get it. And even if/when you do get it, it won’t be what you hoped for. That’s not a great message to send to kids.

Arden Pruden

Sound & Fury’s “Lord of the Thrones”

Sound & Fury—WECC Ventura Hall

This show was hilarious! After years of hearing about their shows, I finally got to see what all the hype was about and Sound & Fury did not disappoint.

The set was stripped down and the focus was solely on the comedy. The jokes flew a mile a minute and the audience was left in stitches.

Every night they pick an audience hero so the show will be a little different every night. The jokes were well written and the cultural references were a plenty! This is not the show for mom and dad or small children (although one brave 12-year-old seemed to enjoy it a lot), but it is a heap of fun. Definitely a must see!

Kaitlyn Kriss

Drinking & Dragons

Monkey Centurion Productions—MTC Mainstage

What an adventure! I played a game or two of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) when I was a kid, and I wish that I had played with these characters!

That’s the part that’s unbelievable. Most D&D kids were the geekiest of the geeks, and you surely would not have found an assembly of characters that included a nympho, and a guy with a hot girlfriend, all of whom are hard-swigging sots. D&D never (NEVER) ended with a drunk, hot blonde wanting to have sex with the other players!

While the players provide an entertaining background, the “warriors” steal the stage. Bill (B’ayle) is ludicrously hilarious and he carries the rest of the adventuring party. The Dragon-Wizard-Monkey-Whatever character’s emoting evokes great enjoyment, especially during the fireball showdown. The Elf’s character seems like an afterthought and the Mercenary’s “skimpy outfit” isn’t nearly skimpy enough if you’re going to keep referring to it as such. In a world where Xena’s corset is the norm, her outfit falls short of geek fantasy.

Despite some problems, I roared in laughter through much of this adventure. If D&D was this much fun, it would have a lot larger following.

I don’t get the monkey. Seeing as it’s from Monkey Centurion Productions, I’ll assume it’s an inside joke.

Ray Yuen