JULIET: A Revenge Comedy

Monster Theatre—The King’s Head Pub

This smart show plays with the premise “What if some of Shakespeare’s more tragic female characters became self-aware?”, the answer is: they probably wouldn’t be too happy about their fates as written by Shakespeare. Monster Theatre always puts on a good show, and this is no exception. The acting is superb with Pippa Mackie in the lead as Juliet and Carly Pokoradi amazingly playing all the other Shakespeare leading ladies (including Lady Macbeth, Ophelia, Cleopatra, and Miranda) often all at the same time, and if that wasn’t enough, all the other characters from Romeo and Juliet. Ryan Gladstone appears as Shakespeare, who must try and deal with the revolt. Great fun! Be sure to come early as the King’s Head opens before the usual 15 minute door opening time and the show has been selling out.

Murray Hunter

God! The One-Man Show

Rich Potter—Son of Warehouse

Part stand-up, part situational, part gags, part audience interaction and part divine intervention (uh-em), this variety show barrels along producing smiles and yuks. As an anti-theist, I still enjoyed the show as it was devoid of anything preachy and everything is in good fun.

It changed my life!…

…in that there are 70 minutes fewer than before the show started. Still, it was 70 minutes well spent.

Ray Yuen

Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales

Hamdad Productions—Kids Venue: MTYP – Mainstage

Characters you know and love performing stupid fairy tales stupidly. Simply put, this is an extremely funny kids show. If you’re looking for something dark or gritty, this is not for you. If you have a kid? Definitely your show. And if you’re just in the mood for a light hearted comedy, and a throng of children does not bring dread to your heart, definitely something you should check out.

Josh Fidelak

Stephen Hopwood Is Not Dead

Pengwin Productions—Asper Centre for Theatre and Film (U of W)

This dramedy follows Stephen Hopwood (Luke Falconer) as he wakes up from a bender in a place called “The Rooms”. With the help of a guide (Leith Clark) it is meant to be a place where you can fix your problems, aided by the way you can control what happens in the Rooms with the power of your imagination. There are a number of vignettes of Stephen’s past including his time in university with his roommate (Giovanni Navarro) and him falling in love with and his obsession over Anna (Alexis Silver). His baser instincts are represented by a sock puppet (Shawn Kowalke), which surprisingly enough, was the second jizz sock- sock puppet I’ve seen this Fringe (the other being in the Container). It can be a little crude at times, but overall a good show with good performances, and a good ending.

Murray Hunter

Throne Life

The Electronic Gospel Experience—The Rachel Browne Theatre

If you were forced to either undergo a proctologic examination or sit through this “show,” you should choose the former. Yes, I would rather have things stuck up my butt than have to go through this again.

I hate writing bad reviews for a number of reasons. First and foremost, most actors try, and they try hard to produce something that everyone can enjoy. Just because they fall short, I don’t want to bash
them for their earnest efforts. Instead, I try to be constructive; I try my best to offer some advice with every bad review to help the actor(s) improve their show.

Sadly, that does not apply here because Christopher James Van Heyst doesn’t want to put on a good show or entertain you; he has one mandate and it has nothing to do with entertainment.

After the show started, I wondered at about 20 minutes in what I can write. The major problem so far was that he spoke so slowly. This 90-minute outrage could have been shortened to 20 minutes if he spoke at a normal pace. Instead, the entire outing
w………e……..n………t
s………o………m………e………t………h………i………n………g
l………i………k………e
t………h………i………s

Every word was dragged out to take forever to say. I wanted to write something along the lines of, “enunciating a few words slowly emphasises a thought, enunciating everything slowly just becomes tedious.” Afterwards, I realised that he’s doing it to drag this thing intentionally.

About 50 minutes into it, I starting thinking to myself, “Did you ever rehearse this in front of friends or family? Did no one have the nerve to tell you that this stinks?”

An hour into it, I actually felt bad for Van Heyst because people were giggling in the audience. They laughed at him, not with him. I could see people mocking him. Eventually, someone not so discreetly
shook their head and left.

Speaking of audience, there were a total of seven people in this audience, including myself. Of the seven at least three that I could see fell asleep at various times, including the person center-front who
likely and mercifully missed 60 minutes of this disaster.

At 75 minutes in, I understood that this entire outing was his homage to his god and his attempt to recruit us as viewers. Then I got mad. If I want to watch Sunday morning gospel, that’s my choice, but I
want to watch Fringe entertainment. This is the polar opposite of entertaining.

Van Heyst, you are why I went from being an atheist to being an anti-theist. You love your god. I get it and I respect that—but don’t try to recruit me under a guise that I’m at an artistic show; that’s
despicable.

At the end of the debacle, Van Heyst thanked the Fringe for allowing anything, and pretty much
everything goes. He used the Fringe as a medium to spread his word. Under false pretenses of putting on a show, he hijacked the audience’s time to preach the gospel of his god for 90 minutes.

I have seen hundreds of Fringe shows in my reviewing career. Honestly, this was the WORST show I’ve ever seen—and Van Heyst doesn’t care. He got to spread his word, and that’s all he wanted.

If there is a hell, watching this show is it.

Ray Yuen

Almost, Maine

Smelly Puppies—Oseredok

The strength of this well-directed and wonderfully acted play is the young ensemble cast — a larger than normal group for a Fringe production — that takes the viewer through a series of heart-warming and heart-wrenching vignettes, delivered with poignancy, gusto and humour in generous doses in all the right moments. The live musical interludes (and pre-show house music) perfectly enhance, bridge and complement the scenes. Arrive early or buy advance tickets because the show has been selling out consistently and the venue capacity is 40.

Aaron Malkin: Dandelion

Aaron Malkin—Tom Hendry Warehouse

Dad jokes are never funny, unless Malkin tells them—then they’re mildly funny, even chuckle-worthy. Much like the dad jokes, the rest of the show is entertaining and easily embraced. One of the smoother performers around, the show flows effortlessly.

Ray Yuen

Silence! The Musical (The Unauthorized Parody of The Silence of the Lambs)

Dining Out Productions—John Hirsch Mainstage

Good acting + good singing + catchy tunes + Academy Award winning plot = success. This musical has all of those things so most everyone should enjoy the show. There’s only one thing I could not reconcile:
this many years later, The Silence of the Lambs remains one of the creepiest movies I ever saw. It really isn’t congruent with the humour injected throughout the musical. I probably would have made a sombre show rather than a comedy but that’s just a matter of personal taste.

Is it me or is the final tune almost plagiarism similar to Disney’s “Colours of the Wind?”

Ray Yuen

Free Beer: Brewicide Squad

The Horrible Friends—Duke of Kent Legion

Two men. One audience. Free alcohol, for said audience. Improv with a message, and that message is “getting drunk is fun”. There’s really not much to say. Does the idea of getting paid for participating in improv with free booze call to you? If so, this is the show for you.

Josh Fidelak

Opera Mouse

Sisterscene—Kids Venue: MTYP – Mainstage

It took the kids a while to get up to full speed but they had a great time as soon as shifted into gear. Gall invites lots of audience participation so even the most antsy kid shouldn’t get bored. I love opera and I hope that our youth can embrace this beautiful genre of music. This show provides a fantastic introduction.

The show concludes with a beautiful rendition of “O Mio Babbino Caro” from one of my favourite composers, Puccini. I keep hoping for Gall to put on a show where she just sings arias.

Ray Yuen