Cursed

Patrick Hercamp—Knox United Church

This is not a review of Cursed. Due to an incredible amount of reasons, Patrick Hercamp was not able to make it to Winnipeg Fringe. Instead, he collaborated with the other performers in his venue to bring a bad luck cabaret to life, only to stop when the Fringe tells it to. This is a review of that.

Brad Torres (The King in Yellow) and John Bennett (Fire in the Meth Lab), accompanied by videos of Patrick Hercamp, share their stories of the horrible luck they’ve had in the past through spoken word and poetry. It’s not as formal as it sounds. These men banded together in true Fringe spirit, because if they couldn’t do what was supposed to be done, they were at least going to do something. Go to it. Pay for it. Get well soon Patrick. But shhh, don’t tell the Fringe.

Arden Pruden

Schemas, 1-5

Gearshifting Performance Works—John Hirsch Mainstage

Visually beautiful, physically sprite and aurally bombastic, this troupe once again produces a
feast for the senses. I watched some of Choreographer Bailie’s previously performances leaving and thinking, “huh?” It was visually stunning but I don’t understand what you’re trying to say. Today, I leave with a just a sense of “I love this show.”

Ray Yuen

I Married the King of the Underworld and My Mom Freaked

Acts of Grace—

This is a retelling of the Persephone story from Greek mythology, and is a very impressive show with a couple of technical issues. It is a new musical, with music, lyrics and book by Adi Sara Kreindler, who also serves as producer and music director.

For this production, the music had a live digital piano accompaniment that was well-amplified. Unfortunately, the voices did not appear to be mic’d and I had a hard time making out everything the cast was singing, although I could hear everyone perfectly during the moments of plain dialogue. Still, it was clear that the music had some beautiful melodies and harmonies and was also very pleasantly sung. I wouldn’t mind having a recorded version of this show, as the cast does an excellent job with excellent material. The other, minor, technical issue was that the stage seemed at points to be inadequately lit, especially near the beginning of the show.

The story is clearly told and has several nice moments. Some of these involve the character of Demeter (played by Elizabeth Rotoff), Persephone’s mother, who is portrayed as an expert negotiator, getting what she needs from the powerful gods Zeus and Hades in order to protect her daughter. Also well-written and acted was the main character, Persephone (Erin-Brie Warsick), who seeks to balance her love for Hades with her own personal needs, as she finally poses the question to him, “How can you make me live in a world with no sky?” Watching this version of this story made me realize for the first time that this myth is maybe not so much an explanation of why winter exists, but a model of how to reconcile personal and relationship needs or partner needs with family of origin needs. Powerful stuff.

Konrad Antony

PURGE

Geritheatrics Theatre Productions—Rio – Portage Place

Wow. Just when you think that our society has made good progress towards human rights and equality, you sadly discover that what’s supposedly on paper doesn’t relate to reality. The show starts off a bit
slow but be prepared for a firm punch in the emotional gut.

I’m an Ally, and I learned a lot. Everyone, please see this important show.

Ray Yuen

A Confederate Widow in Hell

Willi Carlisle Productions—John Hirsch Mainstage

Definitely something very different, all the way from Arkansas, that caught my attention in the program right away! Charming set, very interesting premise, perfect costuming, and extremely well done! I know I wasn’t alone in loving the headless cohort, who provided sound effects from the grave, and manned the hilarious overheads, his shirt topped off with a bow tie and nothing else. Too funny! Very creepy! So good! Loved everything about it. Top notch, professional performance that caters to my particularly hard to satisfy love of horror comedy. We all had a hoot! Highly recommend! Thank you and Please come again!

May I add, as great shows get harder to get into, this very comfy venue boasts 290 very comfy seats.

Lisa Campbell

Extreme Players

The Trinity Unhinged—School of Contemporary Dancers

If you are a lapsed Christian or on the verge of becoming one, you will enjoy this show. Foul-mouthed Jesus is sick of sacrificing himself, the Holy Spirit is tired of being the bit player of the Trinity, and the Father is an out-of-control alcoholic with ultimate power over the universe. The Archangel is the only sensible one around them, but his power is limited. What happens when a crisis drives them all into conflict with one another? Come and find out.

Alabama Monster

Trey Tatum—Creative Manitoba

This storytelling show parallels the creeping horror of monster stories, to the inherited horror of intergenerational mental illness. Powerful and hypnotic in intensity, the raw emotion from the constant battles in the sleepy south of Alabama are more than enough to move you more than any campfire horror story could hope to do.

Josh Fidelak

Six Chick Flicks…

Yellow Flamingo—John Hirsch Mainstage

Given that it received a standing ovation, this show is clearly doing something right. But I must say that response took me by surprise. It had its moments, especially the closing send-up of an iconic scene from Dirty Dancing. But like much of its source material, I found it reasonably entertaining as long as I was actually watching it, yet walked away unimpressed.

I’m at a bit of a disadvantage here, and not just due to my gender. I’d only seen four of the six movies being sent up here. I liked them well enough at the time but none made a lasting impression. The only one I’d be at all enthusiastic about watching again is Legally Blonde. The ideal audience for this show should either love these films or hate them, with none of my in-between BS.

The show basically takes turns mocking (it’s not really deft enough to call “parody”) each of the six movies mentioned in the program description. Some of the humour struck me as cheap and mean-spirited, and all of the analysis as shallow. In particular, the political criticisms are very basic Feminism 101 talking points with a generous side helping of cynicism. If you’re on social media at all you know the sort of thing I mean. My response is no doubt coloured by how exhausted I am with being expected to treat messages I’ve been bombarded with daily for years like they were fresh, stunning insights.

It’s not that they’re wrong, exactly. But if you’ve ever been around a remotely feminist discussion where Titanic or Pretty Woman came up, the only thing this show has to say about either that you haven’t heard before is the dimensions of Titanic’s doors. Heaven knows there are valid criticisms, feminist and otherwise, of the picture of romance some of these movies paint. If there really are people who treat these films as a guide to what to expect from real-life romance, they are setting themselves up for disappointment. (I don’t know why you’d do that any more than you’d treat Star Wars as a realistic depiction of the space program, but supposedly it happens.) But those criticisms have been made so many times I’d never have guessed you could get such a positive audience response just by retreading them again. All I could think was that I’ve bloody well heard them. And anyway, on almost any topic but especially romance, I’ll take wide-eyed naivete any day if the only alternative on offer is joyless cynicism.

That said, cliches are cliches because they genuinely resonate with people in some way. Judging by the standing O, these ones resonated just fine with most of the audience.

Jeff Heikkinen

One Great Winnipeg

The Probable Cast—Centennial Concert Hall – Rehearsal Hall

I’m not a big fan of improv—and I hate stand-up. I don’t hate either of those as much as I hate
Winnipeg. Those who know me at all, know that I loathe this city and I count the minutes until I can leave.

That’s what brings me to this show. Whether they’re jabs at Winnipeg or lauds, I’d either love/hate it. Sadly, it was neither. The intro cited a couple of tidbits about Winnipeg but the remainder of the
performance barely had any reference to it, beyond mentioning the name.

Based on the audience, I think the people generally found the show entertaining and funny. I didn’t see it that way but hey, I warned in the first sentence that this isn’t my type of show. If you’re expecting a
tribute or dissection of Winnipeg, move on; if you want stand-up and improv, you’re at the right place.

Ray Yuen

Heart of Stone

Chronically Ch(ill) Productions—Forth Projects

The tale of Medusa with a modern framing, focusing on the horror and injustice of her abusive relationship with the gods. More storytelling than puppet show, the actor’s powerful and evocative monologue managed to fully engage, for the whole 45 minute run time. Highly recommended, this show definitely deserves more love.

Josh Fidelak