project pigeon
The President Bear Show—Eckhardt-Gramatté Hall
The President Bear Show is a comedy show that is more fun than being stung by 100 bees. Since the sketch group formed one year ago, they have lovingly hand crafted a series of sketches for your enjoyment this year. Please enjoy.
Standing Room Only Theatre
Almost a Stepmom—Planetarium
Almost a Stepmom is a cautionary Irish tale of love, loss, laughter and life. Based on a true story, this solo show features multiple characters, with equally funny and touching moments, and has toured to critical acclaim throughout Western Canada, winning the Jester’s Cap Award at the 2016 Calgary Fringe.
“Keara Barnes has a stage presence like none I have ever seen” (The Marble Victoria)
“Honest and engaging. Barnes has you in the palm of her hand the minute she opens her mouth.” (Jenna Shumoogum)
star star theatre
Sticks + Bones—Tom Hendry Warehouse
Do you love shows about dead people and the Devil? Do you love visually stunning puppet theatre? Do you love pretty, glowing LED effects? Great, we knew this show would be super marketable! Sticks + Bones uses puppetry, live blues guitar, and storytelling to tell a tale of the crossroads between life and death. And also there are dogs!
“Incredibly detailed (and wonderfully executed) puppet work… a friendly handmade charm that made my heart melt” – Avianna (Venusgoliath), Regina Reviewer
TMI Productions
Drunk Girl—WECC – ACU Hall
I’m from a small town where, as teens, all we wanted to do was drink. I’ve taken those stories, mixed it with some feminist theory, and have asked: what’s up with Drunk Girls? Why do they take up such a vilified place in the contemporary imagination? Can the Drunk Girl be seen an a feminist figure? Or is she always just a hot mess?
Come See #DrunkGirlThePlay every day of #WpgFringe at the West End Cultural Centre. Inst/Twit: @theafitz
Bessie-Jean Productions
Story Hole—Wee Johnny’s Irish Pub
“Hey. Just tell them to write ‘Please come see my show’. It’s called STORY HOLE. It’s a comedy show where I tell weird stories and, uh… things like that. I made My Dreams Are Stupid (2016) and Damn Your Eyes (2014), so if you saw and liked those, see this one, too. Similar vibes. It’s every night of the Fringe at 7pm. There’s a bar. I’m terrible at this, just… ugh… just say it’s good, alright? Jesus.” – J.D. Renaud
Ethereal Fantazy Productions
An Evening Among Friends (in NYC)—John Hirsch Mainstage
An Evening Among Friends (in NYC) is a double bill non-musical production that will feature two plays by Jason Milligan’s New York City Stories. The plays, John’s Ring and Best Warm Beer in Brooklyn deal with themes of friendship and slyness that really interpret how far people are willing to risk their friendship to accomplish their goal; broken bones? Jail time? Someone else’s finger? Both shows are dark comedies that deliver a message home with a twisted smile.
Curbside
Flight—John Hirsch Mainstage
FLIGHT is a 45 min. acrobatic theatre sequel based on the story of The Little Prince. Six years after the original, the Pilot has forgotten the Little Prince’s secret, so he embarks on a quest to find his lost friend & remember the secret. But nothing is as he remembers: planets are islands, the rose is a cactus, and the Little Prince is a tiny girl who proclaims that girls can be princes too.
“Ingenious!” – New York Times
“Astonishing acrobatic theatre!” Broadway Baby
Smith & Somers
HOOTENANNY!—Tom Hendry Warehouse
HOOTENANNY! is a 60-minute children’s concert – but don’t bring the kids! This mature dark musical comedy will have you in stitches as the famed Australian duo grit their teeth and hurtle towards the final curtain amidst swirling rumours and animosity (anyone call for a Band Therapist?). Hilarious upbeat songs, videos, and a surprise announcement that will change their lives forever…
“HOOTENANNY! is bar none the funniest show around. Hot shit, are they funny.” -Allan Mackey, On Stage Ottawa
The Winnipeg Fringe will soon be here and the Jenny Revue site has been updated (mostly) with the information for 2017.
Please check out our Online Winnipeg Fringe Program and Schedule. We think it is better than the one on the Official Winnipeg Fringe site, since it is searchable. You can also click a date and it will give you all the shows on that date sorted by start time! There are also links to the various social media platforms for each of the companies that provided them to the Fringe.
Once again the Jenny will be only be an E-Jenny as we are not doing a print version. So the old-school Fringers out there will have to do without the dead-tree version and will notice the absence of the familiar Jenny Boxes. The more new-school people were probably already just using the bits and bytes version. The good news is that means we are not constrained to the limited space of the print version and we will also be able to have the reviews/ssps/letters on the site in a more timely fashion. So if you are a performer, send us your Shameless Self Promotions (see below for an explanation) to try and convince the Fringe-going public to see your shows.
For those of you who might not know, let me explain what the Jenny Revue is. We are an independent medium for YOU to communicate your thoughts, comments, feelings and reviews about the Winnipeg Fringe Festival. We edit and publish those reviews, shameless self-promotions, and letters online. While we do have a cadre of Jenny Staff that help fill our web pages with reviews, we want to hear from you. You can contact us via email at jennyrevue@gmail.com.
The key parts of the Jenny are the following:
- Reviews—We do a few things differently at the Jenny, one of the biggest differences is we do not use a star or number rating system. Yes that means you actually have to read a review to see what the person reviewing the show thought about it. We have always done it this way, and think that it is a better way to do things. We accept reviews from anyone, with only one condition: You must provide your real name, and some form of contact info (so you can be reached in case we need clarification). Not all the reviews we receive may get published but in general as long as the review was well written it will be published on the website.
- Shameless Self-Promotion—If you are in a Fringe play and haven’t shamelessly promoted your show, put together 80 words (or less)—different from your program blurb—and send them to us. Clearly mark them as SSPs since it’s difficult to tell the difference between an unqualified rave by a satisfied patron, and a bombastic bit of self-promotion by a company scribe.
- Letters—Got an opinion on something at the Fringe? It is always better to get it off your chest. Send us your thoughts with your name and contact info and if it catches our eye we’ll spread the word.
- News—Our editor is always looking for interesting or wacky things that have happened during the Fringe. If you have a tale to tell, let us know.
See you at the Fringe!
Murray (Jenny Cyber Guru)
Vladimir Is Dead
The Never And The Yes—School of Contemporary Dancers
Lily relives her youth while reminiscing with her dead pet fish. The setting builds the foundation for an emotional catharsis but pouring the concrete for this foundation takes too long. I never get a real connection with the character and the emotional empathy never surfaces.
“Fish do not have eyelids and they don’t blink; they just stare.” They sleep with their eyes open, which is somewhat similar to what I did. I stared at the stage but the digressions were too frequent and too long, causing me to lose interest often. Yes, there is a tragic story here but a tragedy is just a drama if you can’t engage the empathy.
Ray Yuen
