The Morning After With Pam & Paula

Power Pause Productions—MTC Up the Alley

It was almost a sell-out and by the time I got there, there weren’t many seats remaining. When you have a smaller venue like this one, and a (close to) packed house, you can feel the energy in the room. Plus, the music amped through the seating and the actors looked primed for action. This all led to huge expectation for an energy-filled, fast-moving, rip-roaring ride.

The show delivers on all those accounts, but the one facet it did not deliver on was a very important one: it wasn’t funny. Even with the large crowd—normally feeding into itself—the laughs were infrequent and not raucous. Yes, you have your few that laugh at everything, and often, those laughers are enough of a catalyst to get most of the people going. Today, it wasn’t. One particular audience member (and there’s always one) cackled at many of the situations but it wasn’t enough to get everyone else going. Sorry, but the substance just wasn’t there.

Ray Yuen

Chase Padgett: Lucky Break

Chase Padgett—PTE – Mainstage

Well first impressions not good. Not with our beloved Chase but with the audience! You love him; I can’t find a Fringer who doesn’t know him, you stood in line Twice to get in; and when he walked on stage after three years, crickets. I was the only one clapping. I was embarrassed. With an unknown, maybe I could understand, but there’s being reserved, and then there’s rude. Smarten up! Winnipeg audiences are supposed be theatre savvy. On another note, a standing ovation means it’s one of the best things you’ve ever seen, a special honour, not that you ‘liked it’. Theatre 101.

Thank you Chase for another heartfelt, engaging story. For your gorgeous, rich, resonate voice, your amazing guitar work, and being so relatable! I loved your story of how the pandemic affected you as an artist. We are hearing and feeling that too. I missed the Fringe and friends around the world and it killed my income too. WELCOME BACK!

Your experience with your mom was so real. It was a lucky break. We all have tricky family shit. Your ups and downs with the Alter Ego show was so well explained. What is fame and what does it cost came across well. When you said your ‘purpose’ was to be fringing, not scooped up by some bigwig in the sky, it warmed my heart. That’s why, despite being cucumbers, we ‘really do love you!

CDs available after this not to be missed show.

Lisa Campbell

FERN

Horse & Engine—The Rachel Browne Theatre

I really wanted to like this show. I have been an Ally for a long time and I want to do everything I can to be a supporter. Alas, I can’t say that I really get this performance. It’s a coming-of-age recount of a fern, its treatment (mistreatment) and the occurrences around it. Some of the metaphors are powerful but
some of them are a bit out of reach.

The dance has its moments but the most memorable segment involved the actors working themselves to exhaustion. It started off intriguing but then the repetition lost me. As far as I could count, there were eight moves that we repeated over and over again until the dancers were on the verge of collapse.
This was yesterday so my memory fades, but I remember a few of the moves that I named myself, in my head:

• The tug-of-war
• The wrestle grasp
• The push-off
• The shoulder-bump
• The butt-boost
• The push-aside, and
• The juke.

Does anyone know what the metaphors to this dance were? I’m very curious to know.

Ray Yuen

Stéphanie Morin Robert: BLACK EYE (a live comedy album recording)

Stephanie Morin-Robert Performance Society—PTE – Mainstage

Bienvenue chez nous, Stéphanie!

Total package for me! A dirty, witty, boundary pushing woman is always appreciated! Stéphanie is one half of the Fringe famous Merkin Sisters, whose shimmying, hairy images can never be erased from my favorite Fringe scenes in memory. Her former partner in puppetry is conveniently putting on Epidermis Circus next door.
Well, while she alludes that everything may not be ‘fact’; you can’t make up the situation of her performing at a glass eye salesperson conference, since she has one. Yes, while it’s unfortunately fact that she lost one eye due to retinal cancer at age two and a half; it certainly provides plenty of fodder as she shares her tale of Fringe romance, and not so romantic “he came in every hole I’ve got.” tales. I loved every word of the show, from childbirth (black eye explained there) to the life of being married to a fellow fringe performer (check out James and Jamesey in the same venue).

I loved hearing the weird sound of the audience gasping, choking, and chortling, all at the same time. You will too. One of my faves so far.

Lisa Campbell

CIVILIZED

By the Book Productions—One88

Civilized is ESSENTIAL VIEWING.

Expertly crafted, poignantly written–well-researched, truthfully stated– MASTERFULLY performed.

GO.

Kim Zeglinski

Everleigh and the Magic Book

Melanie Gall Presents for Kids—Kids Venue

This is our favorite opera singer’s kids production. She’s also doing ‘A Toast To Prohibition’, obviously adult, at this Fringe; which I’m looking forward to.

She’s charming in her lush robe and witches hat from Germany, portraying a nine year old aspiring sorcerer who just can’t seem to master the craft. Smart woman, she tailors this half hour romp precisely to suit the attention span of the wee ones. I took four of my grandkids and they all enjoyed the show. Her sincere love of kids is obvious, and she even shared her real age with us! And included the crying baby in the audience in her show.

The true test of a kid’s show is how much wiggle in restless bums. None here, just engagement and participation. As she relates the young lass’s misadventures after finding a wondrous book, she shares her beautiful voice, and captivates us all. Like all fairy tales, this one has a happy ending.

Lisa Campbell

The Great & Powerful Tim: Magic Tonight

The Great & Powerful Tim—The Cinematheque

If you’ve ever wanted to see a robot menace the crowd mid magic performance, this is the show for you. The definition of a family friendly magic variety show, Tim has turned the performance into his audition to become a late night host in a rather thin device, with audience participation throughout. With strong crowd work and comedic timing the show maintains a solid pace, and for anyone, especially families with kids, looking for a magic show this would be an excellent choice.

Josh Fidelak

Underbelly

Aaron Malkin—Tom Hendry Warehouse

Weird, wacky, awesome. At times beautiful, at times hilarious. This show puts the fringe in Fringe Festival.

If you want to see something fringy, go see this show.

Rick Borchert

Grumplestock’s

Eleventh Hour—The Clock Tower – Portage Place

Listed as a dramedy, this dark fairy tale would be more accurately described as a drama paired with dance or physical theater than comedy, which isn’t to say that’s a downgrade. Lines are delivered in hypnotic harmony or dissonance, and aside from explicit moments of dance the performers are just as kinetically engaged as anything else. While some scenes overstay their welcome, and some characters don’t land as well as could be hoped, strong energy and themes keep the show moving and engaging.

Josh Fidelak

A Thousand Words

C. Neil Parsons—The Rachel Browne Theatre

This very moving performance by C. Neil Parsons is also a very personal one. It weaves together stories and pictures from his father’s time serving in Vietnam with some of his own stories of injury and trauma that he has experienced, with an interpretive dance and musical performance on trombone after each story.

A lot of thought has gone into the structure, he has taken the phrase “a picture is worth one thousand words” and broken down his own stories so the sum of all their words adds up to that number. The combination of the two sets of stories with the artistic interpretation arranged into separate chapters was really well done. The photographs from his father also provide a unique look into life as a soldier.

A fascinating look at the effects of trauma and how it can shape your life.

Murray Hunter