Commando: The Radio Play

Ditch Water Theatre—Centennial Concert Hall – Rehearsal Hall

A brilliant blending of 40s style live radio serials and a parody of the Arnold Schwarzenegger 1985 action flick, Commando. The voice actors were remarkable – three playing every role – and the Foley artist was restrained perfection because they could easily have upstaged but never did. The voice actor playing Arnie was better than Arnie – like Arnie if he’d ever taken an acting lesson. Amazing: go see it.

Audra Lesosky

Marcus Ryan – ¿Hablas Inglés?

World Laughs—The Cinematheque

I can be a stand-up comic!

Ryan’s stories and misadventures are fun and comical but as he told the stories, I started thinking to myself, “hey, that kind of thing has happened to me on vacation! And I have funny pictures, tell a good story, and I’m a whiz at PowerPoint. I can do this!

Wait.

Ryan’s show is sold out. Would anyone come to see my show? Maybe. Maybe not. I don’t know. But
in the meantime, you should just go to Marcus Ryan’s show. It’s a good time.

Ray Yuen

Letters

Parachuting Camel Productions—Alto – Portage Place

Letters is a Fringe show of epic scale. With a cast of ten phenomenal actors clearly dedicated to their craft and period accurate costumes and props, this feels more like a professional production than the average Fringe show. Prepare to be moved to tears! Be warned, there are some heartbreaking moments brought to staggering realism by actors who know what they are doing. A family is torn apart by World War 2, and the story is told by letters sent back and forth from Canada and Italy. The Christmas scene is particularly good, as well as a haunting monologue about Dieppe. Letters is a touching play that pays respects to the fallen soldiers without glorifying the horrors of war. See this show. It is an essential part of Winnipeg Fringe 2019!

Adam Kirk

HUNKS V

H.U.N.K.S.—Comedy at Wee Johnny’s

Loud, crude, rude, ludicrous and funny. This show definitely isn’t for everyone but if like seeing four people yell rude and wacky jokes at each other, you’re at the right place.

Ray Yuen

Opera Mouse

Sisterscene—Kids Venue: MTYP – Mainstage

Melanie Gall is back with a hilarious musical puppet show for kids. The audience was enthralled! Participation was a big part of the show with kids encouraged to ask questions and contribute ideas, which led to some highly entertaining interactions. The show is an educational introduction to the world of opera music in an accessible way for children and their parents. My four year old was so impressed at the end of the grand finale song he stood on his chair and shouted with glee “That was AMAZING!” I saw Melanie sing last year and was so impressed I had to go see her perform again this year and hope to see her keep coming back with more new material for years to come.

Adam Kirk

LUB DUB

O Albatross—School of Contemporary Dancers

To be clear, I’m an Ally, and I’m a feminist. I was a feminist before Justin Trudeau made Canada aware that men can be feminists too.

Also, if foul language offends you, please stop reading here. My review remains true to the language and tone of the show.

Equality and fairness are very dear to me, which is part of the reason why I’m here. It’s also why it pains me that I don’t have a lot of good things to say about this show.

Strap on your seat belts folks—this may be the longest review I’ve written in my Jenny career.

First: the good – the energy, enthusiasm, honesty and openness is very much appreciated and
embraced.

Now for the bad – this show is lacking in many ways, and in some ways, it’s plain wrong.

Lacking:
“Fuck Scheer,” that’s self-explanatory.
“Fuck Trudeau.” Why fuck Trudeau? He’s not perfect but he’s done a lot of good things since succeeding the tyrant Stephen Harper. Are you making a political statement? If so, then do it. Fuck Scheer and Fuck Trudeau tells me nothing. Instead, how about “vote May? Vote Longley? Vote Di Carlo? Vote Singh? Vote Corriveau?” If you’re making a political statement, tell us what you think and why.

Lacking:
Okay, you’ve painted a picture of white male privilege. So now what do we do? If people are in your audience, there’s a very good chance they’re already on your side. I’m willing to bet that Brian Pallister will never come to your show. Tell the audience what to do to forward the cause. We’re here; you have our attention; and we’re angry—now what do we do?

Wrong:
Telling people that dropping out of school is a good thing is wrong. Education is the key to advancement, not the enemy. People need to be educated, not the opposite way around. I cannot stress this strongly enough.

Perhaps dropping out of university was the right thing for you—or perhaps you were just in the wrong program. I have three degrees but I only made it through one semester of the MBA program. It disgusted me to hear the classes talk about why Walmart is the ultimate capital machine and how mom-and-pop shops should be crushed because they’re inefficient. It made me sick. So if you want to say “fuck the MBAs,” you’d be right on target. Saying “fuck university” is very wrong.

Before I went to university, I was an elitist, sexist hard-core Conservative. Minoring in Womxn’s Studies at the University of Winnipeg taught me to be a new person. It taught me to be the person I am today.
Education is beneficial to everyone—please don’t spread the wrong message.

Wrong:
“Fuck the cops—no cops at Pride.” The entire premise of your show is inclusivity. Painting the entire police service with one brush is the essence of exclusion. The police are not your enemy. Yes, there may be police officers who are your enemy but denigrating the police institution is wrong. I work directly with the highest level of police officials and I can attest that they have invested mammoth amounts of time and resources to training their officers about fair policing. There are many Allies within police organisations—you cannot condemn the entire enterprise.

For your show, the wordplay component involving food is cute—but it has nothing to do with your thesis. This is time that can be better spent developing you argument. The tissues segment is relevant but excessive and the message is weak. I would replace those segments with something meatier. How about something like an emotional story that grabs at the heart and squeezes?

Many disadvantaged people have told me stories that left me in tears—stories told through classes, courses, lectures, over coffee, over beer – everywhere. Tell us a story that will make me and the audience connect with you on a deep level. Rather than just tell us to be angry, make us feel angry—make us feel sad—make us feel hurt—make us feel.

You have a good show, and some great components (love Love LOVE Thomas’s dance), and important
issues. You can deliver it much more effectively. Maybe going back to school can help you refine your presentation.

Ray Yuen, Ally

Quirky

Son of Kimmy Zee—Platform Centre

Aidan Zeglinski shares the story of his autistic childhood with wit galore. Like a masterful stand up comedian with skill beyond his years, he delivers each beat of the story with the perfect mix of heart and humour. Extremely honest and relatable for anyone who has ever felt like an outsider. The soul crushing effects of when the school banned Pokemon cards, how beyblades brought out the worst in everyone and that awkward first teenage kiss are relived as if you are there seeing it happen all over again. I can’t wait to see what else the future holds for this talented young performer. Word is travelling that this is a show worth seeing to the extent that the 40 person venue is selling out quickly.

Adam Kirk

Weeping Spoon Productions

The Ballad Of Frank Allen—MTC Up the Alley

THE BEARD IS BACK! The JFL Award-Winning (Best Comedy) ★★★★★ Fringe-hit returns to Winnipeg! A weird, sci fi buddy-comedy about a man who lives inside another man’s beard is back after numerous tours through Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Combining physical theatre, storytelling, musical comedy and indie-rock, The Ballad Of Frank Allen promises to be a Fringe experience like no other and one of the most weird and original shows you’ll ever see!

Carey-OK! : Timeless Timely Tunes

Chip Pop Productions—John Hirsch Mainstage

This show felt strange to see in a theatre. I wouldn’t call it a musical either. It felt like a man flexing his budding DJ muscles. It isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and while I’m not a fan of his style of music I can see where the enjoyment comes from. Overall, he needs polish, he needs focus, and those things allowing there’s the start of an extremely popular DJ in there.

Arden Pruden

The Ghost Project

Karie Richards—Son of Warehouse

Karie is an immediately engaging performer, who slips easily between characters. The show itself is subdued, with each character having their own distinct but not distracting costume piece. She never exaggerates the characters, and gives them exactly the respect they deserve. At its core this show is for people who believe in ghosts, but even so those who don’t will be entertained by her storytelling ability. And the soundtrack was groovy too.

Arden Pruden