Welcome to another Winnipeg Fringe Festival! Glad to meet you, we are the Jenny Revue. What is a Jenny Revue? Well let us explain. We are the original independent publication for fans and performers of the Winnipeg Fringe to get the word out about our amazing theatre companies. This is our 30th year, so we started this long before Social Media was a spark of 1’s and 0’s in Mark Zuckerbot’s electronic brain (you will never convince me he is a human being). These days, other than some one-sheet issues that we will distribute every couple days through the Jenny Boxes (at the Beer Tent, Hospo in MTC, and Across the Board Game Cafe) we are mostly online, and if you are reading this then you obviously found us. We already have our first bunch of reviews from Wednesday night posted, and a number of SSPs from some of the performing companies. We will have lists of them on the homepage below the great cartoon by Dave Pruden and these Editorial missives.

What Is New—There are a few new things at the Fringe this year including new venues, some ticket selling changes, and Pay What You Can (PWYC) shows. One of the biggest changes is having four venues out at the Centre Culturel Franco-Manitoban (CCFM). That will make it a great little hub that has a lot of performances so people can spend a whole day Fringing out there. Kid’s Fringe (not to be confused with the Kid’s Venue) has moved from Stephen Juba park back to Old Market Square in what is known as the Beer Tent a little later in the day. Another change for you Early Birds is that tickets now go on sale 30 minutes before the first show of the day at a venue as opposed to 1 hour like it has been in the past. Lastly, there are some PWYC shows, including the Kid’s Venue shows, Shelby Bond’s “The Sherlock Holmes Experience, and “Fringe Open Night” at the Exchange Events Centre. PWYC tickets must be purchased at the door. One last thing that is new again is the Big Show Board at the info tent in Old Market Square which was missing last year. It has been brought back due to popular demand and is always great resource to see what shows are up next and whether they are sold out or not. It has always been a good way to pick a show to take a chance on to fill in gaps in your Fringe viewing schedule.

What Is Back, But Still Seems New—There is still supervised bike parking in the Pantages courtyard which has Fringe volunteers keeping an eye out (from 10am to 12:15am) over an area where you can lock up your bike. Old Market Square is fully licensed again this year, so you can enjoy an adult beverage anywhere inside its boundaries, assuming you are of an age to do so. One of the major ticket selling changes from last year is back, where ALL the tickets for a show are available for sale in advance. So check the Winnipeg Fringe’s website to see if a show is sold out prior to heading out to purchase tickets at the door for a popular show. There were a couple quick sell outs on Wednesday evening, so consider yourself forewarned.

Another Year Older—With it being our 30th year, we plan on celebrating with some special releases throughout the Fringe. We would love any stories about Fringes past, if you have some stories to share send them our way.For those feeling nostalgic, you can visit our Archives page to take a gander at all the ancient scrolls from the very beginning of the Jenny. I also encourage you to check out the Special 20th Anniversary Inserts from back in 2011 (I apologize for the use of Comic Sans font, it was a much simpler time back then).

A Jenny Primer—The Jenny Revue is an independent place for everyone to share their Winnipeg Fringe experience. You can contact us via email at jennyrevue@gmail.com. Please follow us on Twitter @jennyrevue, Instagram jennyrevue, and/or Facebook for updates on when the site is updated and other Fringe news.

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. While we expect our little herd of Jenny Staff to review every show at the Fringe, we want to hear from you to hear what you think so send us those reviews.
• Shameless Self-Promotion—If you are in a Fringe play and haven’t yet shamelessly promoted your show, put together 80 words (or less)—different from your program blurb—and send them to us. Think of it like you are giving your quick flyering spiel to people waiting in line, and be creative. 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—We are always looking for interesting or wacky things that have happened during the Fringe. If you have a tale to tell, let us know.

Last, but certainly not least are the Jenny Awards. This is our end of Festival party that will be held Sunday July 30th. The Jenny’s will be back at Across the Board Game Cafe a fully accessible licensed venue at 211 Bannatyne Avenue.

Enjoy the Fringe!