The Buzz – Reviews

1nce Upon a Lie: Paul Strickland

Paul Strickland Presents—Planetarium

Professional storyteller Paul Strickland returns with another collection of fictional stories and a couple of songs. Anyone who has seen his previous story telling shows will know that he can spin a yarn with the best of them. He puts in the work to find the varying sources of some of the tales he tells, and then puts them together while adding in his own charming parts.

He starts off with the title song, whose lyrics show his excellent talents at word play, and then we are off into the stories. Uncle False also makes an appearance and we learn why Paul likes fictional stories the best.

Murray Hunter

A One Human Being, Potentially Comedic Performance of The Nightmare Before Christmas

Living the Dream—Son of Warehouse

Are you a fan of the classic 1993 Tim Burton animated stop motion film, The Nightmare Before Christmas? If so, you’ll have a great time. A ton of audience participation, including singing the songs from the film and helping act out the parts, definitely makes this a great experience for anyone coming of age in the 90s, or someone who has ever haunted the Winnipeg hot topic.

While I think it’s legally required for all the shows in this genre to disclaim that they’re for everyone and not just fans of the media being adopted, this is one I would definitely say benefits from familiarity with the material. We had someone in our showing decked out in fan merchandise just absolutely sending it when called upon to fill out the backing vocals, and they definitely had an amazing time.

Josh Fidelak

Curtain Call Collective presents Dark Horse Theatre’s “The Social”

Curtain Call Collective—CCFM Salle Pauline-Boutal

The show is set in the coat room of a Wedding Social, with scenes of various characters coming in and out and having interactions with each other. The entry and exit of people through an unseen door to the main social hall is simulated by a rising level of background music, which then fades away again. All the music was various well known songs from a social playlist which are readily identifiable though you only hear them for a short time. It really sets the stage.

The large cast give good performances as we learn of all the dysfunction between the various relationships of the characters behind the scenes of this wedding social that is going off the rails. A lot of the guests are pretty common character tropes, such as ‘The Wise Bartender’ or ‘Heart Broken Bridesmaid’, but they all fit in well. The story moves along nicely with a lot of great comedy as we see just how the various situations will all work out.

Murray Hunter

The Club Soda Improv Show

Club Soda Improv—The Asper Centre for Theatre & Film (U of W)

These folks are always a highlight of the Fringe for me. As always improv represents a variable and unpredictable format for a show, and thus rather difficult to review, with the quality of the show being more of a range than anything else. But over the years of watching them perform, it’s extremely clear that they’re just really good at what they do.

Replacing last year’s theme of a manic director with a more accessible format of a loosely connected hour long improv session structured with improv games was a good decision, if only to keep things fresh for repeat viewers. Always worth a watch, especially for any fans of improv as a genre.

Josh Fidelak

The Condo Down Under

The Old Elmwood Radio Theatre—John Hirsch Mainstage

This Greco-Roman Winnipeg-set retelling of Dr. Faustus will delight members of its target audience, but may not be a good fit for those unimpressed with parochial humour that relies on ‘Transcona’ as a weak punchline on multiple occasions. Those inclined to Manitoba Health hip-replacement waitlist humour will have a grand time, although the radio play format seems to have been selected as an excuse to remain on-book for an extremely minimalist musical production, rather than a celebration of the elements typically associated with the golden age of radio (e.g. Foley artistry) which are conspicuously absent.

While the live music is a welcome component, even the script admits that the songs are largely arbitrary; they do little to enhance or propel the very basic plot. The otherwise gamely receptive weekday-matinée crowd’s enthusiasm for the musical numbers was notably lacking, as the lead actor took the time to chide them for their generic response to the equally low-energy tunes.

Ashley Frantik

Shadow Necropolis

Mochinosha Puppet Company—The Rachel Browne Theatre

The stories and worlds that Seri and Daniel of Mochinosha Puppet Company create are always amazing with beautiful shadow puppets and projected scenery. Shadow Necropolis builds off the characters from their 2022 show Shadow Kingdom, but you do not have to have seen that to follow along. Their trademark humour is still there, with some cultural and meme references thrown in.

The story is what really grabs you, as it both literally and metaphorically deals with battling anxiety. It is handled so well you can almost miss that you are learning about different kinds of anxiety and how to cope with it.

What could be a heavy topic becomes an adventure story with challenges and conquests and plenty of laughs and suitable for a general audience. Very well done.

For those who saw Shadow Kingdom, don’t worry, DJ Slug makes a few appearances as well.

Murray Hunter

Nuclear Family

MaxQ Productions—The Studio at Le Théâtre Cercle Molière

MaxQ returns to Winnipeg Fringe with a refreshing departure from their traditionally dense biographical works. The scene is set by eerily wholesome PSA-style civil-defense advice that the overall narrative fails to live up to. The convoluted plot tends to drag, weighed down by competing themes of theory vs. practical realism, preparedness as a trauma response, and family values at the end of the world. The aesthetically pleasing alt-history period piece seems to lose its own thread as it struggles to tell the audience every story that an apocalyptic nuclear threat might possibly generate while drawing no specific conclusions.

Ashley Frantik

HerPlease

Three Gallows Theatre—The Rachel Browne Theatre

Loose lips may sink ships, but Kate Tobie of Three Gallows Theatre lets all four of her lips speak for themselves. Immediately entering the theatre I adored the proscenium stage at Rachel Browne Theatre. Used effectively and hearing the pleasure of the audience as we all discovered and uncovered what was beyond the velvet curtain.

Caverns. Troves. Levels of relationships unfold.

A touch of bouffon clown and a sprinkle of puppetry exposes some fallacies which will leave some participants more wet than others.

This play is not a tease. It fully delivers.

Stephanie Adamov

Happy Go Lucky

Shoshinz—The Studio at Le Théâtre Cercle Molière

These whimsical, well-executed puppet vignettes are particularly relatable to those familiar with the norm-navigating societal expectations of femininity. The one-woman puppeteer from Japan highlights the juxtaposition of what a woman feels and what she ought to say to keep the peace, and be well liked, in her charming split-personality opening. She returns to this struggle when an internationally and timelessly famous Little Red Riding Hood literally reconstructs her personality to please the audience. While thematically linked, this delightful show comes to a rather abrupt end that might have been less evident in a more unified piece.

Ashley Frantik

Stand-Up Science Presents: Volcano

Ben Miller—The Asper Centre for Theatre & Film (U of W)

Ben Miller uses a bit of self-deprecating humour to talk about life, his Hawai’i experience, and volcanoes. This show is both factual and funny. It was around 25% science and 75% comedy, with most of the science leading into more comedy.

His crowd work was pretty darn good, especially for an 11:15 am Thursday show. He uses a video slide show to accompany his performance which helps make the science part more interesting as well as show off his photoshop skills for some of the visual humour.

Murray Hunter