Medea and the Argonauts

Chronically Ch(ill) Productions—The Cinematheque

It has been years since I last watched or studied (or read?) Jason and the Argonauts, because I was quite young at the time. I have recollections of fond memories of a story of heroics and intrigue and drama, but couldn’t remember much more.

What we experience in Medea and the Argonauts is the story from Medea’s point of view. A one-woman show which sort of takes the form of a soliloquy as we meet young Medea, before meeting Jason, before being dragged into a plot of death and destruction.

It was shocking to see the story told in this fashion. It is evident to me that I forgot some crucial details of the story itself, and seeing it from her point of view was frightening. The madness that consumed her showed a hollow emptiness with no remorse for her actions. I felt as though Hailley Rhoda allowed us some deeply unsettling insight into the mind of a woman consumed by darkness or fate or interference of the gods who had lost control and in a twisted way, killing the people in her life seemed to be a way that she could try and ensure she could still have what she wanted.

For my own benefit, it may have helped to review the original story so the plot was fresh in my mind. This production reminds me how extremely the same story can change depending who is telling it and how we choose to remember events of the past.

For any fans of the original piece, this would be a great new perspective on the story because it fills in a lot of the gaps left by Jason being our protagonist and hero. Medea is crucial to the plot, and with her as the priority, the story is a lot more frightening than I recall. Thanks for the nightmares, you horrifying scary woman (Medea; not our lovely, captivating actress).

Calantha Jensen

Carmen and Don Jose: A Tale of Love and Murder

Stories Alive—Centennial Concert Hall – Rehearsal Hall

What a pleasure to see the multi-talented Melanie Gall have a handsome partner to bounce her wonderful vocals off off! A nice change. I have been a fan and have seen her wonderful work, even her Kids Fringe shows, since she started gracing our city many years ago. It’s not a real Fringe if you don’t catch Melanie! But only if you like superb opera singing by a beautiful young woman who can really act.

When I explain to people why the Fringe is so special, this is a perfect example. Melanie is a trained opera singer who has played Lincoln Center, Royal Albert Hall, and Carnegie Hall. We get to see her for twelve, measly bucks! We get two wonderful singers and a great story at a level of professionalism that would cost you eighty or more anywhere else!

Melanie charms and teases the gorgeous Eden Ball in his dashing leading role, in this mix of the classic opera and and bits of the novella Carmen was based on. The story is strong and tragic, as this has no happy ending (spoiler alert if you don’t know the opera Carmen). Carmen oozes seduction, as she wins the undying love of the hero, and a matador on the side. That gal knew how to have fun, until she didn’t. The steam that Melanie exudes had me falling in love with her and I’m straight! This magnificent pair has the audience in the palms of their hands throughout. The costuming is delightful, by the way. Gall will amaze you with her operatic acrobatics, as she holds a long, pure note for an impossible length of time that had the audience gasping. This show is among the very best here and as the week progresses, she will be selling out as she always does. So get there soon.

She can also be seen in her other stellar show here “ Big in Sudan”.

Lisa Campbell

Red Bastard: Lie With Me

Red Bastard—Asper Centre for Theatre and Film – U of W

We were dancing around the house with delight when we saw that our favorite bastard was finally returning to Winnipeg. His last show was one of those performances so titilating, provocative and different, that I could never forget it. Eric has created a delicious, devilish persona that scares you back a bit; and yet, his understanding of human nature and warmth perk through and draw you in. He has created a show that is so different from the usual Fringe fare, that it really is a must see and such a welcome change. The premise is to make you question your morality and just where your boundaries lie, and how much do you really lie. He interacts continuously with the audience and the success of the show grows with the honest input of the crowd.

We were blessed with a really special volunteer whose openness really brought the show to a new level. This young man had a female partner in the crowd, yet he was willing to feed Eric chocolate and be fed, share a messy mango, close dance and even kiss him. Eric lovingly washed the young man’s hands of the mango juice and tenderly dried his hands. You could see the actor’s appreciation of the extraordinary lengths this young man was willing to go to and his open heart just melted the audience as well. This again, was an experience that will never leave me. This is Fringe at its finest and if I can, I will take this in again. In 30 years I have never seen a show twice in one festival, but I will make an exception. My top show this year! Bravo Eric!

Lisa Campbell

Jezebel, at the Still Point

Bumble Bear Productions—The Rachel Browne Theatre

Perhaps Jezebel was tired, or maybe she’s just lazy, but for the amount of time she spent obediently out of the way (albeit in the middle of the stage but that was clearly on purpose) I was almost convinced she was trained, despite what the program says. That coupled with her frankly stellar comedic timing, at least at my show, I was almost tempted to double check with the performer. Ultimately, the show reads as a love note to man’s best friend, and even though I am a cat person at heart, I not only completely empathized but totally understood the lengths at which she would go to keep her pup around. Wonderfully physical, funny and light-spirited, dog lover or not you’ll walk out feeling happy.

Arden Pruden

Traveltheatrics

Standing Room Only Theatre—Planetarium Auditorium

I love to travel and if you add up all the miles I logged by plane, it’s almost enough to get to the moon. Despite all my travels, I don’t think I’ve enjoyed getaways as much as performer Keara Barnes. In her show, she relates her memorable journeys around the earth, told with enthusiasm and mirth.

A solid presenter, Barnes delivers her memories with acuity and precision. In each of her adventures, she takes on her own persona, and that of her companions, complete with the requisite accents. The characters are cute and fun, and her expressions are bold, but not overdone.

It’s an interesting story that leaves me with the lesson that vacations build memories; it’s with those memories that we relive our highlights. Thanks Barnes for sharing your insights.

Ray Yuen

JESUS CHRIST: The Lost Years

Monster Theatre—The King’s Head Pub

It is always a sure bet to see anything by Fringe veterans, Monster Theatre. They can be counted on to deliver and this is no exception. The amusing premise of covering the obscure years of Christ’s life from thirteen to thirty is cleverly done. Energy, intelligence and humour abound as these two gals throw their hearts and bodies into showing us what might have been during those lost years. This is what real professionals look and act like. Lots of thought and rehearsal went into this and it shows. Completely engaging and enjoyable, I would make sure to treat yourself and take this gem in.

Lisa Campbell

2 Sherlock Adventures

THEATrePUBLIC—One88

The two gentlemen drew upon their experience to deliver snappy quick dialogue and constant action. Despite multiple character shifts distinguished only by the hand off of a deerstalker I never had trouble discerning who was who and when, thanks to their physicality and distinct and consistent character voices. They would however benefit from slowing down, or at the very least articulating better, as sometimes I did miss dialogue, and they ran nearly ten minutes short, giving them the chance to take a breath. While I had admittedly already read one of the stories, I never found myself getting bored by the story, even though I knew the end. Funny and fast, the hour it takes certainly doesn’t seem like one.

Arden Pruden

Space Hippo

The Wishes Mystical Puppet Company—John Hirsch Mainstage

This company has been around for a few years and if you’re familiar with their work, they bring life to shadow puppets by manipulating cut-outs onto a screen. There’s normally a ludicrous plot that acts as the basis to comedy.

The formula stays true to Space Hippo (obviously). The cute puppets and execution brings reminiscence to childhood memories of adults relating monster stories. This show features plenty of monsters,
bolstered by the sinister voice and evil laughs. Fun as always and well worth a watch!

Ray Yuen

421 Is Dead: A Stormtrooper’s Story

Leaf Productions—The King’s Head Pub

I wished I was dead numerous times during this thing. If you want to see two adults playing with milk crates and going “beep beep”, go ahead. The fact that these two thought this was ready to go on tour from Victoria shows lack of judgement. If I had paid, I would have asked for my money back. Charles Ross has a well-earned reputation from his popular one man Star Wars shows but this doesn’t cut it for me. There were numerous people in Star Wars T-shirts in the crowd. But even they weren’t so wowed when I talked to them after the show; and other non fans were just as befuddled as I was as to what we had just seen. With all the wonderful choices this Fringe, why would you subject yourself to this? The program promises a plot that was not delivered. They will do well because of the popular venue and Charlie’s rep, but save yourself and beam up to something else.

Lisa Campbell

Caws & Effect

Mind of a Snail Puppet Co.—West End Cultural Centre

This was a show I had the exciting opportunity with which to randomly choose a time slot and a location and see what happens. I had absolutely no idea what I was walking into with this production from Mind of a Snail, aside from a blatant clue that there were birds involved.

What I experienced was an journey through a bird’s eye view, beginning with a crow giving birth (the science of which I am still unclear on) but I’m certain most episodes of labour and childbirth aren’t nearly so entertaining.

The story follows the life of crows starting out in a nest, and the struggles of survival, encountering challenges, and finding their way through the world it as it changes around them.

What makes this performance unique is the large scale shadow puppetry, physical theatre and the use of projectors with vibrant and colourful stencils used to tell the story. Speech bubble slides are used on the projectors as the main source of dialogue and not a single opportunity for a bird-related pun was missed. The soundtrack for the performance was recorded and produced by the cast themselves, and is absolutely gorgeous.

The other neat thing about this show is that without a lot of dialogue as the story progressed visually, it allows the viewer to see the images presented and create a story in their minds as they interpret what they are seeing. I’m nearly certain that most of us will have a general understanding of the story, but each of us will come away with a different understanding. Its a show that makes your imagination soar and find meaning in a way relevant in individual ways.

The time it must have taken to create the material alone must have been extreme, and the resulting product is visually impressive. Its the perfect blend of odd, unusual, beautiful and different. I always love a good story, and their method of storytelling is comical, stunning and extremely well done. Definitely worth checking out!

Calantha Jensen