VarieTease: Room 100 at The Chelsea Hotel

Dynamite Lunchbox Entertainment—Tom Hendry Warehouse

A feast for the senses, well, just two senses: the eyes and the ears.

The excellent choreography and thrilling dance moves provides a treat for the eyes. The talented dancing drives the energy that penetrates the performance throughout. The stunning costumes lure your eyes and the hypnotic movement keeps you entranced. At times shocking, at times reflective and often seductive, the movements propel your emotions.

The music completes the ambiance, taking you from sympathetic to shock, with stops at serene and sedated. You know you’ll be in for a musical journey when the early tracks include Fleetwood Mac’s “Tusk” and a frightening rendition of Phil Collins already hateful “In the Air Tonight.” Most of the tunes keep your toes tapping while the violin leads take you into pensive retreat.

This spirited journey takes you on a high and the inevitable crash. Running time clocks out at 45 minutes, a bit short of the advertised hour slot.

Ray Yuen

The Merkin Sisters

Stephanie Morin-Robert—PTE – Colin Jackson Studio

This is a reprisal of last year’s smash hit. I really didn’t expect them to have time to put together something totally new, as ‘sister’ Stephanie Morin-Robert was busy with another major production, a beautiful, five month old baby girl with partner Jamesy, from the beloved James and Jamesy duo. She is adorable, and favours her mom.

The show was worthwhile seeing again, as they bounce off the audience and play with written suggestions from us, so each show will be different. Plus, not everyone got tuned into just how special these gals are last year, and had a chance to take them in. I love their choice of music, from the intriguing reggae intro, to their theme “I Love My Hair”. They are out playing with the audience pre-show; and continue to bounce off, and in some cases harass their audience. The old Fringe trick of not sitting in the front row will not save you; as they crawl all over the theatre and the crowd throughout the show. They work so seamlessly and gracefully together; like two parts of a whole. They obviously have dance backgrounds, as each movement is so precise and perfect.

This is a very fringey show, weird, wacky and wonderful. They are very strange, yet manage to be heartwarming at the same time. Their synchronization makes you believe they are sisters. Their interaction has the teasing warmth and, yes, brutality, that really close siblings can have. If you don’t know what a merkin is, look it up before you go. You will never look at hair, or sweaters in the same way! This show pushes the edge, so if you are really prudish you may be offended. One part had us literally gagging. You will also never get to see Riverdance performed by puppets in bathing suits! This may be your last chance so don’t let yourself down and miss it!

The gals are also busy putting on other intriguing shows at this year’s Fringe, so check them out in their many different formations!

Lisa Campbell

The Wilds

WONDERHEADS—MTYP – Mainstage

The WONDERHEADS return to Winnipeg with a world premiere of a brand new show. The new story features two main characters, an old man and his wife, in their signature big head masks. Though the masks do not move and there is no dialog, the performers’ physical movements clearly convey all the emotion in the story.

Their staging uses a few key props, moved around while the cast is dressed in black, to set the various scenes of the main story line. The husband is on a journey into the Wilds to find his wife who has gone missing along with a tree from their yard. He meets a number of interesting characters through his quest which add some humour, magic, and fills out the story which will also tug at your heart strings. Excellently done.

Murray Hunter

Darwin vs Rednecks

Stewart Huff—Creative Manitoba

I was told by fellow Fringe Performer Rob Gee to go see this ‘Merican…and in this Trump era history, sure glad I finished the nite with this comedian. He tells it like it is, coming from down south in Kentucky touring on boat cruises and now Fringe festivals, where he concludes it is right for his humorous look at particular lifestyles. He felt refreshed to be in nice leftist country (Canada) for a while, and shared his stories of rednecks and the human entailment of how we as a society can be so good or bad at the same time. He finished with a wonderful childhood story he read about on one of his tours, it left me holding my gut, and remembering what it was like to be a child. A very funny ‘Merican.

Kevin Campbell

Pretending Things are a Cock

Jon Bennett—Dragon Arts Collective

The title tells you literally what this presentation covers. You know how people like to visit monuments and do cute things like pretend to pinch them, or hold them up, or lean on them? That’s Bennett’s angle, except he poses with them as his cock. Some of his depictions stand hilariously tall and some fall limp (sorry). However, the pictures only provide the setting as the stories dominate the entertainment. Similarly, some of the stories leave you howling while others left me holding my shaking head (my big head, and in a good way)! I doubt the authenticity of some of the stories but hey, they’re dick stories—how many can you actually expect to be true!

Many of the images look cute, and some of them almost look real. The poses with Jesus as a cock evoked some gasps but if you attend a show called Pretending Things Are a Cock, you should expect a measure of irreverence.

There are some minor issues. At times, Bennett speaks very quickly—coupled with his Aussie accent, it can be a bit tough to understand sometimes. You need to climb >50 steps (three floors) to get to the venue but once there, powerful air conditioning should cool you off.

One of my favourite aspects of his performance? His expressions! Look at his face as well as his “cock” in the photos! Fringe always offers a myriad of silly shows—this one isn’t as silly as the title implies, but it’s entertaining and a lot of fun.

Cock! Bennett! Cock!

Ray Yuen

Hamlet

Knavish Hedgehog Productions—PTE – Mainstage

There were things I liked and things that didn’t quite please. I loved the enthusiasm of the large cast; and their obvious delight in performing. I enjoyed that they stayed true to the original work. The Bard said it best and I love my Shakespeare pure. This troupe has been around for awhile and sticks exclusively to Shakespeare; and likes to play with the staging of his works. This show was performed in modern clothing; and that’s where I had a little bone to pick. Some of the costuming was fine but the men’s outfits suffered from horrible tailoring. The four inch, poorly hand-sewn hems on Claudius’s pants made me want to jump in with a needle (hardly fit for a King), his jacket was too short, small and tight, and Guildenstern’s outfit was made for someone five sizes smaller. They adventurously chose to cast a female as Hamlet, but her drab, ill-fitting garb did her no favors. I would have played with the fact she was female and had her in a feminine, flowing gown. Then some outfits were lovely; like Ophelia’s dress and neck wreath when she’s was crazed. The costumes seemed to not come from the same time period; and one character looked positively Amish, including white sports socks with brown dress pants. If I have to watch something for ninety minutes, I want it pleasing to the eye.

The casting seemed off to me. I would have placed some of the stronger performers in the larger roles; though I’m not going to call anyone out by name. The talents of the cast varied wildly, from very accomplished to stiff and barely adequate. Staging was strange, with characters having a dialogue together, standing a stiff, great distance from each other, and a lot of rushing about like a wildebeest migration. But on the whole, it was worthwhile. It was opening night, and hopefully this production will smooth out for some of the weaker actors. With all the one actor shows, it’s nice to see an ensemble cast. If you want to see an authentic performance of Hamlet, take this in.

Lisa Campbell

A Nightmare On East Hastings: A Comedy.

Bessie Jean Productions—PLATFORM Centre

Bill Pats has a lot of fans, literally there are several fans at this much un-cool venue.
That being said, Mr. Pats proceeds to tell us about his big move to Vancouver and how he ended up doing something other than what he went there for, which was to pursue an acting career. He tells disturbing yet funny stories of being a building superintendent in the raciest, scariest, part of Canada. The people he had to deal with, homeless, penniless, drug depended characters…real people that we as a society look the other way at most of the time. Bill does not paint a pretty picture, though he still shared humorous situations put upon himself and the other human beings he deals with in this shoe box real estate existence. Bill chokes a couple times, making me feel he wrote this from the heart.

Wonderful thought provoking but humorous play.

Kevin Campbell

Animosity

Downside Up Productions—Forth

Billed as a companion to last year’s production of Anomie, Animosity proposes the same setting with a familiar intro. If you did not see last year’s edition, the first scene brings you up to speed. If you did see it, the first bits play like a rerun. The premise continues to be fascinating and intriguing but a bit less repetition would engage the return viewer much quicker.

As well, last year’s venue suited the play better than this year’s. The actors still make it work but you need to use your imagination a bit more. Also, the location sits in the (cool) basement below an active restaurant and lounge. The noise upstairs can be a bit of a distraction, but you soon get over it. As a tip, please do not move your chairs together when you enter the venue; they’re placed where they are on purpose.

Whereas Anomie explores the concepts of “is the grass always greener,” the current show prods into the effects of desolate isolation and the desperate grasp for companionship. Faced with an impossible situation, what happens when you take for granted what you have—then you lose it?

This engaging chapter takes you on another introspection into the endless channels of the human psyche. What is the true abyss? Does anyone know? Nagilum?

Hopefully there will be another installment next year. Can our heroes ever get their answers or are they doomed on Gillligan’s Island?

Listed at 60 minutes, the actual run time lasts only 44 minutes.

Ray Yuen

The Placeholder Show

TPS Production—Wee Johnny’s

Once again I started my Fringe this year with local Comedian/Artist/Storyteller J.D. Renaud’s show. I have always enjoyed his performances and find they are the perfect way to get into the Fringe.

Those familiar with him will know him for his great stories told with accompanying pictures/video or his simple, yet amazing, cartoons. I’m blown away by how every year he somehow finds some weird true story from long ago and then enthralls the audience in the way he presents it. This year that story opened the show and was about a race horse from 1923 and it was great. He then goes on with some stories from his own life and wraps it all up with a nice bow with the first story he created for kids. If you want to see some great storytelling and be fully entertained, and maybe have a beer as well, go check out this show at Wee Johnny’s.

Murray Hunter

Dramatic Hat Productions

Mercury Man : The Last Performance of Orson Welles—The Rachel Browne Theatre

The world premiere of ‘Mercury Man: The Last Performance of Orson Welles’ hits the Winnipeg Fringe (July 18 to 29), with seven performances at the Rachel Browne Theatre. Written and directed by Joel Pettigrew, this captivating multimedia dramatic play draws on the traditions of radio, animation, and classic Hollywood to tell the lifetime-spanning story of one of cinema’s most iconic — and fascinatingly complicated — directors.