Rockin’ Bluebird

Melanie Gall Presents for Kids—Kids Venue: MTYP – Mainstage

With her signature bangs and ponytail, Melanie Gall’s passion for peacocks, pigeons and everything in between got a whole flock of future performers to put their screens down and rock about on stage. Watching the magic happen for the first time was a delight as her lyrical voice carried us through several engaging songs. One adapted performance of “Over the Rainbow” about a goose named Lucy that desperately wants to have colourful feathers was heart warming for children, adults and this proud auntie.

Whether it’s a chicken struggling to cross the road, or a Bluebird that thinks they’re a chicken, Gall keeps the audience’s addition with facts about our feathered friends. Keep your binoculars out and ready to spot her other shows this year at Fringe.

Stephanie Adamov

Cact-Us If You Can

Cactus Makes Perfect Improv Comedy—Son of Warehouse

Advertised as their debut Fringe show, this troupe has promise going forward. The execution however, could use some work. The foundation if the show, playing improv games with audience input, us a tried and true method when creating a show. It could have, however, done without individual explanations of every game. A little more prep, ironically, could have also done the troupe a lot of good, as at times it felt as though they weren’t certain how to go about what they set out to do. After some practice, learning to pick audience participation more carefully, and tightening, Cactus Makes Perfect could have something special in a few years.

Arden Pruden

A Lesbian in a Bear Store

Willow Roots Productions—The Rachel Browne Theatre

Queer content and 90s nostalgia? I am the peak demographic for this show. Known in the Winnipeg comedy scene, Willow Rosenberg who wrote and performs this one person autobiographical tale benefits from incorporating audience participation and ad-libbing. This is where she truly shines and casts a slight spell over the audience with a cheeky wink and a punchy topical reference.

However, the convention of using Beanie Babies can tend to get muddled in the tales of collections and the embrace of loss as she reflects on maternal conversations she had and wanted to have with her mother. May her memory be a blessing.

Cluttered concepts and a plethora of large topics to uncover, this ambitious venture had several moments spent getting “back on track” with the script. Had the play been more stand-up inclined, while going through the Beanies, their names and the poems attached to them, that might have cast the nostalgic veil needed.

That being said, the audience embraced Willow’s storytelling and clearly hit some relatable notes among them. Whether it was the discussion of chronic illness, horoscopes or Buffy, a millenial-heavy audience was receptive to Rosenberg’s humour and honesty.

Stephanie Adamov

Rob Teszka: Magic Dropout

Rob Teszka Magic—PTE – Colin Jackson Studio

Rob Teszka makes the astute decision to incorporate literal magic into his autobiographical tale of failure. Rather than presenting a mere series of tricks, he uses sleight-of-hand and light mentalism to punctuate his narrative of being a top high school student coming to realize academia wasn’t his true calling.

A key component of the show involves audience participants confronting their own failures, mirroring the central theme of Teszka’s story. Given his theme, more attention given to the specific moments of failure that affected him emotionally and drove his decisions might have heightened the storytelling aspect of the show. Since his personal journey is what makes this performance unique, sharpening that presentation rather than relying on traditional magician fare to impress his audience might make this performance truly magical.

Ashley Frantik

The Two Gentlemen of Verona

Indifferently Reformed—The Asper Centre for Theatre & Film (U of W)

This group of over 9 U of W students and alumni clearly understood the assignment. Embracing the text of one of Shakespeare’s earliest works, David and Dryden as directors lead the cast and audience on embracing the quirky humour of the Bard’s comedy. Indifferently Reformed as a production company outfitted the stage with large sheets of fabric and through the use of shadow executed several scenes/tableaus to wonderfully layer this humorous production.

The cadence and performances were never once clunky, but evidently the ensemble not only is familiar with the text, but created a kaleidoscope through their mastery of the poet’s nuances and tongue and cheek references, all under the setting of a country club.

Stephanie Adamov

House of Gold

Brighter Dark Theatre—The Output

Jimmy Gold is the spitting image of his famous grandfather, country music legend and rich and famous patriarch John Gold. His toxic family are hell bent on Jimmy becoming just as big a star and restoring the family’s wealth. Skilled playwright and able protagonist Thomas McLeod spins a dark, creepy and humorous tale which unfolds at a rollicking pace in the hands of a solid company of actors with comic chops and nuanced delivery.

There are humorous references from a variety of eras; there is something fun for everyone. Kudos for mounting such a fine performance in such a challenging venue.

Barbara Fawcett

Power Grab

Extreme Players—Planetarium

In an attempt to explore the range of power through a handful of stand alone scenes, Power Grab was running on low battery for this reviewer. Given the theme and reading about the previous experiences of the Extreme Players, I would have thought the incorporation of Theatre of the Oppressed would have been a more compelling investigation of the use and abuse of power…the vignettes presented felt more like a series of class exercises than a Fringe production.

There were several interesting concepts explored from the incorporation of Confession being seen as a “power grab” to an actual robot taking the “human out of Human Resources”. While the performers show much promise, particularly in the first scene, the play might have needed to sit on the dock for a bit longer.

Stephanie Adamov

The Naked Mennonite

Real Live Entertainment—Royal Albert

I grew up as a mild Buddhist, only paying homage a couple of times a year on the occasions. Come middle school, I was agnostic, and by high school, full atheist. Then my third run in university turned me antitheist. It should come as no surprise to you that I never sat through a god-based sermon in my life.

Twenty minutes into the show, I wondered if I Alan Fehr was about to deliver the first full-on preach of my life? Twenty minutes after that, things started to turn, and it got very interesting for me. These are the kinds of personal enlightenment that I enjoy hearing about.

Fast, energetic, and powerful, this coming-of-age tale is a great account of what happens when you have the intellect, courage and independence to break away from the masses. I’m curious that Fehr is still based in Steinbach, and how his community receives him?

If we count words per minute, this is the best bang-for-buck outing in the Fringe! From the start, Fehr smokes his tires at a neck-snap 130 wpm, barely stopping for a breath.

At times, I wanted him to slow down because my brain wasn’t able to process his jokes fast enough to get them. It caught up with him a few times as well, as he spoke so fast,he had to reset and recompose.

When the show ended at 66 minutes, I understood why he had to turbo-blast his waythrough the dialogue. He paused at the times when the moments called for it, but generally, it’s hyper-paced. There isn’t much I’d cut out, so perhaps a 75-minuteallocation would result in a more manageable tempo?

Regardless, it’s a fun run and anyone not too neck-deep into faith should enjoy this journey.

Ray Yuen

What is the Problem.

Tea Party Productions—CCFM – Antoine Gaborieau Hall

The cafe style lighting cascading from the ceiling of CCFM- Antoine Gaborieau Hall helps illuminate our journey down the rabbit hole of your first partner meeting your childhood best friend. As someone who has been very comfortable under the “Rainbow Umbrella”, it was promising to see these emerging performers explore the complexities of sapphic relationships, be them platonic or romantic.

Originally produced in French, this English adaptation from Tea Party Productions dares to be vulnerable and venture into difficult conversations when you just want everyone to “get along” in addition to adding mental illness as a factor.

This reviewer was glad they “weren’t too late” to catch this trio and I’ll be curiouser and curiouser to see what they put on next.

Stephanie Adamov

COMMANDO: The Radio Play

project pigeon—The Park Theatre

Commando was such a fun time! The talented cast on stage gave us a silly, entertaining show that had us laughing the entire time!

Lorelle Rawson