Review: (Edmonton) The Medicine Show (Fringe)

Barking Mad
by Rebecca Edgewood

Historically, Medicine Shows were travelling horse and wagon teams which peddled ‘miracle cure’ medications and other products between various entertainment acts.  This was in the day when ‘horsepower’ involved actual horses, and when a travelling act (good or bad) brought an entire town out to watch.

Review: (Edmonton) Moby Alpha (Fringe)

Nerd Porn

by Rebecca Edgewood

It isn’t always easy to be a nerd. Some of us sit alone at home, reaching out for companionship on the Internet. Others attend large-scale ‘Comicon’ –type conferences, clad in costumes or wearing t-shirts from Star Trek or Doctor Who.  And other nerds – well, other nerds build a couple of crazy cool space helmets, rework the story of Moby Dick.  “Which,” as one of the characters asserts in an aside, “Nobody has actually read, anyway,” to involve a Martian, a robot and a giant spaceship, and they present it as part of the Edmonton Fringe Festival.

Review: (Edmonton) They Call Me Mr. Fry

Teacher's Notes
by Rebecca Edgewood

In the program description for They Call Me Mr. Fry, audience members are warned to ‘Bring your Kleenex’ – I assume because they are supposed to be moved to tears by the acting, narrative or by the characterization of the inner-city children taught by Mr. Fry in this 90-minute one-man Fringe show.  

Review: (Edmonton) Circle (Fringe)

La Ronde

by Rebecca Edgewood

Circle is a rare thing for a Fringe festival.  It’s a smart, sophisticated, well-crafted two-hander, with two solo performers:  a comedic actress and a dramatic storyteller, coming together to perform in what is described in the Fringe program as ‘a daisy-chain of sexual encounters’.  And yes, there are indeed sexual encounters. Many of them, in fact, with each character (and there are several) being portrayed from two entirely different angles throughout the play. The writing - by New York director and playwright Suzanne Bachner - is snappy and sophisticated, and the actors do the clever script full justice.

Review: (Edmonton) African Folk Tales (Fringe)

The Art of the Story
by Rebecca Edgewood

Ah, South Africa. The country where zebras all drive SUVs, Giraffes have short legs and short necks, and where Tockalosh (whatever it/he/she is) runs just out of sight, day and night. It’s also the homeland of expert storysmith Erik De Waal, and the setting for his yearly hour of children’s fare: African Folktales with Erik De Waal. This is a superb bit of theatre from a master storyteller.  It is located at the Theatre for Young Audience venue and is advertised as a childrens’ show, but the adults in the audience were equally rapt.  De Waal is the ideal kids performer. He doesn’t patronize or oversimplify, and his accent adds a delicious flavour to his narrative.  

Review: (Edmonton) Apocalypse Clown (Fringe)

Clowned

by Rebecca Edgewood

Edmonton is home to a lot of clowns. And over the years, the Fringe has hosted such notable clown shows as Fools for Love and Sofa So Good. So, our standards are pretty high. And that’s what makes the Seattle-based touring show Apocalypse Clown extra hard to take.

Review: (Edmonton) Poe and Mathews (Fringe)

Exquisite Silliness
by Rebecca Edgewood

If I were stranded on a deserted island and had to choose two people to be out there with me, it would surely be gifted comic actors Emily Windler and Brian Kuwabara in their roles of Poe and Mathews, from the aptly-named Edmonton Fringe show ‘Poe and Mathews’. This gem of a show is just about the funniest piece of theatre that I’ve ever seen at the Edmonton Fringe. 

The premise involves the notable American writer Edgar Allen Poe and the lesser known (for, it seems, good reason) Cornelius Mathews, stranded together on a deserted island. How did they get there?  Ask Mathews.  Or rather, blame Mathews. Or rather, hand Mathews a rope, a rock and a sandwich and put him on a stage to see what happens next.

Review: (Edmonton) Serving Bait to Rich People

Raw Bait
by Rebecca Edgewood

There are two integral elements to good standup comedy: clever, funny material and timing. In Serving Bait to Rich People, aspiring comedienne Alexa Fitzpatrick has neither. She tells the story of living as a ski bum in Aspen, Colorado and of working at a high-end sushi restaurant. It’s an interesting premise, and it has the potential to be a good story, if Alexa would Just Tell us The Story. Instead, she has devised a comedy routine, with such an eclectic mix of stale jokes and unreliable stories that the audience doesn’t know what is real and what is a setup for a gag.