Tag Archives: Review

Fringe 2013: 2 Across review

The Leduc Drama Society’s production of 2 Across is a humble and believable romantic comedy that feels like an experience thousands of people have every day.

Two people that wouldn’t typically enter conversation with each other are on their way back from an airport in San Francisco riding in an empty train car, and the only thread tying them together is their New York Times crossword. It’s a simple scenario that feels grounded in reality, but strong writing and an admiral performance by actors Marlene Schoonmaker and Peter Dickhout breath life into a world that could easily have turned out mundane.

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Fringe 2013: Forget Me Not review

Who’s never had the urge to find out how an alzheimer afflicted patient solves a murder-mystery? That’s the foundation that Forget Me Not builds its narrative upon, and it’s a stupendously hilarious one-man performance that might leave you looking forward to the latest stages in your life – so much fun is it to watch a retired detective weave his way through the facts in front of him, and his own shoddy memory.

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Fringe 2013: Brains The Zombie Musical review

 If you’re looking to check out a zombie shindig at the fringe festival, think long and hard about that inclination. I’m sure there must be another show that also intrigues you, and whatever that show is, it can’t be as painful to watch as Brains The Zombie Musical.

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Fringe 2013: Grim and Fischer review

Photo by James Douglas,Photo by James Douglas

The Wonderheads are back at the Edmonton fringe with Grim and Fischer, and while their most recent effort didn’t tickle my heart-strings as strongly as their previous works, they’re unique combo of full face-masks and physical theatre are still a family-friendly joy to take in.

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Fringe 2013: Can’t Contain My Dance review

Can’t Contain My Dance is a great contemporary-dance show themed around “the many hats that women wear in life.” I just wish the dancers’ statement of intent wasn’t carelessly thrown at the audience in the form of a video that served as more of a sleazy dance-studio ad than a necessary aid to my enjoyment of their art.

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Fringe 2013: CIRCLE review

From the moment that a BDSM discount coupon slipped out of my program as I walked into the venue, I knew I was probably in for one of the most sexy shows at this years’ Fringe. I just wasn’t aware that I was about to see one of the best sexy shows I’ve seen at the festival in all my years.

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Fringe 2013: The Rambler review

Country music and the culture that goes with it is something that doesn’t jive with everyone, but despite being staged in a sweltering bar with shitty sight-lines, The Rambler is a show worth seeing that explores where homosexuality fits into the motto “true country.”

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Fringe 2013: Freud’s Last Session review

A philosopher and an author walk into a study… 

It sounds like the beginning of a nerdy graduate student’s joke, but rather than the first part of a cheesy one-liner, it’s the simple premise behind the great two-man-onslaught that is Freud’s Last Session.

Freud invites C. S. Lewis over to his home outside London to start the show. It’s the beginning of the German bombings during the second World War – the warning sirens are literally sounding outside during points of the show – but these two men have much more pressing matters to address.

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Folk Fest 2013 concert review: Leslie Feist

Feist is a performer that’s renowned for visual flare in her live performances as well as her musical prowess. Her closing set on Thursday night of this year’s Edmonton Folk Music Festival did not fail to live up to that legacy, and despite a few horrid moments roused by the audience members that joined her on stage, she put on a show that I’m convinced I couldn’t see anywhere else.

Feist didn’t perform her songs straight off of her record. Instead she sang variations of her tracks. This is a practice I wish artist would adopt more frequently. Asking your audience to join in with the chorus once in a while in fine, but talent really shines when you can manipulate your studio tracks into something different, but equally great.

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Fringe 2013: Innocent When You Dream review

Innocent When You Dream is a great example of a show trying to follow the fringe formula, but failing badly.

Zeb West, attempts to mash the tales of Moby Dick and Don Quixote into a single story that sees himself, and the novels’ protagonist trapped in the belly of a whale. West uses puppets, curses, and – admittedly interesting – props fashioned from the wreckage of ships to try and show audiences a good time, but his anachronistic jokes fall flat, and his puppetry and awkward audience participation lack substance. Innocent When You Dream is listed at 60 minutes, but I clocked it at 36.

A long 36 minutes that should be spent elsewhere.

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