August 27, 2011

Fringe Festival!!

So back home in Edmonton you can count on me to be at the Fringe every night (and most days) while it is on. I love the atmosphere, the live theatre and the people.  I was so incredibly excited to learn that the Fringe also comes to Victoria! Better yet, it comes after so we can see the reviews in Edmonton and choose from there!!
The only sad thing is that here it is all about the shows. No festival grounds, no wandering through the shopping tents with a lemonade in hand, no dodging the random juggler as they go a bit out of their circle. And while I do understand that the festival is all about the (amazing) shows, I miss the buzz. We were talking to friends who have lived here for 8 years and they hadn't ever heard of the Fringe. If you move to Edmonton it is one of the first things you hear about!
But nonetheless, we saved up some money to go to shows (I found out it was coming in April....) They have 10 show passes available for a serious discount on entry so we went that way.
Today we went to 3 of our 10. They were:

Grim & Fischer: A Deathly Comedy in Full Face Mask
-A little like the movie UP- the lady's husband passed away awhile ago and death is now ready to take her. But she's not ready to go.
- Created in Portland by Wonderheads theatre group.
- It was held over in Edmonton and I can see why- we went from laughter to tears and back a few times. We both really enjoyed it. The characters are wonderfully expressive, which is a feat when the plot is all communicated by actions, lighting and sound effects.



Tara Firm & The Lunar War Chronicles
- Tara is the newest pilot recruited for the lunar war but she didn't want to be a pilot. After taking over the job she's forced into she makes waves and discovers a few new facts about the war.
- Created in Victoria by Launch Pad Productions
- This was Jon's favourite of the day- it was fun and had some great references to history. Also, incredible props that took a ton of imagination to make. The 5 cast members perfectly pulled off all the roles.



The Smell Of The Kill
- 3 wacky housewives find themselves in an odd situation that can seemingly solve all their problems (and husbands). But do they have the guts to go ahead with the plan?
- Another locally produced show! This one is done by Dragon Monkey Theatre Group. I hadn't seen any reviews for it but we had already done 2 shows at this venue so we just stayed there for the 3rd!
- This one came out as my favourite for the day. It was fun and gutsy and kept me guessing.

1 comment:

Robin said...

It sounds like a great day. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself.