Fringe reviews #2: Your destiny awaits in a warehouse basement
Still Your Friend
Le Studio at Theâtre Cercle Molière (Venue 20), to July 27
'Rumours of my death have been wildly exaggerated … by me,' says Adam Bailey at the top of his latest hour of well-woven storytelling at the fringe. Since his first solo show (Adam Bailey is on Fire) in 2015, the Toronto performer, who was raised against his will in Belleville, Ont., has alternated between deeply personal tales of coming of age as the gay son of an evangelical minister and richly detailed histories of notable figures both well-known (Henri Rousseau) and obscure (19th-century suffragette Victoria Woodhull).
In My Three Deaths, Bailey returns to the character he knows best. The result? A well-composed, smartly lit and intermittently moving story about losing and becoming lost after the blackout.
⭐⭐⭐ ½
— Ben Waldman
CONTROL
Jurasco
Le Studio at Theâtre Cercle Molière (Venue 20), to July 27
When Wayne James was 16 years old, he declared at the dinner table that nothing surprised him anymore. Raised on a farm in Lydiatt, in the R.M. of Brokenhead, James saw by 1966 that while his world revolved around the sun, the moon, the water and the soil, the rest of society instead sought to strike paydirt.
Throughout this civic-minded, hour-long treatise on chemical warfare, inherited wealth, corn silage and intergenerational responsibility, this hippie Sam Elliott gets on the audience's level, frequently proving his teenage self wrong by making unpredictable choices.
'In show business, this is what we call a change of pace,' he says before plucking an original folk tune in the vein of Pete Seeger. A similar warning might have been recommended before James is cast in a red light to recite a version of Chief Seattle's 1854 address to 'the Great White Chief in Washington.'
⭐⭐ ½
— Ben Waldman
EMERGENCY OPS
Illustrium Creations
RRC Polytech (Venue 11), to July 26
This 45-minute one-man workplace comedy about institutional incompetence in the civil service will surely resonate with anyone who's quietly fumed as supervisors make bad decisions, suck up to management or scream at subordinates.
Local playwright/performer Hayden Maines dons a rainbow of different coloured safety vests to play five members of an Emergency Operations Centre team dealing with a train derailment.
Maines has nailed the office archetypes — including Jamie, the new operations chief whom no one has time to train and Kelly, the reluctant HR person-turned-logistics chief who can't handle pressure — and he's an appealing actor. However, the writing here needs to be much sharper and tighter (there's a lot of filler dialogue and unnecessary yelling), with more care taken to delineate the characters.
While the pace is manic, the potential for madcap farce isn't quite attained. It's far from a disaster, though; with some tweaking, it could get the job done.
⭐⭐ ½
— Jill Wilson
HOOP AND HAT: VAUDEVILLE SHOWDOWN
Hoop and Hat
John Hirsch Mainstage (Venue 1), to July 26
Winnipeg acrobats Chris Without the Hat and Carla Cerceau are apparently more accustomed to working outside as street performers, where the spectacle of, say, Chris juggling machetes feels a little more immediate and dangerous.
Deprived of that direct contact with the audience in the hardtop venue of RMTC, the pair contrive to deliver something like a plot, playing the two vaudeville performers drawn into a competition to see whose act is more dangerous.
'Contrive' is the operative word here. Both performers have talents in their fields, Chris as a juggler/magician and Cerceau as an aerialist, performing a perilous routine from a hoop dangling a few metres above the stage.
But attempts to flesh out the proceedings just seem random, including Chris singing the song Mr. Cellophane from the musical Chicago, expressing a sentiment that should feel alien to any self-respecting vaudevillian.
The promised hour-long run was closer to 45 minutes.
⭐⭐ ½
— Randall King
AN IMPROVISED JOHN HUGHES MOVIE
Tectonic Improv
Centre culturel franco-manitobain (Venue 4), to July 27
The goal of newly formed improv troupe Tectonic's first fringe offering is to pay entertaining homage to the lasting style of John Hughes, the director of such classic fare as Uncle Buck and The Breakfast Club. But while the local performers — Kristen Einarson, Dewey Parker, Kim Laberinto and Scott Angus — are likeably silly and committed as improv artists, it was clear on opening night that this hour-long feature could stand to refer more directly to its sources: a deeper development of archetypes, a greater sense of geography and a few choice props would work wonders.
The pieces, suggested by an audience member, were all there for a lively coming-of-age tale: a naive teenage girl who's never been on an airplane headed to a friend's wedding in Wales. There are cheesy, sappy and snappy beats to keep in any Hughesian tale and Tectonic struggled to keep the rhythm, especially when overloud, obtrusive '80s music was piped in sporadically.
Still, the audience laughed loudly and often, pleased by the wacky performance if not by the adherence to the form mastered by the great cinematic poet of suburban Chicago. Hughes got better with time: one assumes the same will be true from show to show for Tectonic.
⭐⭐ ½
— Ben Waldman
LIFE, LOVE, AND LACK THEREOF
Hiljames movement
Asper Centre for Theatre and Film (Venue 10), to July 25
Winnipeg's Hilary James, Brooke Hess, Emma Beech and Naomi Wiebe peel back the existential layers of the human condition with all its foibles and frailties in this 60-minute (billed as 75) contemporary dance show featuring three solo world premières.
These Things Take Time begins with choreographer Hess preparing a meal in a steaming rice cooker as an ode to mundane routines of day-to-day life.
Note, created by Beech and Wiebe, features the latter performing angular, highly gestural movement vocabulary as she explores connection through repetitive motion.
However in the abstract program's strongest offering, Solitude Salsa, show producer/choreographer James truly dances like no one's watching during her kaleidoscopic mash-up of styles that further showcases her versatile artistry. It's impossible to take your eyes off her as she wrestles with the gnawing ache of loneliness and its flipside, freedom, her final expansive leaps and spins across the stage ringing as true as a late-night phone call from a desperate, yearning soul.
⭐⭐⭐ ½
— Holly Harris
NO DIE!
Fedor Comedy
Pyramid Cabaret (Venue 15), to July 26
Written and performed by Dutch comedian Fedor Ikelaar, this hour-long standup/storytelling show is a madcap travelogue detailing his hilarious (and harrowing) misadventures in Sierra Leone and Thailand. You know what they say: what doesn't kill you makes you funnier.
Ikelaar is a bit slow to get going (there's quite a bit of filler in the beginning), but once he does, he's on fire. The Sierra Leone story is so full of twists and turns and mistaken identity — and so well written and well told — that it could likely hold this show on its own; the story from Thailand that gives the show its title isn't quite ready for prime time. Still, Ikelaar is a likable stage presence and knows how to spin a yarn. With some editing and a tighter ending, No Die! could really kill.
⭐⭐⭐
— Jen Zoratti
PLAN V: THE RISE OF REVERENCE
Dance Naked Creative
Asper Centre for Theatre & Film (Venue 10), to July 27
What's soft, pink and shimmers in the light? Mama V (Eleanor O'Brien) at her latest Plan V meeting, focusing on the celebration and power of the canal we all came from. Clad in a hot-pink, bedazzled velour track suit, the Portland, Ore.-based actor reflects on the #MeToo movement, the reversal of Roe v. Wade and historical shame surrounding women's sexual satisfaction — calling on attendees to 'come together,' listen to their inner goddesses and reclaim their power through pleasure.
The 60-minute sermon-style delivery is reminiscent of church (including some moments where one looks at one's watch). Amid the heavy topics, the sex-positive comedy is filled with witty dialogue and complemented with pre-recorded video featuring other meeting attendees (brilliantly played by O'Brien) on 'Zype.'
Plan V brings levity and humour to the timely issue of bodily autonomy and is unapologetically feminist. It's brazen and bold with room for laughter, reflection and rebellion, although its message may resonate more deeply with audiences in need of reminders about self-empowerment. Despite its slower start, Plan V leaves you wishing this was your high school sex education class experience.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
— Nadya Pankiw
THE ROYAL SPEAKEASY
All About Theatre Adults
Pyramid Cabaret (Venue 15), to July 26
While there's certainly talent to be found in Winnipeg's All About Theatre crew, this 60-minute cabaret-comedy about the goings-on at a Prohibition-era speakeasy never rises to their level.
It starts with a bang. Molly Helmer's sultry, operatic version of Florence Desmond's wistful 1933 song Cigarettes, Cigars as club performer Rose is absolutely stunning. Anika Price, playing club owner Flo, also turns in a pair of showstoppers in the form of jazz-inspired covers of Britney Spears' Toxic and Tove Lo's Habits (Stay High).
But an incoherent plot with too many characters sucks the life out of this show. The vocal performances are often too quiet (likely a venue issue, not a capability issue) and the choreography is frequently lacklustre. Remembering the steps is important, but the backup dancers need to remember their faces: some of them look as if they are being forced to perform at gunpoint.
⭐⭐
— Jen Zoratti
TOMATOES TRIED TO KILL ME BUT BANJOS SAVED MY LIFE
Quivering Dendrites
PTE — Colin Jackson Studio (Venue 17), to July 20
Keith Alessi returns for his third run at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival, following successful, mostly sold-out runs in 2019 and 2022.
It's the same show he's brought twice before and it's just as endearing and funny (and banjo-filled) as previous appearances. In the hour-long performance, the Virginia-based Alessi, onstage with a bowl of fake tomatoes and four banjos, details the way he went from a successful CEO to pursuing his love of the banjo before an esophageal cancer diagnosis (from eating too many tomatoes as the child of Italians) and a seven-hour surgery, which changed his take on life.
Alessi recounts his journey through cancer (and learning the banjo) with humility, endearingly corny humour and a whole lot of pickin'. His competent banjo playing comes through crisp and clear, but his voice suffered slightly on opening night from a slightly muddy, too-low vocal mix. Still, the sincerity and charm of his moving story roused the sold-out crowd to a standing ovation by show's end.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
— Ben Sigurdson
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Winnipeg Free Press
20-07-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
Fringe reviews #14: The actors identify you as the playwright after the show
THE MAN WHO COULDN'T DIE Saucy Gal Productions Planetarium (Venue 9), to Sunday ⭐⭐⭐ ½ Just like us, and just like her father, Leigh-Anne Kehler was born into an imperfect body, but the Winnipeg storyteller uses every page of this 45-minute medical history to heal the fractures of repetitive trauma. What begins as a play-by-play of her dad's ongoing tug-of-war with the afterlife becomes the performer's meditation on her own impermanence. Well-layered and engaging, Kehler's story is told with considerable empathy and a refreshing paucity of shame, shading in the contours of invisible disabilities to encourage understanding. Affected for over a decade by a rare brainstem disorder that flares up in unpredictable and debilitating fashion, Kehler reflects on her own perseverance while examining religion, science and the inconsiderate fate of epigenetics. — Ben Waldman BUGJUICE: A BEETLEJUICE PARODY Meraki Theatre CCFM — Antoine Garborieau Hall (Venue 19) to Sunday ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Performed by three rotating 12-member teenage casts, this 50-minute musical was created by co-directors Taylor Gregory and Kennedy Huckerby as a vehicle for students of Winnipeg's Meraki Theatre school. Inspired by both the 1988 movie and 2019 Broadway musical ('minus the adult jokes' stresses Huckerby), the show is lively and zany, with fun local references such as Ms. Fringe (Madelin Somers), a ghost who sings sadly about missing her times onstage at the Winnipeg fringe while alive. The song was written by Meraki's student music director Micah Buenafe. July 18 performer kudos go to Calum Goetzke, 15, who channelled Michael Keaton's craziness as Beetlejuice/Bugjuice so well it was spooky. There are typical student productions issues: some players are far stronger than others, and some are running out of voice by the end. The show is further hampered by a venue and stage that's simply too small for the production, with poor sightlines owing to the seating style. But none of that should scare you away. – Janice Sawka CLIQYOU Here's Hoping Theatre Co. MTYP — Mainstage (Venue 21), to Sunday ⭐⭐⭐ ½ Tension … and anticipation … are currently typing in local playwright Maia Woods' CliqYou, a paean to the supportive, anxiety-inducing and frequently antagonistic universe of the long-distance groupchat. After bonding two years earlier via an online role-playing game, seven perfectly likable friends (Katie Welham, Lainey Grueneklee, Reynaldo Gomez, Mike Swain, Sid Fiola, Brandon Case and Woods) who've never met in person approach a tipping point, questioning what — aside from routine, guilt, GIFs and would-you-rathers — is holding them together. Directed by Anika Binding, CliqYou is a cautionary tale of FOMO, selective friendship and the fraught nature of digital togetherness. 'Is it self-reflection time?' one character asks. Isn't it always when the GC is ready to read you for filth and keep your ego in check? — Ben Waldman GENDER PLAY, OR WHAT YOU WILL Will Wilhelm and Brandon Bowers Tom Hendry Warehouse (Venue 6), to Sunday ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The runtime is accurate, but don't think of this show as 105 minutes long. It's about 35 minutes short, in this reviewer's opinion. You could listen to the marvellous Chicagoan Will Wilhelm recite the Bard for days. The premise: Shakespeare messed with the roles and labels and allowed his era and ours to see past the duty and the doldrums and walls and barriers and chains that were so much a part of Elizabethan times and our own. So we are all invited to explore gender in real time, including the lucky patron who gets to spend time on stage with this blazing, joyful soul. So much of the best work this year has been from queer artists reclaiming ancestors from dominant and false histories that hide their full personhood and glory. No mic, no great panoply. A trained voice, a dagger-sharp wit, the vulnerability of Hamlet, the reformed wisdom of young Henry, Lady Macbeth and of course, Romeo and Juliet. For the cost of a cocktail, you can open a trunk full of treats: full of gasps, tears, guffaws, all revealed in an atmosphere of lightness and love. Unmissable! — Lara Rae THE GET LAID* SHOW (*OR A DATE? DEFINITELY A HIGH FIVE.) TheOtherVNameProductions Duke of Kent Legion (Venue 13), to Sunday ⭐⭐⭐ Veronica Ternopolski wants people to connect. She wants people to have interesting conversations. She wants people to date. She wants people to get laid. And if she can't, she'll settle for a round of high-fives. The local performer, who goes by V, is an energetic bundle of positivity who longs for the good old days of face-to-face communication and wants people to follow the four rules of good relationships: participation, risk, vulnerability and honesty. During the 60-minute interactive show, she invites audience members to follow those guidelines while offloading their emotional baggage, talking about their worst rejections and disclosing a series of personal beliefs via a show of hands. She opens up about her past using numbered eggs to recall good and bad long- and short-term relationships. V takes a poll of available singles, so there is a chance of meeting someone new. But if not, audience members are guaranteed at least one high five. With consent, of course. — Rob Williams IMPROVISION: ANTI PASTA ImproVision Duke of Kent Legion (Venue 13), to Sunday ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ImproVision's Alan MacKenzie and George McRobb are local short-form improv veterans who can always be counted on by comedy fans looking to fill their laughs-per-minute quota, and this year's offering is no exception, judging by Saturday's fast-paced 50-minute set. The duo plays a variety of improv games and uses suggestions from the audience to incorporate into scenes. The pair knows how to wrap segments up quickly and never let things drag on too long, whether they are acting out a man's day using puppets, reading an audience member's phone texts to create a new scenario or having the crowd 'direct' a scene by calling for an increase of various emotions, leading to what could be the first instance anywhere of people randomly shouting, 'More ennui!' And, if you somehow aren't having a good time, the legion's bar stays open during the show. — Rob Williams SEANCE SISTERS Wickert & Arbogast Son of Warehouse (Venue 5), to Sunday ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Try these mediums on for size. Spirited into Winnipeg from Minneapolis, the Seance Sisters are Sara Miller, Anya Naylor and Vivian Kampschroer. This trio summons the ghosts of the real-life Fox sisters, who astonished 19th-century audiences by purportedly communicating with the dead during nationwide spiritualist roadshows. Even sceptics stand to be converted into believers in one hour by this trio, whose dictions and physicalities are always precise, calculated and co-ordinated, just as any classic hoax should be. Eerie sound, set and lighting design enable this production to float like a coffee table, giving the Son of Warehouse the feel of an ectoplasmic revival at Winnipeg's historically haunted Hamilton House. – Ben Waldman THIRD PARTY Brighter Dark Theatre MTYP — Mainstage (Venue 21), to Sunday ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ½ Brett and Julie (Alanna McPherson and Dane Bjornson, both terrific), whose two-year-old relationship is already cracking under the pressure of cohabitation, confronts its most stressful episode yet: an intense collision with Marty Fink (Thomas McLeod), an intrusive investigator from Manitoba Public Insurance. In the playwright McLeod's followup to last year's lauded House of Gold, he reunites with director Teresa Thomson for a 45-minute phone call that gives its talented cast every opportunity to get their story straight after a roundabout crash. McLeod's wisest move as a writer is to keep the conversation mostly confined to telephone lines, loading each of Julie and Brett's responses with duplicitous winks of dishonesty and misdirection — of each other, of themselves, and of course, of the fanny-packed Fink, whose commitment to the Crown corporation as he paces through the theatre spills into insanity. 'I go the extra mile,' he says in this new work, which, with a less abrupt ending, could easily find a home on any of the city's major professional stages. — Ben Waldman
Winnipeg Free Press
20-07-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
Fringe reviews #11: Your only way out is through the lighting booth
100% UNTRUEBADOUR Paul Strickland Presents RRC Polytech (Venue 11) to Sunday ⭐⭐⭐⭐ It sounds like the setup for a bad joke: a guy from Kentucky walks into a college classroom singing silly songs… But in the case of fringe favourite Paul Strickland, it's more like a guy strumming an acoustic guitar while surrounded by old friends. The storytelling songster has a wonderful rapport with his audience. Maybe it was his praise for the Winnipeg fringe scene ('It's very special here') or his self-deprecating humour, but the sedate, mostly middle-aged crowd at Friday's afternoon performance adored it. The songs are hit-and-miss, but what's most impressive is how Strickland can go from surreal to sentimental, and make it all work ('My Dad turned into a pile of wool. Mama sewed him into a sweater … Whenever I wore it, it felt like a big hug.') His longtime director Erika MacDonald also joins him onstage in character as a surprise guest. A relaxing respite from some of the fringe craziness. — Janice Sawka BEST FRIENDS FOREVER B12 Theatre Productions CCFM — Antoine Garborieau Hall (Venue 19), to Sunday ⭐⭐⭐½ Kaycee is a heavyset woman, unhappy with her body and her life, failing her university classes and going downhill fast. Ally is her dependable, goofy galpal since childhood. And Dee is younger, slimmer, cuter, but strangely driven to make friends, even if by forcing herself into someone's life. Winnipeg writer/director Kennedy Huckerby created this dramedy out of her background in mental health support and a desire to showcase stories of female friendship. All actors give commendable performances: Elena Modrzejewski (Kaycee) has the standout scene of the play, as she cries over her dying grandfather's bedside, but needs to project more in other scenes. Avery Mittermayr (Ally) is just plain fun. Maija Buduhan (Dee) is appropriately enigmatic. David Lange ably contributes a variety of male supporting roles. The 60-minute run time forces Kaycee's crisis to escalate unnaturally quickly, and the final explanation of Dee's hold over her, while unexpected and clever, is resolved too easily. Definitely geared towards women, but with valuable lessons for all regarding toxic friendships. — Janice Sawka CACTUS Cactus Theatre Tom Hendry Warehouse (Venue 6) to Sunday ⭐⭐⭐ The local Cactus Theatre was formed to present the late Manitoba playwright Daniel Gilmour's dark comedy Cactus. At 60 minutes, it is perhaps a touch too long, since it seems scattered at first, but the play soon shapes itself into a funny and moving piece about confronting death and subsequent grief. Tom is visited by the angel of death. He is there to guide Tom through his life's episodes — A Christmas Carol and It's A Wonderful Life are noted comically — before his demise. There is a lesson to be learned but it isn't what one expects. Tom faces his grief in a gut-wrenching way that makes you gasp at the work's theatrical daring. Gilmour avoids sentimentality with intelligence, while his humanity shines through the sometimes messy structure. The production balances the play's comic and dramatic intentions well. It honours Gilmour, whose death at age 38 in 2023 was a loss to the local playwriting community. — Rory Runnells DAREDEVILS Corael Productions MTC Up the Alley (Venue 2), to Saturday ⭐⭐⭐ ½ The names of daredevils Charles Blondin and Maria Spelterini may not resonate much today, but they were once called out by roaring crowds as they stepped into some of the most treacherous tightrope stunts of the 19th century. Winnipeg playwright Ellen Peterson's comedy imagines them as frenemies in Niagara Falls, where they are attempting to traverse its river gorge. Blondin is Spelterini's teacher and would-be lover, though the student appears to be overtaking the master, much to his chagrin. Nearly every line of dialogue seems dedicated to driving home Blondin's flamboyance and chauvinism — part Inigo Montoya, more Pepe Le Pew — and the younger Spelterini's pluck and intrepidness. This becomes repetitive. Nevertheless, the actors make solid use of the material and there's real craft elsewhere in Peterson's script. The language, by turns bawdy and highfalutin', is a lot of fun. Moments of vulnerability by Blondin in the play's conclusion add a welcome sense of discovery and dramatic depth. — Conrad Sweatman THE GALLERY WALL Evens and Odds Son of Warehouse (Venue 5), to Saturday ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ½ A painter and an aspiring journalist meet and, almost by chance, begin to open up about the past experiences that have shaped who they are today. What each of them learns from each other, and about themselves, propels a deeply engrossing, character-driven theatrical treat. The script for this 60-minute dramedy is a star in its own right. The dialogue is natural and fast-paced, driving meaningful character growth through a combination of sassy banter and reflective musings. The tone shifts effortlessly between humour, tenderness and tension that drives real depth. Ella Cole and Kirstin Caguioa deliver exceptional performances — you can feel the chemistry between them, and both bring relatable charm to their characters. It's easy to sympathize as they struggle to navigate the uncertainty in their futures. There are a few areas where the narrative wanders slightly, but this performance ultimately delivers a strong, character-driven experience. — Matt Schaubroeck RIOT! Monster Theatre King's Head Pub (Venue 14), to Sunday ⭐⭐⭐ ½ It's 1849 in New York City. The streets smell of urine and class tensions are mounting. In steps the thespian Macready, the toast of the elite, to perform at the exclusive Astor Place. Conflict with his rival Forrest, a working-class theatre hero, help to spark a bloody theatre riot. Vancouver-based brothers Jeff and Ryan Gladstone's retell this history as a rapid-fire one-hour comedy. They swap characters, accents and insults with brilliant skill. It's little wonder this touring show has been a hit in so many other cities. The Gladstones tell us that they hope their show will help the politically unaligned better come to understand the value of dialogue. This is nice, but caricatures of 19th-century WASPs and theatre culture have very little to do with today's political polarization. More importantly, they don't seem particularly daring either — for all its F-sharps, the comedy feels a little low-stakes to crackle. — Conrad Sweatman THE SHOW MUST GO ON! Mad Tom Theatre Company Théâtre Cercle Molière (Venue 3), to Sunday ⭐⭐⭐ In the theatre world, the 'curse of Macbeth' has it that if actors say the very name of Shakespeare's famous tragedy, they'll invite toil and trouble. This local 75-minute comedy (not 90) written and produced by young local actors imagines this curse befalling a high school theatre production. It often feels like an affectionate send-up of theatre kids. Woe to the teen today who posts an overly earnest skit online and finds himself trolled by legions of edge-lords in the comments. One character in Show seems to embody this comment section: he calls everyone 'gay' and — we hesitate to say — gets some of the show's funniest lines. Show makes the mistake of having him succumb to the curse too quickly, because the show's best stuff is the repartee between opposing types rather than the wilfully ludicrous plot. But there's no point scrutinizing things too closely. It has the novice feel of a show by kids fresh out of high school, but also it has an infectious energy. It's a bit long, but it's fun. — Conrad Sweatman STORIES I WON'T TELL THE KIDS / DES HISTOIRES (PAS) POUR LES ENFANTS TiBert inc. Le Studio at Théâtre Cercle Molière (Venue 20), to Sunday ⭐⭐ ½ Rob Malo has made a name for himself through a long career as a storyteller and children's entertainer. This 50-minute series of stories, targeted towards a more mature audience, tries to welcome in a new demographic for the longtime entertainer. Unfortunately, the cohesion of the show falls a little flat. There is definitely some adult content at the show — too risky, apparently, for even ChatGPT — and does earn some genuine laughs. But Malo also spends a significant amount of time of his stage time on a kid-friendly historical tale that, while interesting, does not thematically match the rest of the more risqué humour. Malo is a passionate and polished raconteur, and each of tales would likely have a rapt audience at any bar table or kitchen party. As a stage performance, this one is still falling a little flat. While most upcoming shows are in English, Thursday's performance will be en français. — Matt Schaubroeck WHERE DOES BOB BELONG ? Super Duper Productions Centre culturel franco-manitobain (Venue 4), to Sunday ⭐⭐ ½ In this quirky 45-minute show (not 60 as listed), Toronto-based red nosed clown Christopher Bugg presents the story of a clown and his life-size puppet friend/lover Bob. The best of the show is Bugg bringing Bob to some kind of life. Romance, longing and uffering follow as the two go through a chaotic relationship. The worst is when the clown indulges in a frenetic unconvincing bit involving genitalia props. In some way, which seems unclear, this tiresome vulgarity has to do with Bob. There is, finally, a Bugg-Bob reconciliation and a satisfying happy ending. The rake-thin performer has impressive control of his body, which he subjects to harsh treatment with many — perhaps too many — props. Bugg appeals to the audience, as clowns will, but it only stalls the action, rather than enhancing it. Maybe even 45 minutes is too long for the material Bugg offers. — Rory Runnells WHEREVER YOU MAY BE Reis' Pieces Theatre Co. Théâtre Cercle Molière (Venue 3), to Sunday Weekday Evenings Today's must-read stories and a roundup of the day's headlines, delivered every evening. ⭐⭐ ½ Hilde is the spunkiest resident in her personal care home. She came to Canada as a Ukrainian refugee and raised a family. Now she's an old wit with a bone to pick with her pious, nosy neighbour. She likes beer, salty foods and reviewing mistakes in the newspaper. A natural protagonist of a fringe show, then. Wherever You May Be is essentially community theatre. It deals with Mennonite community themes, and its sizable cast will probably continue to draw a big crowd of friends, family and fans. Erin Essery is strong as Hilde, but big amateur casts tend to have weak points (and, in this case, some weak characters). Wherever You May Be is a cosy play in search of a dramatic conflict. It flirts with punchy premises — populist Mennonite anger about 'elites' and taxes; religious tensions; memories of Soviet persecution — but these are carted off or resolved almost as quickly as they're introduced. The cast can sing though. More of this, please. — Conrad Sweatman
Winnipeg Free Press
17-07-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
Fringe reviews #2: Your destiny awaits in a warehouse basement
ADAM BAILEY: MY THREE DEATHS Still Your Friend Le Studio at Theâtre Cercle Molière (Venue 20), to July 27 'Rumours of my death have been wildly exaggerated … by me,' says Adam Bailey at the top of his latest hour of well-woven storytelling at the fringe. Since his first solo show (Adam Bailey is on Fire) in 2015, the Toronto performer, who was raised against his will in Belleville, Ont., has alternated between deeply personal tales of coming of age as the gay son of an evangelical minister and richly detailed histories of notable figures both well-known (Henri Rousseau) and obscure (19th-century suffragette Victoria Woodhull). In My Three Deaths, Bailey returns to the character he knows best. The result? A well-composed, smartly lit and intermittently moving story about losing and becoming lost after the blackout. ⭐⭐⭐ ½ — Ben Waldman CONTROL Jurasco Le Studio at Theâtre Cercle Molière (Venue 20), to July 27 When Wayne James was 16 years old, he declared at the dinner table that nothing surprised him anymore. Raised on a farm in Lydiatt, in the R.M. of Brokenhead, James saw by 1966 that while his world revolved around the sun, the moon, the water and the soil, the rest of society instead sought to strike paydirt. Throughout this civic-minded, hour-long treatise on chemical warfare, inherited wealth, corn silage and intergenerational responsibility, this hippie Sam Elliott gets on the audience's level, frequently proving his teenage self wrong by making unpredictable choices. 'In show business, this is what we call a change of pace,' he says before plucking an original folk tune in the vein of Pete Seeger. A similar warning might have been recommended before James is cast in a red light to recite a version of Chief Seattle's 1854 address to 'the Great White Chief in Washington.' ⭐⭐ ½ — Ben Waldman EMERGENCY OPS Illustrium Creations RRC Polytech (Venue 11), to July 26 This 45-minute one-man workplace comedy about institutional incompetence in the civil service will surely resonate with anyone who's quietly fumed as supervisors make bad decisions, suck up to management or scream at subordinates. Local playwright/performer Hayden Maines dons a rainbow of different coloured safety vests to play five members of an Emergency Operations Centre team dealing with a train derailment. Maines has nailed the office archetypes — including Jamie, the new operations chief whom no one has time to train and Kelly, the reluctant HR person-turned-logistics chief who can't handle pressure — and he's an appealing actor. However, the writing here needs to be much sharper and tighter (there's a lot of filler dialogue and unnecessary yelling), with more care taken to delineate the characters. While the pace is manic, the potential for madcap farce isn't quite attained. It's far from a disaster, though; with some tweaking, it could get the job done. ⭐⭐ ½ — Jill Wilson HOOP AND HAT: VAUDEVILLE SHOWDOWN Hoop and Hat John Hirsch Mainstage (Venue 1), to July 26 Winnipeg acrobats Chris Without the Hat and Carla Cerceau are apparently more accustomed to working outside as street performers, where the spectacle of, say, Chris juggling machetes feels a little more immediate and dangerous. Deprived of that direct contact with the audience in the hardtop venue of RMTC, the pair contrive to deliver something like a plot, playing the two vaudeville performers drawn into a competition to see whose act is more dangerous. 'Contrive' is the operative word here. Both performers have talents in their fields, Chris as a juggler/magician and Cerceau as an aerialist, performing a perilous routine from a hoop dangling a few metres above the stage. But attempts to flesh out the proceedings just seem random, including Chris singing the song Mr. Cellophane from the musical Chicago, expressing a sentiment that should feel alien to any self-respecting vaudevillian. The promised hour-long run was closer to 45 minutes. ⭐⭐ ½ — Randall King AN IMPROVISED JOHN HUGHES MOVIE Tectonic Improv Centre culturel franco-manitobain (Venue 4), to July 27 The goal of newly formed improv troupe Tectonic's first fringe offering is to pay entertaining homage to the lasting style of John Hughes, the director of such classic fare as Uncle Buck and The Breakfast Club. But while the local performers — Kristen Einarson, Dewey Parker, Kim Laberinto and Scott Angus — are likeably silly and committed as improv artists, it was clear on opening night that this hour-long feature could stand to refer more directly to its sources: a deeper development of archetypes, a greater sense of geography and a few choice props would work wonders. The pieces, suggested by an audience member, were all there for a lively coming-of-age tale: a naive teenage girl who's never been on an airplane headed to a friend's wedding in Wales. There are cheesy, sappy and snappy beats to keep in any Hughesian tale and Tectonic struggled to keep the rhythm, especially when overloud, obtrusive '80s music was piped in sporadically. Still, the audience laughed loudly and often, pleased by the wacky performance if not by the adherence to the form mastered by the great cinematic poet of suburban Chicago. Hughes got better with time: one assumes the same will be true from show to show for Tectonic. ⭐⭐ ½ — Ben Waldman LIFE, LOVE, AND LACK THEREOF Hiljames movement Asper Centre for Theatre and Film (Venue 10), to July 25 Winnipeg's Hilary James, Brooke Hess, Emma Beech and Naomi Wiebe peel back the existential layers of the human condition with all its foibles and frailties in this 60-minute (billed as 75) contemporary dance show featuring three solo world premières. These Things Take Time begins with choreographer Hess preparing a meal in a steaming rice cooker as an ode to mundane routines of day-to-day life. Note, created by Beech and Wiebe, features the latter performing angular, highly gestural movement vocabulary as she explores connection through repetitive motion. However in the abstract program's strongest offering, Solitude Salsa, show producer/choreographer James truly dances like no one's watching during her kaleidoscopic mash-up of styles that further showcases her versatile artistry. It's impossible to take your eyes off her as she wrestles with the gnawing ache of loneliness and its flipside, freedom, her final expansive leaps and spins across the stage ringing as true as a late-night phone call from a desperate, yearning soul. ⭐⭐⭐ ½ — Holly Harris NO DIE! Fedor Comedy Pyramid Cabaret (Venue 15), to July 26 Written and performed by Dutch comedian Fedor Ikelaar, this hour-long standup/storytelling show is a madcap travelogue detailing his hilarious (and harrowing) misadventures in Sierra Leone and Thailand. You know what they say: what doesn't kill you makes you funnier. Ikelaar is a bit slow to get going (there's quite a bit of filler in the beginning), but once he does, he's on fire. The Sierra Leone story is so full of twists and turns and mistaken identity — and so well written and well told — that it could likely hold this show on its own; the story from Thailand that gives the show its title isn't quite ready for prime time. Still, Ikelaar is a likable stage presence and knows how to spin a yarn. With some editing and a tighter ending, No Die! could really kill. ⭐⭐⭐ — Jen Zoratti PLAN V: THE RISE OF REVERENCE Dance Naked Creative Asper Centre for Theatre & Film (Venue 10), to July 27 What's soft, pink and shimmers in the light? Mama V (Eleanor O'Brien) at her latest Plan V meeting, focusing on the celebration and power of the canal we all came from. Clad in a hot-pink, bedazzled velour track suit, the Portland, Ore.-based actor reflects on the #MeToo movement, the reversal of Roe v. Wade and historical shame surrounding women's sexual satisfaction — calling on attendees to 'come together,' listen to their inner goddesses and reclaim their power through pleasure. The 60-minute sermon-style delivery is reminiscent of church (including some moments where one looks at one's watch). Amid the heavy topics, the sex-positive comedy is filled with witty dialogue and complemented with pre-recorded video featuring other meeting attendees (brilliantly played by O'Brien) on 'Zype.' Plan V brings levity and humour to the timely issue of bodily autonomy and is unapologetically feminist. It's brazen and bold with room for laughter, reflection and rebellion, although its message may resonate more deeply with audiences in need of reminders about self-empowerment. Despite its slower start, Plan V leaves you wishing this was your high school sex education class experience. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ — Nadya Pankiw THE ROYAL SPEAKEASY All About Theatre Adults Pyramid Cabaret (Venue 15), to July 26 While there's certainly talent to be found in Winnipeg's All About Theatre crew, this 60-minute cabaret-comedy about the goings-on at a Prohibition-era speakeasy never rises to their level. It starts with a bang. Molly Helmer's sultry, operatic version of Florence Desmond's wistful 1933 song Cigarettes, Cigars as club performer Rose is absolutely stunning. Anika Price, playing club owner Flo, also turns in a pair of showstoppers in the form of jazz-inspired covers of Britney Spears' Toxic and Tove Lo's Habits (Stay High). But an incoherent plot with too many characters sucks the life out of this show. The vocal performances are often too quiet (likely a venue issue, not a capability issue) and the choreography is frequently lacklustre. Remembering the steps is important, but the backup dancers need to remember their faces: some of them look as if they are being forced to perform at gunpoint. ⭐⭐ — Jen Zoratti TOMATOES TRIED TO KILL ME BUT BANJOS SAVED MY LIFE Quivering Dendrites PTE — Colin Jackson Studio (Venue 17), to July 20 Keith Alessi returns for his third run at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival, following successful, mostly sold-out runs in 2019 and 2022. It's the same show he's brought twice before and it's just as endearing and funny (and banjo-filled) as previous appearances. In the hour-long performance, the Virginia-based Alessi, onstage with a bowl of fake tomatoes and four banjos, details the way he went from a successful CEO to pursuing his love of the banjo before an esophageal cancer diagnosis (from eating too many tomatoes as the child of Italians) and a seven-hour surgery, which changed his take on life. Alessi recounts his journey through cancer (and learning the banjo) with humility, endearingly corny humour and a whole lot of pickin'. His competent banjo playing comes through crisp and clear, but his voice suffered slightly on opening night from a slightly muddy, too-low vocal mix. Still, the sincerity and charm of his moving story roused the sold-out crowd to a standing ovation by show's end. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ — Ben Sigurdson
