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Winnipeg Free Press

Fringe reviews #7: You misread the venue number. The door locks behind you.

THE BEST (?) NON-DENOMINATIONAL HOLIDAY CONCERT EVER! Rem Lezar Theatre Tom Hendry Warehouse (Venue 6), to Saturday, July 26 ⭐⭐⭐ ½ A well-rehearsed kid-friendly gem that gently pokes fun at the current predilection to rebrand Christmas with terms that don't necessarily mean anything. While the subject matter may seem odd at this time of year — Christmas in July, anyone? — at heart this is an hour-long ode to the teaching profession, and the teachers who take on the thankless task of corralling sometimes recalcitrant kids and engaging them long enough to put on performance for their families. It's a shrewd act, this: putting on a play about the trials of putting on a play — and the resulting shambolic affair — at fringe. Is the audience witnessing an actual disaster of a show or are we watching a comedy of errors played with aplomb by the cast of seven who tackle their parts with gusto? With plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, and a soft centre espousing the values of the holiday season, here's a show that lives up to its name. — AV Kitching CONTROL: A PSYCHOLOGICAL MAGIC SHOW Gregoire Entertainment CCFM — Antoine Garborieau Hall (Venue 19), to Sunday, July 27 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ½ The audience arrives to a purple-lit screen, displaying a selection of sinister verse: 'Eyes Wide open/But they're not Yours/Walking paths through Unseen Doors.' Winnipeg magician and mentalist Patrick Gregoire strolls onstage with a wry, confident grin as he surveys his victims — er, audience — and asks the crowd how many believe they're in control of their thoughts. As many hands raise, he murmurs, 'Oh, that's cute.' What follows is a string of perplexing but entertaining tricks: holding up a magazine so the audience can see the words on the page, but the onstage volunteer sees something different; compelling spectators to see a randomly selected playing card in an old photograph; and hear specific names in backwards recordings made live onstage. While similar tricks can be seen in any mind-reading show, Gregoire's rapport and fun/sinister vibe truly elevates this example of the genre. — Janice Sawka EMIL AMOK, 69: EVERYTHING'S FLIPPED Emil Amok Guillermo MTC Up the Alley (Venue 2), to Sunday, July 27 ⭐⭐⭐ ½ We're living in a topsy-turvy time, that's for sure. In his Winnipeg fringe debut, Filipino-American journalist Emil Amok Guillermo, a former host of NPR's All Things Considered, unleashes a stream of consciousness about current events, personal history and … laugh yoga? The top of the hour is frantic. The cheesy localized jokes (poutine-based and otherwise) don't always land, and the frenetic delivery of the day's headlines (the Epstein files) is hard to follow — although perhaps a good analogy for the chaotic daily U.S. news cycle under the Trump administration. The one-man show works best when the host settles into a quieter rhythm of personal storytelling. By invoking the ghosts of his immigrant parents and sharing about his transgender daughter, Amok underscores what it's like to live in the crosshairs of American politics, past and present. There are smart, discomforting punchlines throughout, but the ending feels forced. Literally. — Eva Wasney THE FUNNY THING ABOUT MEN Olive Productions Rachel Browne Theatre (Venue 8), to Saturday, July 26 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ½ British-born Mandy Williams loves her husband — even though sometimes he really gets on her nerves. Deploying a healthy dose of witty sarcasm and knowing glances, Williams explores a list of topics including household chores, mental loads and relationship dynamics in this 50-minute musical comedy. The emphasis is on the musical side, with a raft of catchy songs that pack a punch, musically and message-wise — think Glennon Doyle with a ukulele. Standout singles like Things I Know Against My Will earned a healthy dose of laughs, mostly at the expense of men. It's a good-natured ribbing against traditional gender norms, but Williams interjects more enough humour to keep everyone in on the joke. Although many of the jokes are at the expense of the patriarchy and the sometimes-inept men it enables (we deserve it, fellas!), the content is relatable for anyone who has ever been in a long-term relationship. Certainly, it seemed to resonate with the audience, who were quoting back some of the lines post-performance. — Matt Schaubroeck LAST DAY AT WHOOPEE KINGDOM MTYP's Summer Studio MTYP Main Stage (Venue 21), to Sunday, July 27 ⭐⭐ ½ The 13-strong local cast of teenagers tackling playwright Alan Haehnel's script about a show at amusement park Whoopee Kingdom — yes, a play about a play — make a valiant effort to vitalize the rather lacklustre material they've been saddled with, and at first it seems as if they will succeed. Engaging at the start, the action falters quickly as hefty swathes of unnecessary dialogue get the better of the young thespians. At times it feels as if there are just too many people onstage hanging about doing nothing when the focus shifts to scenes involving just one or two actors. No shade to the cast; all of them are really acting their socks off during this long, rambling mess, which could have been saved with a tighter edit. Things really only get going again in the last 15 minutes, which leads one to the conclusion this could have all been done in a snappy half-hour instead of 60 minutes. — AV Kitching MULTIPLE NEUROSIS Karin Fekko Productions Son of Warehouse (Venue 5), to Sunday, July 27 ⭐⭐⭐½ Toronto's Karin Fekko tackles a deeply personal topic in her solo fringe debut — her own decades-long experience with multiple sclerosis. Her navigation over hurdles, from career barriers to self-coping mechanisms, are the focal points of this 60-minute journey, as she does her best to come to terms with, and accept, her new reality. The storytelling format effectively allows Fekko to deploy dark humour and no small level of vulnerability. For so personal a topic, it feels relatable and accessible for any body or mind. It's also cathartic for the narrator, who spent 17 years trying to hide her reality from everyone around her — quite a switch to performing on a public stage in front of strangers. As the curtain falls, the audience may feel they better understand not only this one lived experience, but anyone else who may be struggling with their physical abilities. As Fekko herself says: the only thing that separates the healthy and the sick is time. — Matt Schaubroeck PAPA UBU Theatre Incarnate Theatre Cercle Moliere (Venue 3), to Saturday, July 25 ⭐⭐ ½ Papa Ubu is an adaptation by local artist Eric Bossé of French playwright Alfred Jarry's Ubu Roi, a seminal play of modern theatre. Local company Theatre Incarnate's 65-minute production, directed by Brenda McLean and Christopher Sobczak, is energetic enough, but the glaring problem is that Bossé's reworking of the text tries to turn Ubu, a cowardly, vulgar, boorish fascist, into a Shakespearean tragic figure like the Macbeth that inspired Jarry's original. The text is riddled with lines from Hamlet, King Lear, Richard III, and more. Shakespeare's words stand out not to enlighten the original but overwhelm it. The show is a messy conflation of absurdist comedy and the latest trendy Shakespeare offering. A few things work well when they highlight the play's symbolist roots — using pop cans as soldiers, for example. The three-member cast presents the text well but unfortunately this adaptation annoys more than it entertains. — Rory Runnells RANDY & ELIZABETH: A SAVAGE LOVE STORY Macho MANitoban One88 (Venue 23), to Sunday, July 27 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This storytelling piece takes the form of a 45-minute 'promo,' as pro-wrestlers call it, focusing on the love story between Randy Poffo and Elizabeth Hulette, better known as Macho Man Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth, the First Lady of Wrestling. The story is told by Geoffrey Owen Hughes, a.k.a the Macho Manitoban, in a one-man show. His earnestness, passion, and love for professional wrestling shine through, captivating the audience with the high highs and devastating low blows of Randy and Elizabeth's tumultuous TV and real-life marriage. Seeing under the Macho Manitoban's sunglasses is the real highlight of the show, particularly his expressed adoration not only for Miss Elizabeth but Sherri Martell and their contributions to pro-wrestling, especially since those contributions are often forgotten or belittled because of their gender. Even if you are not a wrestling fan, this unique show is not to be missed. — Sonya Ballantyne A SPOONFUL OF MAGIC Krol Entertainment Tom Hendry Warehouse (Venue 6), to Saturday, July 26 ⭐⭐ Mary Poppins pops back into the now-grown-up Micheal Banks' life to help him face the adversities of adulthood with her sleight-of-hand magic tricks and wholesome homilies. A Spoonful of Magic (Supplied) This magic parody of the Julie Andrews classic raises one question: why? There is no need for such a conceit when the magic tricks themselves aren't half bad. It could've all been so good, but instead we get stilted dialogue and clunky amateur dramatics from the cast — Canadian Lisa Krol and Jordan Rooks from Las Vegas — who display neither charm nor chemistry. More magic tricks and less inane chat would've made this far more enjoyable. As it is, it's likely we will all need more than a spoonful of sugar to make this medicine go down. These magicians should stick to tricks and leave the acting to professionals. — AV Kitching TYCHO FREAKING BRAHE! Kiss the Giraffe Productions John Hirsch Mainstage (Venue 1), to Sunday, July 27 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Tycho Freaking Brahe! (Supplied) Taking as its subject the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, this 75-minute musical's reach for the stars slightly exceeds the grasp of a huge cast, mostly owing to the muddy, tone-shifting material, and music and lyrics so derivative they could have been created by AI. (But then, so is most Broadway fare, to this reviewer's ears.) Written by fringe regulars Joseph Aragon and Heather Madill (Bloodsuckers!), it's a modern riff on the politics of late 16th-century astronomy — and that's as exciting as it sounds. The good news: This local company has assembled sets and costumes and choreography as top-shelf as any touring company; this laboratory for young talent should be enthusiastically supported. Major mixing and pitch issues should settle through the run. Warning: A dozen-plus Madonna microphones in a concrete bunker can be a strain on the eardrums. — Lara Rae