The Edmonton International Fringe Festival is open for business! It’s outrageous, electric and colourful. But mostly, this over-the-top extravaganza is just plain fun.
With 227 productions flogging their wares, flipping through the glossy program guide can be mind-numbing. To provide some perspective, the Gazette has reviewers on site and we’ll supply reviews in print and online at www.stalbertgazette.com.
Below is a small sampling of shows with St. Albert artists.
Everything’s Coming Up Chickens! A Revue
Plain Jane Theatre Co.
Venue 12
Varscona Theatre
10329 – 83 Ave.
4 ½ Stars
Possibly one of the best Fringe musicals this year, Everything’s Coming Up Chickens! A Revue is tight, silky smooth, energetic, nostalgic and contemporary all in the same breath.
Plain Jane artistic director Kate Ryan in partnership with St. Albert Children’s Theatre's (SACT) Janice Flower have selected a song list of Broadway gems woven elegantly into a witty musical comedy about the roller-coaster lives of actors.
Stephen Sondheim, Irving Berlin, Charles Strouse and Jonathan Larson are just some of the heavy hitting composers featured in the 17-song revue.
But these are not clone songs sung directly from music sheets. In most, if not all cases, the lyrics are a modern rewrite adding fresh, tongue-in-cheek twists.
Actors Kendra Connor and SACT alumni Karina Cox, Jarrett Krissa and Garett Ross are all triple threats that enjoy strong stage chemistry. Working in perfect synchronization, they inject soul into a variety of crazy characters and keep the pace moving fluidly.
Throughout the 75-minue show Ross delivers a roguish peeping Tom in Through a Keyhole while Krissa, as a Roman centurion spear carrier, lets his comic instincts flow in No Small Roles.
Cox displays a blend of sass and poignancy in Best in the World while Connor, whose beautiful soprano voice shines in Madame Butterfly aria, gets upstaged by a real dog.
A flood of energy completed the show as the full house burst into thunderous applause lasting after the actors walked to the wings.
Tragedy: A Tragedy
Blarney Productions
Venue 3
Walterdale Theatre
10322 – 83 Ave.
3 Stars
Playwright Will Eno’s Tragedy: A Tragedy is an absurdist play that will either intrigue you or put you to sleep. Despite the regular volley of laughs, it bored the pants off me.
It starts off as a delightful parody of 24-hour news media coverage that is flooded with a non-stop stream of commentary and opinion.
The premise of this 60-minute production is apocalyptic. The sun has set and no one knows if it will rise again.
A 24-hour news media team is covering the event. John (Cody Porter) is in the field. Constance (Sarah Ormandy) is assigned to an abandoned house and Michelle (Cat Walsh) is stationed at a governor’s mansion. Frank (Robert Benz), the seasoned veteran, anchors the desk and tries to hold things together.
But they are as much in the dark as anyone else and it quickly becomes apparent their reporting is a jumble of nonsense strung together with desperation. The more they report, the less everyone knows.
Gradually one-by-one the professionals psychologically deteriorate and it’s left to the Witness (Luc Tellier), an ordinary man, to grab the microphone and end on a note of grace.
Eno has a quirky talent and in some ways the play is quite clever. But director Suzie Martin could easily have shaved off 15 minutes and not missed a beat.
