Theatre is a powerful force where groups of people conjure a magical world that entertains, educates and hopefully enlightens.
It rarely matters whether the set is a huge spectacle or the bare necessities. It's the imaginary world we immerse ourselves in that carries a force powerful enough to change our thinking.
The 2015 Edmonton International Fringe Festival showcases 203 imaginary worlds – some raucous, others sublime.
Below are a few to ponder:
Rigby Muldoon: Time Traveller for Hire
Success 5000 Productions
Venue 11
Family Stage, PCL Theatre
10330 84 Ave.
3 Stars
"Yesterday I didn't think time travel existed. Today I'm a time fugitive." So says Annie Sinclair, a take-no-crap, robot-blasting, video game creator.
Annie is desperate to retrieve an object from the past. She hires Rigby Muldoon, a trench-coat wearing time traveller and the embodiment of Sam Spade – minus the dangling cigarette.
He's a bit of a ghost, an ex-cop that was drummed out of S.P.I.R.I.T., a dark, underground organization that patrols and polices time travellers.
S.P.I.R.I.T.'s mission is to build a perfect world that it, and only it controls. There's just one hitch. People keep getting in the way, and Rigby Muldoon is the biggest pain in the ass.
Annie is a failed video games creator. Rigby is a failed time travel cop. Together the duo battles one disaster after another to save the world from S.P.I.R.I.T.'s domination.
On the face of it, the plot sounds corny. But there are more unexpected twists than Groat Road and Legal director Olivia Latta plays it strictly tongue-in-cheek.
She gives her actors plenty of latitude with the script's well-placed jokes, puns and one-liners, and it shows in the crowd's constant ripple of laughs.
Actors Carina Morton (Annie) and Joshua Lee Cross (Rigby) as principals, in addition to Laena Anderson and Robyn Slack deliver slightly off-kilter stereotypes with just the right cartoonish quirks.
The actors have so much fun with the roles, several times they nearly burst out laughing. But this isn't Shakespeare. Rigby Muldoon is one big, broad wink at time hopping private eyes and everyone went with the flow.
– Anna Borowiecki
Assassins
Loose Ends Theatre Co.
Venue 1, Westbury Theatre
10334 84 Ave.
4 Stars
Assassins is full of dark and ironic musical numbers backed by a murderous plot that results in a dark comedy for the ages.
John Weidman bases the show off a book with music by Stephen Sondheim, and it eventually became an off Broadway musical, earning five Tony awards in the process.
The director Amber Bissonnette co-ordinates an 11-member cast and five-piece band through a dark and twisted trip back in time to explore the characters that attempted to, or succeeded in assassinating a president. They are brought together by the idea that pulling the trigger and killing an American leader can solve all their personal anguish and strife. The mad men all realize that not everybody can grow up to be the president, but anyone can leave their mark and kill the president.
The gang, lead by John Wilkes Booth, stages their final act together by trying to convince Lee Harvey Oswald to solve all his problems and assassinate John F. Kennedy. A balladeer narrates the show, giving the dark plot a goofy twist with show tunes and bluegrass songs creating an unforgettable experience for the viewers.
– Jennifer Henderson
Harold and Vivian Entertain Guests
Impossible Mongoose Productions
Venue 1
Westbury Theatre, Financial Arts Barns
10330 84 Ave.
4 Stars
Harold and Vivian Entertain Guests may be one of the most eccentric comedies at this year's Fringe.
For starters there's a set photo of CBC's acerbic political commentator Rex Murphy sporting a '60s Afro. Are we in a time warp or is this couple out of step with current views? More likely the latter.
To call Vivian and Harold quirky is an understatement. Vivian is a Spic-and-Span germophobe that hangs laundry wearing stilettos, pearls and rubber gloves. Harold is a slob who eats popcorn by tossing it in the air.
Provoking the other person into asking for a divorce is their main goal. They hate each other and they are even more mistrustful of the outside world.
When their neighbours, a newly-wed couple, ring the doorbell with a cake in hand, Harold and Vivian are thrown into a tizzy. They abhor visitors. Seeing no way to escape, they invite the touchy-feely Janet and Mike into their home.
What starts off as a strained conversation dissolves into a free-for-all as secrets are revealed, sides taken and relationships tested.
Throughout the mayhem, St. Albert's own Kristen Padayas steals the show as Vivian, a kittenish woman who both purrs and bares claws. Her comedic chops are ripe for fun.
In one highlight scene Vivian eats two pieces of "alcoholic cake." Believing she's drunk, Vivian slurs her speech, duct tapes her dress and rolls on the floor in a stupor while the house roared.
David Feehan is the perfect foil as the stone-faced Harold and Rebecca Merkley as Janet and Eric Smith balance the show as naïve yet smug newlyweds.
In lesser hands Harold and Vivian could dissolve into a juvenile spectacle. But under director Corben Kushneryk it's full of high energy, flair and a boatload of charm.
– Anna Borowiecki
Wilder and Wilder!
Happy Journey
Venue 38
Auditorium at Campus Saint-Jean
8406 Rue Marie-Anne-Gaboury (91st Street)
3 Stars
Five artists from the Happy Journey explore two of Thornton Wilder's most beloved short comedies. The double header starts with The Wreck on the Five Twenty Five and takes us back to 1959 in a quiet suburb. Jenny McKillop as Mrs. Hawkins's finds her world is shaken when her husband telephones to say he will be missing the 5:25 train home from work. This event acts as a domino for the mental unravelling Mrs. Hawkins and her husband, played by Mat Busby. The small adjustment of the schedule brings us into the psyche of the 1950s family and its perspective on change in their routine lives.
The second short story, The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden, spends most of the time in an automobile on a family road trip. The family is travelling to see the eldest married daughter who had just lost a baby during childbirth. Very little happens during the trip but much is revealed about the family and the journey takes us back in time to witness the world through the eyes of a family in the 1920s.
Jenny McKillop anchors both shows and she gives two powerful performances as the matriarch upholding the family values of the era. The entire cast provides an excellent delivery of slightly mundane stories, separated by an enchanting musical interlude allowing the cast to showcase its superb acting and vocal abilities.
– Jennifer Henderson
Death Comes to Auntie Norma
Lucky Wench Productions
Venue #1
Westbury Theatre
10330 84 Ave.
4 Stars
Actress Catherine Wenschlag makes a career of performing big sassy mammas boasting quick, glib one-liners that are impossible to match.
In Death Comes to Auntie Norma, an '80s parody on capitalism, the former St. Albert resident plays Sheila, a crass, domineering mother of three who works as a self-employed businesswoman.
Her entrepreneurial skills range from sex-phone operator and psychic to suicide prevention hotline operator. Like any good capitalist, she's too busy answering phones and making a dollar to develop much of a relationship with her children.
But Sheila is obsessed with the American dream – appearing on a reality TV show titled Family Feud. And her dysfunctional family is ripe for the picking.
Her mouthy son B-Rad is an unemployed druggie and wannabe rapper. The youngest daughter Amy, is a people pleaser with Broadway fantasies. Only the eldest daughter, Michelle has dreams of going to university – even if it's fairly low-level.
But success isn't always posited on following the rules as playwright Zack Siezmagraff reveals in his clever script.
Wenschlag delivers an excellent performance as the over-the-top Sheila and the rest of the ensemble – Emma Houghton (Amy), Monica Maddaford (Michelle), Eric Smith (B-Rad) and Peg Young (Auntie Norma) – keep the laugh-a-minute show going strong.
The story moves quickly and Wenschlag as director keeps the pace smoothly on track. Buy a ticket before it's completely sold out.
– Anna Borowiecki
The Fourth Wall
Fiddle Dee Dee Productions
Venue 4
Academy at King Edward
8525 101 Street
1 Stars
Despite the actors' best efforts, The Fourth Wall comes up short and lacks the direction it needs to deliver an unforgettable experience.
The show attempts to bring attention to important issues, such as the failure of the current education system, health issues and personal loss, but is bogged down by long rambling soliloquies that do not pay off. There are some moments of emotion and laughter but the storyline lacks any driving action or a coherent plot to give the important issues any traction.
Ultimately the actors do not get to showcase their best performances because they have been reduced to monologues and soliloquies and have limited the moments of genuine interaction and driving action.
– Jennifer Henderson
It's Love and Other Reasons to Panic
Short Girl Productions
Venue 6, C103
8529 103 St.
4 Stars
We're all survivors of the disastrous dating scene. Some have a few bruises. Others are battle-scarred for life.
Meet Victoria and Rachel. When it comes to love, they have no idea what they're doing. As their world crumbles, they feel increasingly alone.
But hey, going out to a meat market nightclub on a Friday night is better than staying home in a cramped apartment. Isn't it?
After seven years of dating, Victoria has just broken off her engagement to Michael. They want different things in life. Alone at last, she's a little lost.
Rachel, a self-professed loner, carries home two bags of groceries and does a face plant. Michael comes to her rescue and they start dating.
When the two female adversaries meet there's a competitive edge in their demeanour. In fact, there's even a slo-mo kick-boxing sequence complete with arm thrusts and high kicks.
As Victoria, Elisa Benzer is a prickly fireball of energy that keeps the pace pumping while the more laid-back Delia Barnett as Rachel gives the crowd time to catch its breath between the steady outpouring of laughter.
Both women have great comedic chops and an incredible sense of timing. Don't think twice about seeing it. It will give both sexes more than a few good laughs.
– Anna Borowiecki
