On The Fringe

     Once again, we were at a Fringe Festival. This time it was in St. John, New Brunswick. We spent a couple of days going to a number of shows. Out of the six we attended, I would say 2 shows were very good.

      There are Fringe Festivals around the world. We have been to the Edinburgh Fringe in Scotland, Perth Fringe in Australia, Halifax Fringe in Nova Scotia, Island Fringe in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island and this year the Fundy Fringe in St. John, New Brunswick. Fringe theatre is described as the most accessible form of theatre in the world. Fringe Festivals have low admission prices, no censorship and usually there is no admission cost but spectators are urged to drop some money in a hat or collection bucket at the end and these proceeds go directly to the performers. This is where performers can try out new material, improve on older routines or just continue to build on their ideas. As I said, some are good and others are just "off the wall" terrible.

     There was a late night, one-man comedy act where there might have been 10 people in the audience. It was so bad and crude that if it had not been so obvious I was leaving the theatre I would have walked out.

Here are the two that we really liked:

   Program description: The musical multiverse explodes leading to the forced, ill-advised, and unnatural union of otherwise famous Broadway musicals. See what happens when Cats, Gangsters, Phantoms, Cowboys, Sharks, Jets orphans and singing nuns collide in a show critics say "should never have happened."

     This musical was hilarious. The voices of the performers were outstanding and the mashup of the musicals were well written indeed.

     Program description: TERROR! COMMUNISM! JEWS! In the 1950s, hysterical fear of Communism swept the United States. Many men and women were accused of treasonous acts and jails. Robin's father was one of these men. In this serio-comic solo story, she reveals the deeply personal story of what happened and how this long-ago event still echoes in her family, and in her country.

     I have heard many storytellers in the past and I think that Robin is among the best. Her story was engaging and she encouraged the audience to become involved by booing the bad guys if mentioned. She was able to handle the comments that excited audience members threw out during the show.

    Although there were only two good shows that we attended I would attend again next year. I'm sure there were other good shows but we missed them due to a scheduling conflict. As the organizer of the festival said, "Take a RISK!" Would you?