REVIEWS

Looking for Fringe reviews?  You’ve come to the right place.

Since the beginning of the festival we’ve been archiving as many reviews as possible on our site at ottawafringe.com/reviews.  Most of these come from mainstream media sources, as the sheer number of reviews being published this year precludes me from posting all of them, as that’s all I’d have time to do (seriously kids, there is a lot of coverage this year).  I’ll be updating this page for the rest of the festival, so check back every so often to see what might be new.

Of course, there are also external websites that are reviewing as well.  If you’re still on the lookout, why not check out:

Fully Fringed
For the second year in a row, this partnership between Apartment 613 and Ottawa Sneezers is reviewing EVERY SINGLE SHOW. And by the time you read this, they have probably accomplished just that.  Head on over to hear about anything and everything.

Capital Critics Circle
CBC Radio One critic and her team of reviewers is out covering as much as they can.  Alvina’s reviews can be found here, and you can read all of the Ottawa Citizen’s Patrick Langston’s reviews here (and make sure you check back to their page post-Fringe, as they cover theatre from Ottawa, Canada, and around the world)

The Wig
Ottawa’s online arts magazine The Wig has sent reviewer Holly Gordon out to Fringe.  You can read her (so far) three part series of reviews on the Fringe: part one, part two, part three.

Yay or Nay Reviews
While generally film critics, the boys at Yay or Nay Reviews have tackled the Fringe in June.  And not only are they reviewing a lot of shows (I think they were well over a dozen last time I checked), each review is released as a video podcast.  They’ve archived their Fringe reviews in one handy place for you.  They’ve also produced ANOTHER video (do those guys ever sleep) with links to them all as well, which I’ve embedded for you.

Aside from media sources, there are Fringers, bloggers, and Fringe-bloggers who have taken up the mantle of writing reviews.  I post a regular round up of those reviews every couple of days in the Fringe Round Up post – the first of which is here (and there’s a pre-Fringe Round Up available as well).

And as always, you can find reviews (or leave your own) on each individual show page on our site.

Did I miss some reviews? Leave a comment below and I’ll make sure to update the post!

The Sucker Punch
Stupid Gumball Dispenser Productions
At SAW Gallery

Reviewed June 18

Recently announced research at the University of Montreal suggests that the drug metyrapone may help ease painful memories by reducing the emotions associated with them. The question is, would such a pill alter what it means to be human by shrinking our depth of experience and changing our ability to learn from mistakes? Brent Hirose, a darn good actor, ponders something similar in his solo show about four characters and a nifty device that lets you undo actions that you know you are going to regret. Is life diminished by not having regrets? Hirose asks.

Do we not have some responsibility for trying to avoid stupid actions in the first place and then accepting the consequences when we do screw up? Crisp vignettes, some slam poetry, and important ethical issues define this brisk, thoughtful show.

Complex Numbers
Silent QUEMB Productions
At Academic Hall, University of Ottawa

Reviewed June 19

Fiona (Stephanie Halin), who likes her sex slightly rough, is itching to have an extramarital affair. She has her sights set on co-worker Dan (Tim Anderson), and he’s game. Fiona’s husband Alex (J.P. Chartier) wants to be accepting of his wife’s hankerings — in fact, they’ve even done a workshop on how to do it (how to have an extramarital affair, that is) so that no one gets hurt. Also in the picture is Maggie (Ellen Manchee), the hypochondriac boss of Fiona and Dan who appears occasionally to nudge the plot along. Jenn Keay plays the workshop facilitator; seated behind a semitransparent curtain, she reads a few passages from a textbook about the ins-and-outs of extramarital sex.

That, in a nutshell, is playwright Nadine Thornhill’s unnecessary play about love, honesty in relationships, and other stuff. Directed by Ken Godmere, the acting is nearly as dispiriting as the script. Oh well, different strokes and all that sort of thing.

F****** Stephen Harper: How I Sexually Assaulted the 22nd Prime Minister of Canada and Saved Democracy

Ten Foot Pole Theatre
At Studio Léonard-Beaulne
Reviewed June 19

During the 2008 federal election, Rob Salerno, a Toronto-based gay political columnist for the newspaper Xtra, decided to ask the leader of each party about his or her position on gay rights. Stephen Harper was the only one to decline. Salerno’s determination to interview Harper resulted in an assault charge (you’ll need to see the show for the story behind that) as well as the title — a metaphor, obviously — of this production. It’s styled as a performance piece accompanied by overheads, and Salerno does some brief role-playing. He wades into what he says is Conservative homophobia, reminding us of cuts to HIV/AIDS programs, opposition to gay marriage and the like. Most of what he covers we already know, but to see it gathered in a one-hour format by the entertaining, passionate and intensely opinionated Salerno does remind us that politicians can be dangerous folks indeed.

Ottawa Fringe Festival

What: Celebration of indie theatre, with 60 companies delivering more than 300 performances

When & where: Continues until June 26 at Arts Court and 13 other downtown venues.

Information: 613-232-6162, ottawafringe.com
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Ottawa+Fringe+Festival+reviews/4975863/story.html#ixzz1PqK8oNCT

by Patrick Langston
The Ottawa Citizen
June 19, 2011

Last Gig of Lenny Breau
Colin Godbout
At Royal Oak Laurier, Saturday, June 18

Yes, there was his drug use, restlessness and eventual murder. But the late Canadian guitar legend Lenny Breau was, above all else, a musician, and that’s the focus of this fine show by Vancouver’s Colin Godbout. A masterful guitarist himself, when Godbout finger picks tunes from Breau’s catalogue you’d swear they’re both in the room playing at once. Breau, found dead in a Los Angeles swimming pool in 1984, mixed jazz, country, flamenco and more; Godbout does the same in depicting Breau at his last gig, slipping tunes by Merle Travis, John Coltrane and Breau himself into the blend. Godbout also explores the idea that Nashville guitar great Chet Atkins, Breau’s mentor, put far too much pressure on his younger colleague by insisting he was the “great white hope of the guitar,” pressure that contributed to Breau’s retreat into personal mayhem. Breau’s biography needs more fleshing out, and Godbout is more musician than actor, but for now the guitar tells us most of what we need to know.

Preshrunk
Kainz Players
At Studio Léonard-Beaulne, Saturday, June 18

Gather five psychiatric patients for their weekly group therapy session, have their shrink mysteriously murdered, and then add a couple of cops to investigate the crime. Result: a play that pretty much flatlines from the get-go. Alana Kainz’s script, potentially interesting and intended to be darkly comic, trips itself up by using stereotypical characters (Susan, a girl who can’t say no to men; Jack, a phobic nerd), bad jokes (“She has more troubles than Donald Trump on a windy day”) and a predictable plotline (did one of these neurotic patients do the doc in?). Kainz knows the horrors that unchecked mental illness can produce: her first husband, CJOH-TV newscaster Brian Smith, was gunned down by a paranoid schizophrenic man in 1995. But she doesn’t incorporate nearly enough reality into her script to make it engaging. Paul Dervis directs the show which features, among others, an overacting Jerome Bourgault as the damaged Len and a funny Charlie Ebbs as the narcissistic Antoine.

Question Period The Musical!
edSpective Productions
At Alumni Auditorium, Saturday, June 18

Whatever it lacks in acting, musical and production finesse, this sprawling Ottawa creation almost makes up for in spiritedness and determination to show its audience a good time. Eric Kendrick plays Finn Opatowskopoulos, an idealistic neophyte MP devoted to eradicating poverty. Stiff-armed by reality – the show is rife with opportunistic politicians, do-nothing senators and demanding constituents – Finn tries to remain true to himself although that eventually traps him in a politico-moral quagmire. Along the way, the musical spoofs musicals, spotlights a budget speech by a finance minister with hip-hop aspirations, and makes it clear that this is a show by well-meaning but under-rehearsed and directed performers. The musical, which turns out to be a vigorous call to civic engagement by all Canadians, takes pot shots at all political stripes, although Stephen Harper’s Conservatives loom especially large in the crosshairs.

by Jean-Thomas Tremblay
Ottawa XPress
June 16, 2011

Avant-garde and offbeat, the Ottawa Fringe Festival celebrates its 15th anniversary with a host of cutting-edge productions

The Suckerpunch
Actor, writer, director and singer Brent Hirose will take over the stage of the SAW Gallery with his latest solo show, The Suckerpunch. The Winnipeg artist has built a solid reputation as a workaholic, participating in more than 15 plays and 10 movies, in addition to being actively involved with five companies and troupes. Described as a “fantastic tale of time travel, theoretical terrorists and terrible science,” The Suckerpunch pledges to immerse the audience into Hirose’s insane universe. Hirose is one not to miss at this year’s Fringe.

June 16-26 at SAW Gallery (67 Nicholas)

Curriculum Vitae
Aiming for the more conventional? Despite its everyday name, Curriculum Vitae is probably not the ideal solution for those seeking routine and convention. Also a solo show, the play, written and performed by Jimmy Hogg and directed by Peter J. Morey, focuses on Hogg’s character as he gets ready for a job interview, providing theatregoers with an exhaustive overview of the experience he has accumulated on the job market. Echoes from various festivals allude to a refreshing dose of British humour in the approach prioritized by the Plymouth, U.K., performer. In a city obsessed with the bureaucratic performance of resumé-building, Curriculum Vitae should hit the right note.

June 19-25 at Arts Court Theatre (2 Daly)

Moonfleece
Perhaps the most anticipated production of this year’s Fringe, Philip Ridley’s
controversial Moonfleece, which inquires into homophobia, racism and the British Nationalist Party, was banned in Dudley, U.K., on the premise that the content of the play would offend the community. An acclaimed portrait of queer urbanity, Moonfleece transcends its British context in order to appeal to numerous territorial entities witnessing the rise of far-right movements. Presented by Ottawa’s very own Third Wall company, the play has been enjoying favourable hype as a consequence of the extravagant media exposure enjoyed by the original production.

June 17-26 at University of Ottawa, Studio 311 (135 Séraphin-Marion)

Fruitcake: Ten Commandments From the Psych Ward
A peculiar addition to the monumental British lineup set to take over the Fringe, Fruitcake: Ten Commandments From the Psych Ward details the course of a night shift in a psychiatric department. A former psychiatric nurse himself, writer and performer Rob Gee plays an employee who hears the voice of God personified by a Jamaican female dub poet. Under director Tracy Cruickshank’s supervision, Gee takes the audience on a hysterical journey through the unusual life of an individual whose angst derives from his overwhelming exposure to absurd situations. The award-winning play, a mix of stand-up comedy and traditional narration, has been praised for its genuine humanity, to which Gee’s exalting performance seems to contribute immensely.

June 20-26 at Arts Court Library (2 Daly)

by Patrick Langston
The Ottawa Citizen
June 18, 2011

Every Story Ever Told
Monster Theatre
At Arts Court Theatre

Ryan Gladstone is a very funny man. He’s also talented: he has to be, to try telling every famous story ever written – from the ancient Epic of Gilgamesh to War and Peace to Rocky (including the five sequels) – in a single hour. George Orwell’s Animal Farm takes about 10 seconds, Romeo and Juliet less. That leaves more time, maybe a whole minute or more, for big numbers like Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelung. Heck, he even squeezes in a semi-improvised tale based on audience suggestions. Friday night, when he debuted his new show, that improvisation with input from a sold-out audience had something to do with alien romance, chocolate and a plot to destroy Earth. Gladstone has the energy of a hyperactive youngster and the nerve of a stand-up comic, and it’s hard to tell whether he or the audience is having more fun. Even the rough edges of his brand-new show (on Friday, he consulted a cheat sheet more than once) fit his gonzo performance style. The show’s destined to be a fringe favourite.

Old Legends
Bio-Punk Productions
At Arts Court Library

This confused and inert one-woman show finds Emma Godmere playing a young woman who confronts a family secret and learns to forgive those who have unwittingly injured her – or something like that. James Fitzgerald’s script tries to do far too much, cobbling together multiple narratives along with snatches of music and dance in a storytelling format. The central motif is a Maritimes ghost tale, but, at least in this production, it’s a ghost story almost devoid of tension. Fitzgerald also directed the show: not the wisest move since he seems not to have the requisite distance from his script to make something of it or to show Godmere, who’s in over her head, a reason for actually being on stage. Billed as a dark comedy, the show is neither.

Live From the Belly of a Whale
Mi Casa Theatre
At Saint Paul’s Eastern United Church

What stories did you create as a kid to help you manage the world? Were you a dragon-slayer? An hypnotically beautiful princess? And, now an adult, what stories help you navigate a smaller but no less puzzling world? Nicolas Di Gaetano and Emily Pearlman, the creative duo at the heart of Ottawa’s Mi Casa Theatre, invite us to ponder such questions – along with simply reveling in their fantastical style of theatre – in this new work in progress. Using a homemade armoire as the major set piece and enclosing the audience in a rough-hewn space like a child would make for a living room performance, Di Gaetano and Pearlman do what they do best: evoke memories, fragile hope, visions of fantasy and reality, and a profound sadness as they unveil a story about two young siblings. They also make some pretty good whale noises and sing original tunes. Is the new show as good as Countries Shaped Like Stars, their fringe hit of two years ago? It hasn’t yet found that same degree of lightness to buoy up the heavy stuff, but it’s well on its way.

Fringe festival tickets and information: 613-232-6162, ottawafringe.com.