Ramblings and Miscellany

I recently resumed the Australian mystery series Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries. Now I imagine Australia populated with wealthy flappers. This is better than my previous assumption about that country based only on Crocodile Dundee and Yahoo Serious movies. .  

If you’re not watching Stranger Things, you’re missing out. An thoroughly engaging pastiche of 80s sci-fi and horror - Stephen King, Spielberg - with great cast. 

On the Fringe

*** I needed to get these thoughts down before they’re lost forever. There’s a chance I will continue to revise and rework the structure of this post, but the positive endorsement will not change. ***

One of the highlights for me this Fringe season was the On the Fringe screening. I first heard about this documentary back in 2014 when performer and producer Nancy Kenny announced that she was, in addition to performing in Fringe Festivals across the country, making a movie about the Canadian Fringe Festival experience.

“Great idea,” I thought.  “I’ve always wanted to know more about what makes the Fringe, and Fringe performers, tick.”

I love the Winnipeg Fringe and have since I started attending in 2000. If I’d grown up in Winnipeg, I know I would have been in several shows with high school and university friends. It’s exactly the sort of artistic outlet I craved but didn’t have in southern Ontario.

Every year I see as many shows as I can, anywhere from 4-5 to 25-30; everything from plays, one person shows, stand up, comedy and drama. I love meeting and talking to performers when they’re handing out flyers for their shows or just standing around the Exchange I’m sure I’ve made myself a nuisance to various actors over the years (and I’m pretty sure at least one of the regulars avoids me), but I’ve also met some amazing people.

I love the beautiful chaos of an uncurated, lottery-entry festival. I prefer the quirky, experimental. I love the overlapping politics of the personal that comes with the Fringe, people creating and performing work that matters to them. I typically dislike shows that are overly produced, ready for (or straight from) a main stage at some “professional” theatre. I have seen some of the most moving and engaging works, works that takes risks and challenge audiences. And I have seen the worst amateurish junk. I have seen a patron accidentally wander on stage in the middle of a performance because they took a wrong door (and I watched Tara Travis handle it masterfully). I have been moved to tears and to belly-aching laughter. I have stood and applauded. And I have almost walked out of things that were so bad I was becoming physically ill. And I have loved it every minute of it. In our on-demand age, the Fringe is transitory beauty – something will be experienced once, maybe twice, and then, more likely than not, is gone forever.

There was a brief moment, as I was sitting in the Bandwidth Theatre waiting for On the Fringe to begin, that I was suddenly hit with a moment of sheer panic. The majority of the audience members that evening were Fringe performers. They all know each other (or appeared to) and greeted each other with hugs, terms of endearment, and inside jokes. “Oh no,” I thought. “Is this going to be like looking at someone else’s yearbook? Am I going to be able to relate to anything?” When the film started, however, those fears were quickly dispelled. I was immediately absorbed in the various narratives that have been woven together.

Not only does the film provide insights into the experiences of the performers it follows –Nancy Kenny; Martin Dockery and Vanessa  Quesnelle; Jem Rolls; and Morgan Murray, Danielle Spilchen, Robert  Grier and Grahame Kent – it gives a much more comprehensive overview of the Canadian Fringe scene and the uniqueness of the individual festivals. In Winnipeg, we always hear how much performers like our festival, but I’ve never been sure why. I figured it was the theatrical variation on the old rock ’n’ roll cliché, “We love coming to… [read post-it note on guitar] Cleveland.” But that doesn’t seem to be it. Each stop along the Canadian Fringe circuit appears to have characteristics that set that city apart from the others. Winnipeg, it seems, really loves and supports the Fringe and its performers. We embrace Fringe.

At the end of film, I left with a sense of why these people lead this bohemian existence. I saw the bonds formed and the love shared amongst that community. Someone in the film compares the bond to those formed by campers at summer camp, but I don’t think that quite accounts for the strength of the connection. I think poet-storyteller Jem Rolls hits closer to the mark – for him, these people are family. The shared joys and frustrations of months on the road, the highs of sold out crowds and the lows of mediocre reviews create a deep and profound bond.

As an audience member that night, I recognized the bond and was drawn to it, in part because I know I exist on the edge of it. Like all great art, the film invites its audience into a story which is not their own. Most of us will never tour their one-person poetry show across Canada and know what it’s like to share that with a handful of like-minded artists. But On the Fringe opens that world up so that we can imagine it.

And I saw that familial bond continue after the film and the lights came up.  I watched as these people, many of whom are featured in the documentary, most of whom I have seen perform over the years, congratulate each other. They talked fondly about the few performers featured in the documentary who weren’t in Winnipeg this year. They began to recall shared memories from that 2014 season that the film didn’t show.

As I was leaving, I fought my introverted tendencies and talked to two performers I had met the day before. I mentioned that I felt I had a better understanding of why they do what they.

“Well, you saw a bit of it. Of course there’s more.”

Kenny and director Cory Thibert are touring On the Fringe across the country this summer. If it’s playing anywhere near you, make the effort to see it.

SCREENINGS

Calgary Fringe Festival - August 6, 2016

Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival - August 20, 2016

Victoria Fringe Festival - Details Coming Soon

For some reason, people occasionally ask me for recommendations for Fringe shows. I suppose it has something to do the volume I see (which isn’t nearly as impressive as some people) or - though I seriously doubt it - my impeccable taste. 

This year I have picked some really great shows. I haven’t seen anything I wouldn’t recommend. It’s been a great run of shows so far. I won’t recommend everything I’ve seen, but I will highlight a few titles that I think were reviewed too harshly by the “professions” and deserve an audience. (I’ll happily put my credentials against anyone writing for CBC or the WFP).    

Everyone Dies in December. Venue 11 - Red River College. 

I liked this play so much that I saw it twice. Nancy Kenny is a brilliant performer who makes Clare, a third generation funeral director, both awkward and charming . When this lady looks in your eyes and talks… man. Each slight nod of her head, each almost-missed wink conveys so much of Clare. 

Kenny’s script is darkly comic yet as engaging and subtle as her deadpan delivery. 

I Do, I Don’t. Venue 7 - Cinemateque.

I went into this one person show completely cold. I had seen the performer last year in Trampoline, which I liked a lot. Whitney Richards juxtaposes the story of her parents’ fractured relationship (told as various family members) with her own story of her love of performing. Richards moves masterfully between gut-wrenching honesty and high energy dance numbers (!). And so much glitter. 

Infidelity. Venue 3 - Onstage at Pantages.

I’m very proud to have written a letter of reference to get Davis Plett a small grant to help with the costs of this ambitious and intelligent production. Plett tells the story of  an Anglican priest in a crisis of faith. Combining witty wordplay, literate allusion and an almost Lynchesque tone, Infidelity is worth your time. You’ll also learn more than you need to know about Swedish black metal.  

 The Seminar with Madge and Taffy. Venue 8 - Rachel Browne Theatre

I had no idea what to expect for this. It was BIZARRE in the best possible way. I don’t even know how to describe it. I couldn’t even tell you the insane twists and turns in this play. I loved it. A real laugh out loud treat. It’s also the first show, after 15 years of Fringing, where I got brought up on stage for audience participation. 

Most of the other shows I loved have been well reviewed and probably don’t need me to champion them. But, for what it’s worth, I also recommend: 

The Collector, Venue 6 - Warehouse. 

Bizarro Obscure, Venue 9 - EG at UW. I’ve seen these two perform a few times and they’re great. 

Curious Contagion, Venue 1 - John Hirsch, Very inventive shadow puppet show. And two very cool artists. 

Space Hippo, Venue 8 - Rachel Browne. A space opera shadow puppet show. I went in thinking the title sounded amazing; I was blown away. And two more cool artists. 

One take-away from yesterday’s field trip: If I’m going to sit outside on a patio on a sunny day in May, I should wear a hat. 

I think I sunburned my bald head. 

So, my wife is in France. She’s starting (actually by the time I post this she will have started) to walk 880 odd miles of the Camino de Santiago. It’s something she’s wanted to do for a long time. I’m so thrilled that she gets to experience this (and I mean the spiritual pilgrimage part, not the blistered feet).

While she’s away, I am undertaking a personal journey of another sort: I want to expand my comfort zones, try new things and engage more deeply with the world around me.

I’ve always been an introvert. As a kid I was much happier reading comic books and watching movies than going to parties. Not that much of a surprise to people who know me. In fact, all things being equal, I’m still more comfortable on my own or with a couple of trusted friends than meeting new people or “going out.”

Since Rachel’s been gone I’ve made a real effort to try new things and to do things I normally wouldn’t do.

Thus far:

- I’ve babysat friends’ toddler
- I attended the book launch for a friend BY. MY. SELF. I didn’t even leave early when I didn’t really know anyone else.
- I am currently sitting at an outdoor patio at Starbucks waiting for a new friend (!)

I am resisting the urge to never leave my house during this 40 day journey. The end of which, I will be joining Rachel in Lisbon for another 2 weeks of exploring Portugal and Spain. I want to be open to those new experience and, hopefully, by opening myself up now, I’ll be ready.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad