#ottawa fringe

[ladycharles]

I want to try writing about some of the plays that impress me at the fringes this year, now that Ottawa Fringe is in full swing. No better place to start than with 666!

This play deals with the Satanic Panic of the 80s and 90s - when shoddy therapy led to many people becoming convinced they had fallen victim to satanic rituals, causing an overall moral panic

The play features a woman who believes she has been victimised by satanic abuse, and her difficult and harrowing journey is portrayed stunningly by Corinne Viay - she is tormented by visions of Satan (played by drag artist Mx. Caligula) and sensationalised media coverage (portrayed by Seth Thompson, with a hilarious satirical edge)

Standing out in particular was Caligula's performance as the devil. It is an outstanding physical performance that channels the queer-coded villain tropes that mark many modern portrayals while maintaining an imposing physicality balanced with an androgynous grace that brings the fallen angel to life. Their frenetic voguing and wacking during the dance sequence, performed within striking distance of the audience, is really quite breathtaking, it adds the excitement of watching a dancer push their limits on top of all the other triumphs.

Oftentimes in theatre serious content involving religion and queerness, or discussions of abuse and mass hysteria can drift into cliché or suffer from a lack of perspective. Handled poorly, this can lead to joyless agit prop or an almost fetishistic gaze that obscure their gravity. You've probably witnessed it if you ever watched a lot of emerging theatre - plays that feel random, obscure, soulless and preachy.

Thankfully, 666 does not have this problem. It uses its unorthodox structure to unpack the human toll of the satanic panic while tacking issues like internalized homophobia and patriarchal society with a naturalism that transcends cliché. It is focused and clever, delivering its message with care, humour, and depth.

If you're in Ottawa or Montreal for their respective Fringes, this is seriously some of the best theatre I have seen in a long time!

[bacchicly]

Applications are now OPEN for the Ottawa Fringe Festival Lottery! They will remain open until December 2nd, 2022 at 11:30pm.

The 26th annual Ottawa Fringe Festival will run for 11 days, June 15th-25th, 2023. With 50 performing companies presenting upwards of 300 performances, the Fringe is Ottawa’s largest and longest-running theatre festival!

A proud member of The Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals, the Ottawa Fringe returns 100% of box office revenue into the pockets of its participants – and is committed to giving artists the opportunity to produce work in an uncensored, unjuried, and highly accessible environment.

The application form, and all the details can be found at https://ottawafringe.com/lottery/. Make sure to read through everything to make the application and, later on, registration, as smooth as possible!

Good luck!

[ladycharles]

New Fringe Pick! Hope you liked the last one, this is another piece that's at the Ottawa Fringe right now 💖

It's Angel, Baby!

In 2019 I visited Athens, Greece and happened on a queer performance festival. Unmoored from North American ballroom standards and US puritanism, the performances were in turns subversive, earnest, vulgar, virtuosic, exhibitionist, and absolutely hilarious. It is rare in my cozy little government town to get the same feeling of witnessing truly subversive, truly mind opening art.

To my absolute luck, Angel, Baby ended up being one of those rare shows that leaves me in awe, and does so in way that is uniquely charming.

Exploring the concept of kissing booths as a vehicle for their audacious comedy, Victoria gives a charismatic and deeply funny performance as the skits turn increasingly bizarre and extreme. Audience members are asked to involve themselves in some desperately uncomfortable situations, and yet never once is the humour mean spirited or the audience members made the butt of a joke. In fact, seldom have I seen crowd involvement done with such care, even when the situations themselves are completely off the wall.

This is a show that does not waste time with exposition, creating a disorienting feel and a dramatic tension that amplifies the humour. Despite this, there is a cohesion and thematic completeness to what’s could otherwise seem like a bunch of random skits if one didn’t pay attention. For one, Victoria's characterisation is strong enough that exposition isn't necessary - we know exactly who Angel, Baby is from their awkward charisma and the earnestness of their delivery. For two, the baffling structure of the show itself is quite an important component of the humour. This is not a show for those who cannot fill in blanks, but for those who can give over their full attention and trust in Victoria's comic instincts, the rewards are bountiful.

There are things here I have never seen an actor attempt, things that could derail the entire show, things that could turn traumatic even, and yet Victoria maintains control with a comic charm and commitment to their character that keeps the unscripted moments compelling. The most fascinating facet to this is that as it unraveled the audience participation moments began to take on a quiet, dramatic beauty - the effect is so immersive that the lines between script and improv may as well not exist.

There is a certain awe to watching such a great actor take big risks with the audience, Iike the theatrical equivalent of juggling fire. Shows like this make Fringe Fringe, they are the lifeblood of artists like myself who crave not just great escapism but to see art destroyed and rebuilt in our images. Victoria has destroyed comedy and rebuilt it in their image, and it is a devastatingly effective transformation. Definitely recommended!

[ladycharles]

Will there be anywhere online that we can watch the musical when it comes out like via streaming or something?

I asked the director and apparently Ottawa Fringe isn't doing that this year unfortunately - I am not 100% sure for Guelph Fringe, that run is in August, but if I find out it is I will announce on here. It would be awesome if it was, the play itself is really out there and funny and weird, but I will definitely release my songs as an EP once I get a chance to iron out the kinks and do a proper mix.

If you happen to have arrived from that post that was kindly blazed, here's my fave of my currently available music 😁💖:

[ladycharles]

Sorry I have been so awol, been not very well past couple weeks (ssris are not fun to stop) but I have great news... Have you ever wanted to hear an entire EP of original disco music from me?

If not it's bad news, but I am composing the music to a production of Oh Boy! In the Ottawa Fringe. It's a super weird coming of age comedy that really nails the unfairness of genetational struggle or something, and the director wants disco so I am writing a bunch of disco. Can't wait for you to hear, gonna try and put it out as an EP 💖

(this song is unrelated mostly but has a disco-y break)

[ladycharles]

Pleased to announce this upcoming comedy play - I both scored the music and contributed a lil to the script! If you're in the area and can make it I promise it will be lots of fun. (And I make points off this so tell all your friends 😉). It's a surreal one person show where my hilarious and talented friend Nat plays a clown seeking love on a clown based video dating service - the content and humour will be very relatable for ND or LGBT folks I reckon. Tix and showtimes👇

[ladycharles]

Obligatory last minute promo - if you're in Ottawa please come out 💖 there's also some sort of accessibility thing where you can listen in from anywhere, I can get the details if anyone wants just hmu💖

[ladycharles]

Doing tech, setting levels, everything feels real! Oh Boy opens at Ottawa Fringe, them hits Guelph in August, for those close enough to join 💖💖💖 (here's another little peek of the score)