Day 4
Well we made it through the weekend seeing 16 shows. Two 8 show days.
Sunday was not smooth sailing. We started off at the firehall at How I lost one pound, almost the musical. There is very little musical in this musical. This is a solo show by Lesley Carlberg from Toronto. Basically it is about her life trying to become a singer/dancer/actor unsuccessfully. Her show is about how unsuccessful her efforts have been until, voila, a Fringe show. Good for her not giving up on her dreams.
Not really our cup of tea but I'm sure this show will find it's own audience. And there are tutus, lots of them.
Unfortunately she went about 7 minutes over time and our 30 minute window to drive to Granville Island, find parking, pay for parking and then run a 100 meter dash to the waterfront theater was reduced to 23 mins. Coach Travis will be proud. Yes we are fringe ready! We made it with only one minute to spare! Truly this is fringing! We saw Shadowlands by Savanna Harvey. It's a brave sole who puts on a Fringe show almost entirely in the dark at 1:30 on a Sunday afternoon. There is obvious talent here but it took awhile to figure out what was actually going on in this show. It was all very intriguing and in the end it will lead to many discussions and sometimes that's the key.
Next up the Inventor of all Things by Jem Rolls. The true story of Leo Szilard.
Jem never fails to give a dynamic performance. He must lose 5 pounds during every performance and you always learn something at a Jem Rolls show. If you have never seen him you simply must and if you already have seen him before then he is already on your list! Jem we are so glad that you are back!
The Blood Countess at the Waterfront was an eerie look into the life of the famous alleged mass murderer Elizabeth Bathory. She allegedly murdered 600 virgins so that she could bathe in their blood. Did she do it? Was she merely misunderstood? Was there a conspiracy against her? These questions are not really answered but it's a fascinating story. And we loved the added commercials for Bathory Blood Wine.
The Audience dies in the End. This is billed as funny, silly and weird. It's a perfect description. A pact with the devil and a journey around the world. Interesting effort and obviously we made it out alive.
Six Fine Lines by Mack Gordon. There is a undercurrent of sadness running through this show. A longing for connection with others. But there are also funny moments supplied by the audience participation in the newlyweds game show and family feuds. OK, we were the contestants in the newlyweds game. It was fun.
We had a blast. This show will keep you thinking about what it all really means. And the pizza delivery was a nice touch!
Unfortunately it also ran long and we had to run to our next show at the revue.
We literally had zero time to get there. Coach Travis I hope we continue to do you proud. The Gigantic Lying Mouth was unfolding on the revue stage. We are a house divided here. This is a story of a dead guy who died in a tragic yoga accident and he gets stuck in that shadowy zone between heaven and hell. Well he's a bit of an asshole so heaven is out of the question and he's a big fat lying asshole so he has to earn his way to purgatory by finally telling the truth. Was he successful?
You would have to draw your own conclusions.
Last show of the night was It Figures. A young couple try to come to terms with why they are even together and how to deal with an unexpected miscarriage.
Their relationship is based on shaky ground to begin with and an unplanned pregnancy just complicates things. A modern day slice of life.
Again it's up to you.
So that was our day. Again lots of fun running into our favourite fringey people!!!!
Robyn we love you!!!!!!!