Fringe Festival Reviews: So We Fringe
INK
Burning Bridget Cleary
It is with some difficulty that one reaches the venues because the St. Laurent street fair is in full swing. At Mainline was Burning Bridget Cleary, an ambitious play about a woman who gets vilified and burned for being fashion forward and a good salesperson. The playwrights needed severe dramaturgy as the rhythm of the piece was choppy and awkward. There were a number of persona who served no purpose and the final monologue was a terrible ghost appearance from a different play. The director could have used some instruction in blocking, floor plan design, and pacing. Altogether too amateur even for the Fringe. Burning Bridget Cleary is at the Mainline Theatre (3997 ST Laurent) on June 13, 15, and 16. Tickets HERE.
The Immaculate Big Bang
The Immaculate Big Bang, written and performed by Bill Santiago, was a smashing exegesis of the relationship between science and religion. Bill Santiago has enough energy to run a nuclear reactor and his comic sense and timing are both immaculate and explosive. It was a spectacular journey of questions about the universe (which usually leave me a bit bored), but the way this was written then delivered was so fantastic, I was riveted. If you can, GO SEE THIS!!! The Immaculate Big Bang is at the incredibly comfortable Theatre Impro Montreal (3697 St Laurent) on June 14, 16, and 16. Tickets HERE.
Piaf and Brel: The Impossible Concert
Piaf and Brel is a stunning rendition of the songs with charming banter added. There is a short history of the lives of the iconic singers interwoven with anecdotes about performers past and how she, an anglophone from Alberta, managed to tour a great deal of the planet singing in French. It was singing at its best and it was worth much more than the price of admission. Piaf and Brel is in Le Ministère (4521 St Laurent) on June 13, 14, and 15. Tickets HERE.
INK
INK was written by Alastaire Knowles and his super talented partner, Stephanie Morin-Robert who also directed it. Knowles knows what he is doing and his relationship, sensual and otherwise, with ink and paper is astonishing, unique, and very theatrical. For anyone who is fond of mime this is a fantastic piece. It takes the one person performance to its limits, and as ink and paper become more obsolete, this might yet be the most exquisite tribute to our loss. Ink is at La Chapelle (3700 St Dominique) on June 13, 14, and 16. Tickets HERE.
Reviews of Under the Sheets, Attempts in Flight, The Adventures of Humphrey Beauregard, and PolySHAMory. The Fringe Festival continues until June 16. Information and tickets HERE.
