The Vintage Tempest’s Nerdy Picks: Victoria Fringe Festival 2019 Edition

August 21 to Sept 1
Victoria, British Columbia

Summer in Victoria, BC can never feel complete without going to the Fringe Festival! This event has been defining the local arts scene for the past 34 or so years now with its unjuried selection of local and travelling acts. I always gravitate to the nerdy type shows, and to get my zombie on does not always happen every year. Intrepid Theatre, the organizers, cemented my love for their show with Z-Day: The Anthem for Post-Zombie Apocalypse by Jay Mitchell. I’m thankful some of that past is preserved on Youtube, but that’s not why I keep going.

The selection changes every year and I never know what to expect! I challenge myself to look at material which sounds out of place or whacky. To say I’ll be attending St. Michaels University School’s annual musical goes without saying. This year, they are doing a version of Pippin.

Checking out the preview night (on August 21st at Centennial Square) will help me decide on what else to see. For now, I know my top five shows that must be seen, and as for what else, I do have a larger selection offered on Two Hungry Blokes. 

To buy tickets for the Victoria shows, please click on the title. Some will no doubt hit Vancouver, BC next and other points as these theatre groups keep on touring.

13 Dead Dreams of “Eugene”

THEATRE MOBILE
Written/Created by:
Erika Kate MacDonald and Paul Strickland
Metro Studio
(1141 Quadra)

X-Files meets The Twilight Zone… in the dark! The award-winning Off-Broadway shadow puppet folk musical! Based on a true story. A body was found and placed on display… that’s when the Dead Dreams began.

Nevermore

HAPAX THEATRE
Written/Created by:
Music Matt Conner,
Book Grace Barnes (based on Edgar Allan Poe’s writing)
Metro Studio
(1141 Quadra)

Edgar Allan Poe lies unconscious in a gutter, dreaming of the women who shaped his life. But in the morning will he wake to dawn, or eternal darkness? From the creative team behind The Boy in the Chrysalis (2018 Pick-of-the-Fringe Winner), Nevermore transforms the works of Poe into haunting melodies about love, loss, and gothic longing.

Man Cave

A One-Man Sci-Fi Climate Change Tragicomedy!

TIMOTHY MOONEY REPERTORY THEATRE
Written/Created by:
Timothy Mooney
Langham Court Theatre (805 Langham Court)

Whoops, Apocalypse! Hanging on by a thread, at the tail end of climate change, the last man on Earth broadcasts to whatever Klingons, Vulcans or Tralfamadorians might still be out there!

The Ballad of Frank Allen

WEEPING SPOON PRODUCTIONS
Written/Created by:
S. Adamczak

St Andrews Kirk Hall
(680 Courtney St)

From the bizarre mind of Aussie Fringe-favourite Shane Adamczak (Zack Adams, Trampoline) comes an award-winning sci-fi buddy-comedy about a tiny man who lives in another man’s beard.

The Robber Bridegroom: A Grimm Fairy Tale

CHIMERA THEATRE
Written/Created by:
The Brothers Grimm,
adapted by Andrew G. Cooper

Metro Studio (1141 Quadra)

An impoverished miller seeks a better life for his daughter by arranging her marriage to a wealthy stranger. She wants to help her family, but something wicked lurks in the woods where her bridegroom lives… Chimera Theatre brings this Brothers Grimm fairy tale to life through puppetry and physical theatre.

Author: Ed Sum

I'm a freelance videographer and entertainment journalist (Absolute Underground Magazine, Two Hungry Blokes, and Otaku no Culture) with a wide range of interests. From archaeology to popular culture to paranormal studies, there's no stone unturned. Digging for the past and embracing "The Future" is my mantra. View all posts by Ed Sum