It’s business as usual for the Victoria Fringe Festival this year, and it’s almost a return to pre-pandemic form. That is, I can’t help but notice that there’s fewer international acts. That’s because not every part of the world has fully recovered from the pandemic or it still has travel restrictions in place. Until the latter lifts, it’s tough to get a true representation of all the acts touring this year.
Intrepid Theatre is no doubt being cautious in who to bring to the garden city. I’m just glad we have an event despite continous changes to where events can take place or the fact some venues, namely Langham Theatre is still temporarily closed.
Even though Mochinosha Company isn’t listed (they were a staple pre-pandemic), I hope once when travel restrictions to and from certain countries are lifted, they will be back! Suspicously missing is St. Michaels University School (SMUS) Summer Musical Theatre graduating performance. They usually perform a play every year, but ever since the pandemic hit, there hasn’t been a lot of news about what’s happening with them.
Unlike last year’s event with table seating, what I’m hearing is that we’ll return to row seating and tickets will have to be bought in advance. This change is for the better, as it looks like getting enough volunteers is still and issue during pandemic times.
Of the shows I’m most looking forward, I offer these top picks. The links go to Intrepid Theatre’s online ticket booth. Topping my list is:
The Sci-Fi Sampler
OUTPOST 31
Victoria, BC
Written/Created by: Ian Case, Emily Case, David Elendune, Nicholas Guerreiro, & Don A. Stuart
Hot from the ‘Warped Factor 5’ minds of Victoria’s multiple award-winners Ian Case and & David Elendune comes this lovingly curated multiverse mix tape, jam-packed with tales of lost astronauts, ray guns, robots, & bug-eyed monsters.
Badges and Bullets
HB PRODUCTIONS
Victoria, BC
Written/Created by: Mitch and Jo Barnes
It’s 1942 and the world is in turmoil and so are the performers at CNB radio! Set during the Golden Age of Radio, this comedy takes the audience into the studio where panic ensues, chaos reigns, and the show must go on the air!
Tree
NATASHA MERCADO
Los Angeles, USA
Written/Created by: Natasha Mercado and Deanna Fleysher
An immersive comedy experience that’s part clown show, part game show, part philosophical discussion on humanity. Tree leads “the forest” through different scenarios of what it means to be truly alive. A lovable gaze into a spiralling staircase of existentialism with surprising, yet inevitable, turns.
Ouroboros
HOLLOW HOUND ARTS COLLECTIVE
Victoria, BC
Written/Created by: Logan Swain & Conor Farrell
For centuries weary wanderers have visited the ‘Shrine of the Ouroboros’ to trade their stories for a new beginning. The Ouroboros must now recall which memories are their own and which were told to them by others. What story would you tell the Ouroboros?
Drag Me to the Opera
STEVEN MORTON
Calgary, AB
Written/Created by: Steven Morton
Aida Cupcake is hitting operatic highlights and high notes in this autobiographical review about how a young tenor ended up at the fringe in a dress. “This little show is DYNAMITE!” – Louis Hobson, CALGARY THEATRE CRITIC
