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[Victoria Fringe Festival ’15] Exploring the Meaning of Bear Dreams, A Review

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

BearDreams VENUE:
Metro Studio Theatre
1411 Quadra St.
Victoria, BC

The geek in me really has to ask: do androids dream of electric sheep? Can bears even recall what they ate last winter? When they hibernate, just what motor functions truly shut down? If I’m beginning to sound like Jerry Seinfeld, I apologize, but I just have to get this indulgence out of my system. The reason why I ask these questions is because the world created by Ian Ferrier is not about the future but is in regards to Canada’s past. The themes found in Bear Dreams are very closely related to Philip K. Dick‘s tale in how animal species are disappearing. Here, the question of what European colonization of this new world has done to the wilderness for these creatures, First Nations tribes included, is explored. In what I’ve noticed, the creatures are symbolic of a heritage being destroyed and must be recovered.

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[Victoria Fringe Festival ’15] Haunting the Stage with Hitodama, A Review

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Hitodrama

LOCATION:
The Roxy Theatre
2657 Quadra Street
Victoria, BC

SHOWTIMES:
Aug 31 | 7:45 pm
Sept 2 | 7:45 pm
Sept 5 | 3:45 pm
Sept 6 | 8:45 pm

DURATION: 60 minutes

If you love scary campfire ghost stories told in the vein of Tales of the Crypt, then Hitodama is one fun play to see. This title is also the Japanese name of what Westerners know as Will-o’-the-wisps and they are far more sentient. This production from Mochinosha (also known as The Wishes Mystical Puppet Company) will certainly show how well versed the producers are in the lore from the land of the rising sun. They also performed the raunchy show Oni at last year’s Fringe using the same techniques as before. They use paper cut-outs to create shadows on a silver screen and this style is very àpropos when considering how the supernatural is often perceived. As an avid paranormal enthusiast, I wanted to see this show as fast as humanly possible. But even on premiere night, which was last Friday, the only way I could have made it is if I had a doppelgänger. As long as it was psychically connected to me, my third eye would know all.

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[Victoria Fringe Festival ’15] Camel Camel, I Got Your Back, A Review

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

CamelCamel

VENUE:
Metro Studio Theatre
1411 Quadra St.
Victoria, BC

PERFORMANCE DATES:
Sept 1 | 8:15 pm
Sept 2 | 6:30 pm
Sept 4 | 8:45 pm
Sept 5 | 4:00 pm

LENGTH: 60 minutes

I’m surprised that reference to Ukrainian poet Oleg Navolska and his works are not accessible online. When the Fringe Theatre play Camel Camel is loosely based on his writings, something of his work should be available somewhere to look at. While I have yet to hit the University of Victoria campus library to see if any librarian (or a Professor of Ukrainian studies) knows of him, I have hope the source material is somewhere. I’m fascinated with the Surrealist movement and when this style has influenced various mediums (art, film and literature), I certainly want to know more.

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[Victoria Fringe Festival ’15] God is a Scottish Drag Queen 2, A Review

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

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VENUE:
Downtown Activity Centre
755 Pandora Ave.
Victoria, BC

LENGTH: 60 minutes

Honestly, what can I say about Mike Delamont that I haven’t said before? This master of comedy has a quick wit and love for pop culture to make his show, God is a Scottish Drag Queen II, a joy to see. I reviewed the first version many years ago when it premiered at the 2011 Fringe. It’s reprinted below and what I said then still applies now to his wonderful stand up comedy act. Over the years, this institute of the Victoria theatrical entertainment scene has taken his act on the road and slips into the role (or should I say dress robes?) easily. He also answers why the show hasn’t emerged earlier; when Fringe selection happens by lottery, he had to wait until his submission was finally pulled out of the hat.

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[Victoria Fringe Festival ’15] Waking to a New Dreamscape – Tales Told Through Dance, A Review

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Dreamscape-300x300
VENUE: Metro Studio Theatre
1411 Quadra St.
Victoria, BC

LENGTH: 55 minutes

Just what kind of dreams will emerge out of the human imagination? Some imagery is personal and others are symbolic. In what was presented by Viva Dance Company, it’s wholly about the experience and what feelings remain after the mind and body awakens from its trip through the Astral Plane. In this case, it’s in what people feel after leaving the show.

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[Victoria Fringe Festival ’15] The Wyrd is Nine! A Review

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

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VENUE:
Metro Studio Theatre
1411 Quadra St.
Victoria, BC

LENGTH: 45 minutes

Not to be confused with other variations (the Canadian band of the same name or Terry Pratchett’s sixth Discworld novel), The Wyrd Sisters by DamnSpot Theatre is an all new take on William Shakespeare’s seminal trio of witches or soothsayers who have appeared in various works. Whatever they are called, these ladies of the mystic arts do more than manipulate the men this playwright is casting as the ‘hero.’ From Caesar to Macbeth, just what tugs at the heart of these soldiers are not their ability to cajole their heart, but rather in how Fate can be cruel.

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