Category: Theatre

[Victoria Fringe 2023] Introducing Pico’s Puppet Palace and Their Second Play, Pico and the Golden Lagoon

Balancing deliverying positive messages about how to respect the earth can be challenging, and in what Pico and the Golden Lagoon delivers balances family friendly entertainment with a message for all ages.

Sally Miller and Pico, Together, Forever

Pico and the Golden Lagoon continues in what Pico’s Puppet Palace excels in, to prove that you don’t have to depend on buying products to create puppets and items needed for their show. This regional theatre duo who wants to teach children the importance of environmentalism and being kind to one another.

This biplane pilot who does parcel deliveries around the world gets into some crazy situations! Although he only has two pulp style adventures under his belt, I’m sure more tales are planned. After the successful Pico Under the Coral Sea which toured Vancouver Island and beyond to great success, to have another tale detailing his life in the skies is the next logical step.

During a mail run, this aviator’s plane is nearly out of gas. He’s lucky to land safely by a deserted island, but when he realises he’s alone, that’s not good! Not even the local fauna, who amusingly can talk, want to help. He’ll have to make a smoke signal or hope someone lives in the cabin he spotted while descending. All of that is amusing, but if they don’t have fuel, how will he leave?

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[Victoria Fringe 2023] Renfield, or Dining at the Bughouse – A Review

Sometimes, you just have to dive deep into the madness that created Renfield, or Dining at the Bughouse as it takes a bite at what created him, even before meeting Dracula!

Renfield or, Dining at the BughouseBram Stoker’s Dracula has left an indelible impression on pop culture, and there are many ways to read into the tale. For playwright Bill Zaget (who also performed this show at Montreal Fringe), what he’s taken from it is a new way to present the madman who declared this vampire, “Master!” In Renfield, or Dining at the Bughouse, this performer gives this character a life that’s different from what I recall from the book. By stripping away the world, what he recounts of his childhood (which has never been told before) is haunting.

While some people may get bothered by the allusions to child abuse and sexual misconduct, thankfully it’s just fiction. The story is told from the point of view of him regressing to a point of view of an eight-year-old. At other times, an insectoid perspective (basically, what he ate) gets used. As a result, I can’t help but be reminded of classical myths where these bugs are revered and even feared for one reason or another. They often lead to a chrysalis, a metamorphosis, to a new state of mind. What Zaget offers is mesmerising when he gets to that point with the stories presented within a story.

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A Nerd’s Guide to the 2023 Victoria Fringe Festival

A lot more shows are offered in this year’s Victoria Fringe Festival, and fans can delight in this guide that’s sure to satisfy fans of pop culture!

Victoria Fringe Festival 2023 PosterThe annual Victoria Fringe Festival to close off the summer is looking bigger than before! That’s because previous years had the event scaling itself in accordance with BC Health rules, but now that life has settled back to where it must exist, I can’t wait to check out this year’s event. There’s now more touring shows, so for those who can’t plan to visit this garden city, there’s always the Vancouver version or the one near your locale!

The following is my nerd’s guide, and are arranged in no particular order. The links go to show dates and how to purchase tickets.

Dave and Jon’s Mixtape

Dave and Jon's MixtapeAug 24 05:00 pm
Aug 25 08:15 pm
Aug 26 02:15 pm
Aug 27 03:45 pm
Sep 02 04:30 pm

Dave and Jon are talented Improv artists, and by combining that with music, this show will no doubt be interesting to see. Just what kind of curves can be thrown at them depends on whether they can combine Ozzy with Pee Wee Herman, and anything else audiences can throw at them.

https://www.djmixtape.ca/

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Believe it or Not, Satan Wants You in this documentary about the Satanic Panic

The journey undertaken by Sean Horlor and Steve Adams to discover why Satan Wants You doesn’t necessarily begin and end with a book titled Michelle Remembers. Instead, there may be more to this story that’ll be added to in the future.

Satan Wants You Directors Sean Horlor and Steve Adams Photo Credit Grady MitchellPlaying at select Canadian
cinemas beginning August 11, 2023.

Local screening at The Vic (808 Douglas St.)
Aug 13, 2023 5:15pm

After Fantasia Film Festival 2023, the rest of Canada (especially the residents of Victoria, BC) are next in line to get a screening of Sean Horlor and Steve Adams‘ compelling documentary, Satan Wants You. Both filmmakers got their start in different sectors of the entertainment industry before finally getting together to make edgier works. Horlor was the co-host and creator of Don’t Quit Your Gay Job, and he teamed up with Adams to make Someone Like Me, for the National Film Board of Canada. Afterwards, they decided to look at the Satanic Panic as what should they produce together.

Although much of that was fuelled by the publication of Michelle Remembers, just how much of it is fact and other fiction depends on who you ask. What these self-taught filmmakers have uncovered in their research reveals a lot more than just a plan to capitalise on the spiritual xenophobia which existed evey before the book was published.

But for Horlor and Adams who’ve certainly done their research, just how they connect the dots will have some theologians wanting to double-check their sources, and others perhaps even more curious in why we’re attracted to such narratives. I got a chance to talk to them prior to the debut at the Montreal based film festival, and ask about how this film came to be and how it connects to pop culture.

What made you decide to focus specifically on Michelle Remembers and how it started the Satanic Panic?

SH: I grew up in Victoria, BC, right after that got published. Growing up here meant hearing all the talk. At one point, they lived 10 minutes down the road from where I lived, and it wasn’t until 30 years later when we started looking at it again. That’s when I realised Michelle and Larry’s book ended up touching the lives of millions and millions of people around the world.

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The Guardians of Wonder are Ready to Strike at Hollywood Fringe!

It’s Fringe Festival season and while its rare to have a show truly dedicated to otakus, Alicein Project wants to change all that with The Guardians of Wonder!

The Guardians of Wonder LOGOIn Los Angeles, the Fringe Theatre scene is even more spectacular when considering the range of talent who have learned the Arts here. The Hollywood Fringe Festival is world renowned! And they will be hosting The Guardians of Wonder, an anime themed spectacular, spectacular by Alicein Project! 

This team is better known for their stage adaptation of the popular video game “NieR:Automata,” and “YoRHa” series. It promises to fuse everything fans adore from anime, manga and video games into one really big show, if we’re to borrow a phrase from Ed Sullivan. 

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All You Need is ♡ to be Whisked Away By Spirited Away: Live on Stage’s Magical Adventure

When a wide-shot was cut to, the thought of viewing Spirited Away: Live on Stage, from the best seats in the house crossed my mind.

Spirited Away: Live on StageRemaining showtimes: April 27 & May 2
Please check GKIDS official website for a theatre near you.

The next time Spirited Away: Live on Stage is offered for the authentic experience, I’m booking a trip! It played at Tokyo’s historic Imperial Theatre in 2022, and had a rotating cast. Kanna Hashimoto and Mone Kamishiraishi played the title role, and both performances were committed to tape in front of a live audience.

As part of GKIDS‘ annual commitment to celebrate the works of Studio Ghibli, the recorded show is making its USA debut this year. I was fortunate to time my trip to Seattle right so I can see it. Part of the reason for not being available in other countries may be due to licensing. A home video release is expected, but there’s no official announcement yet. I want to see both.

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