Tag: Tragicomedy

Diary of a Madman Unleashes Pure Rebellion at Victoria Fringe Festival 2026!

Clayton Jevne gives a mesmerizing performance in Diary of a Madman, but this minimalist adaptation expects audiences to know Gogol’s original story.

Diary of a Madman
Playing at the Victoria Fringe Festival 2026. Buy your tickets here.

Produced by Clayton Jevne

Despite the wild grey hair and unhinged grin, the promotional posters for Diary of a Madman at the Victoria Fringe Festival aren’t about Rasputin. Had the show been about him, I’d be deeply invested since this guy was more than an occultist. He was a seer. Well, that’s just my interpretation. Clayton Jevne plays Aksenty Ivanovich Poprishchin, the low-ranking clerk who tries to win Sophie’s favour and impress others above his station. But this lengthy one-man monologue requires some knowledge of Nikolai Gogol’s short story of the same name to fully appreciate the show.

Essentially, we’re watching this man go completely and utterly “mad.” What stands out is how quickly he becomes alienated from society, while nobody believes anything he says.

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What Does A Robot Dreams of is not Necessarily Life, Love and Happiness

Yoda would certainly mince the words around after watching this surreal look at the relationships of animal-kind and machine in Robot Dreams.

Robot Dreams Movie PosterSpoiler Alert

In Robot Dreams, a dog’s best friend is not a man. Instead, it’s in what can be made out of mechanical parts and the hope that parting is not sweet sorrow. In this anthropomorphic world, this canine (simply known as Dog) has no friends. I had questions regarding why this is so. There’s no backstory. My guess is that this mutt is a loner.

And after building Robot, life doesn’t seem as bleak. They hold hands and do things people dating would do, like go dancing in the park. There are even some questionable occasions which made me think he ordered a mail-order bride. It may be answered in the graphic novel this film is based on, but as I haven’t read it, I’ll have to find out!

From a technical perspective, this animation is really well done and as for what the artists had in mind for some sequences, I assume dog has fetishes that’s thankfully been edited out.

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