Tag: Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival

[Victoria Fringe Festival 2018] Confessions of an Operatic Muse, A Review

Confessions of a Operatic MuseLocation: 
VCM Wood Hall
917 Pandora Avenue
*Victoria, BC

Remaining shows:
Sat Sept 1-9pm
Sun Sept 2-8:15pm

* Spoiler Alert

Canadian Comedy Award recipient Briane Nasimok had quite the life. His play, Confessions of an Operatic Mute is very autobiographical, and this playwright told me he does want to set this performance into a book. From a very young age of 8, he fell in love with theatre. He is perhaps best known as Ambrogio in The Barber of Seville when it played at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto. This character did not sing. His talent is unique such that in opera, mutes are essentially movie extras. Thankfully, he has done other work in the entertainment industry. Other credits include writing for YTV’s Uh Oh!

Continue reading “[Victoria Fringe Festival 2018] Confessions of an Operatic Muse, A Review”

[Victoria Fringe Festival 2018] The Wilds are more than Flights of Fancy, A Review

Confessions of a Operatic MuseLocation:
Metro Studio Theatre
1411 Quadra Street
Victoria, BC

Remaining Shows:
Aug 29, 8:15 pm
Aug 30 7:30 pm
Sep 1, 12:15 pm
Sep 2, 3:00 pm

  • Spoiler Alert

Victoria, BC is now the base for Wonderheads, a physical theatre company known for their puppet style theatre. They wear full head masks and also make use of minimalist set pieces to tell their tales. I remember seeing Grim and Fischer years ago and this act returns for one night only, November 8th, 2018. These shows have a wonderful mystique to them, and the tales are often enduring.
Continue reading “[Victoria Fringe Festival 2018] The Wilds are more than Flights of Fancy, A Review”

2018 Victoria Fringe Festival Sherlock Holmes, Where are You? & The Curse of Moriarty

nullLocation:
Langham Court Theatre
805 Langham Ct
Victoria, BC

Remaining Showtimes:
Aug 26, 4:30pm
Aug 31, 9:00pm
Sept 1, 4:00pm

  • Spoiler Alert

Tickets can be purchased online here.

Outpost 31‘s theatrical productions are a regular feature at the Victoria Fringe Festival, and I hope room is always going to be made for their shows. This year will see them expanding beyond, with their take on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein at Theatre Inconnu. Their productions have a wonderful sense of connecting with the sensibilities from the era to which they are set in. With Winnie the Pooh, children were hiding from the chaos of World War I; the stories they were telling each other saw stuffed dolls come to life. To present Casino Royale with sounds effects recreated live made me revisit old time radio. Leer simply made Hell look sexy.

This year, this theatre company is looking at everything Sir Arthur Conan Doyle imbued into the character of Sherlock Holmes. Was he just simply overzealous? Was he mad? Just what makes this character tick? Just who he is gets explored for half of the play. From his first meeting of him to those final days, apparently, M15 (a secret service, and yes, from James Bond) is asking where did he disappear off to? Through flashbacks, the story unfolds as a trip through memory lane.

Continue reading “2018 Victoria Fringe Festival Sherlock Holmes, Where are You? & The Curse of Moriarty”

Fado, the Saddest Music in the World Hits High Notes at the 2018 Victoria Fringe Festival

Confessions of a Operatic MuseLOCATION:
White Eagle Polish Hall
90 Dock Street
Victoria, BC

DATES:
Aug 26, 28-31 8:00pm
Sept 01 8:00pm

One style of folk music from Portugal has a rich and very colourful history. Fado rose out of the political climate of the mid-19th century, and it was not until the 1970s when it came into wider acceptance. The New Statesman has a terrific overview of this history, and despite its auspicious beginnings, today’s generation embraced it and it became the song of a nation. Puente Theatre took on the challenge of dispelling the myths and explaining the generational divide in Fado, the Saddest Music in the World. This task did not go unnoticed when I went their opening night show at the Victoria Fringe Festival.

Continue reading “Fado, the Saddest Music in the World Hits High Notes at the 2018 Victoria Fringe Festival”

A Nerd’s Guide to the 2018 Victoria Fringe Festival

2018 Victoria Fringe FestivalI generally do not limit myself to the oddities which catch my interest at the 2018 Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival. The following are my nerdy style picks of the season, and only represent a part of the wide spectrum of delights offered. There are a few other shows which I plan to see, and hopefully, I can catch them all. No Pokemon GO references are expected this year but I have my reasons to be at each show early. The game continues with thanks to the die-hards, and I found my first Dragonite and Lapras before a show. Even told a group of performers where I found the latter, and they went chasing after one too. Yes, I’m wondering if this streak will continue.

For those who are not coming to this city for this celebration, most of these companies are touring and may well hit a celebration located near you. The season started a few months ago and stretch into the Autumn.

Disclaimer: Some of these shows use coarse language and are 18+

Continue reading “A Nerd’s Guide to the 2018 Victoria Fringe Festival”