The 31st Annual Victoria Fringe Festival is upon us and reached the mid-way point. New shows are coming and they will be previewed tonight at the Metro Studio 10pm.
In what I saw over the past couple of days, I’m offering an index of the reviews to which I have published on Otaku’s sister blog, Two Hungry Blokes, instead of copying the content over. If any of them sound interesting, most of these shows are touring and will soon hit a local Fringe Theatre Festival near you. Please check your local arts bulletin for the nearest city and dates.
Throughout the years, Paper Street Theatre have always shown that they have a lot of fun on stage.
Location: Victoria Event Center 1415 Broad St.
Upcoming Dates:
Aug 28 8:30 pm
Aug 30 7:15 pm
Aug 31 7:15 pm
Sep 02 3:45 pm
Throughout the years, Paper Street Theatre have always shown that they have a lot of fun on stage. Whether that is during the Victoria Fringe Festival, at Gottacon (now defunct) or at Intrepid Theatre‘s own studio, I discovered them through An Improvised Quentin Tarantino back in 2013. They made a sequel in 2016. The latter could have been sooner if not for the nature for how Fringe Festival shows are selected, by lottery. Afterwards, I saw their Improv Dungeons and Dragons show twice. When looking at their upcoming season, I’m excited to see how they will be playing with the Zombie genre come Christmas and pay tribute to Ray Bradbury. Not to be forgotten, Agatha Christie is also going to be improvised.
The 2017 Victoria Fringe Festival has one show where any paranormal enthusiast must not miss. Fake Ghost Tours will no doubt tickle the funny bone in its satire of an industry that I feel has gone too far. I will say more on this later. After picking up a program guide and thumbing through, I have found my picks for this year.
With no surprise, Mystical Wishes Puppet Company, has been invited back with two productions later this year, in November, with special performances of Shadow Performances and Space Hippo. Although listed as part of the Fringe show, they bear honourable mention to mark the calendar for.
But for the week of August 23 to Sept 3rd, there’s plenty of variety to enjoy. But I have to begin with a fuller reveal of my top choice:
This walking tour of old Victoria is set to expand your mind and open your wallet (like, who has not experienced this problem before with pay-for ghost hunts?) as amateur ghost hunters Abdul Aziz and Shawn O’Hara take you on a “100% accurate” and legitimate look at the old quarters of this city? Plenty of criticism has been made about what you see on television as potentially faked, but what you have to experience it for real?
Will this show go extreme, like with a particular fun-filled version of the Ghost Walks which take place come Halloween? Or, will we get to laugh at the absurdity of seeing how some scares are manufactured. I will be showing up with a few of the tools most modern day ghost hunters use, so audiences should be aware – a wrench may be thrown in to tell all.
Note: the meeting point for this show is in Bastion Square near the Old Maritime Museum.
Metro Studio Theatre
1411 Quadra Street
Victoria, BC
Showtimes:
Aug 25th 10:30pm
Aug 26th 1:15pm
Aug 27th 6:30pm
Aug 28th 8.45pm
Sept 2nd 3:45pm
Sept 3rd 1:00pm
The 2017 Victoria Fringe Festival will soon take over this Garden City located on Vancouver Island, and Outpost 31 (Casino Royale, Winnie the Pooh) is back with the world premiere of Leer. David Elendune wrote and directed this tale which looks into the deepest layer of Hell, where Satan is female (played by Wendy Magahay, known for Jocasta Regina and The Old Lady’s Guide to Survival) and has three daughters — Lilith (Ellen Law), Beelzebub (Amber Landry) and Asmodeus (Wendy Cornock) — to tend to. The cast also includes Pan (Caroline Mackenzie) and Belphegor (Leanne Allen).
Magahay explained why she took on the role: “I’m a mother, so I’m used to making scary choices. Because it’s a terrific story and actors can’t resist good stories. Because it’s gender-bent and provides a new and important lens. And sadly, because mad dictators seem never to go out of style!”
If only the 2010 remake of the classic 1981 movie Clash of the Titans was told differently, like as an interpretative dance, then I’d be more receptive to the end product! Kamloops’ based Chimera Theatre is an aptly named company to take on retelling the myth of Perseus and Andromeda at the 2016 Victoria Fringe Festival.
To see when they will take this show on the road again, Andrew G. Cooper (who composed the fantastic new age soundscape and did the choreography) advised keeping an eye on this group’s webpage. Next up will be The Disordered Mind by Cooper, playing from September 9th to October 30th, 2016. Tickets will become available through http://www.kamloopslive.ca
Location:
By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)