It’s become an annual tradition! Each September when the Vancouver Fringe Festival (Sep. 5-15, 2019) presents its theatrical buffet, we invite members of sketch comedy troupe Assaulted Fish to share their preview picks for the festival. (You can check out their previous previews here.)
This year for the Fringe’s 35th anniversary, Marlene Dong is on solo preview duty because Kuan Foo recently joined the Fringe’s board of directors, where he’ll be helping to advance the society’s equity, diversity and inclusion work. The Fringe’s vision is “Theatre for Everyone” and that’s what we try to offer with Marlene’s preview picks for 2019.
She’ll also be doing capsule reviews of some of the shows she’s seeing. Visit the Assaulted Fish website or follow them on Facebook and Twitter during this year’s run.
Happy Fringing!
4.48 Psychosis (Ruckus Theatre Collective, 18+)
In her short life, Sarah Kane gained a reputation as one of the most provocative and controversial playwrights to come out of England in the 1990s. 4.48 Psychosis was her last play and consists of fragmented episodes based on the author’s experiences with depression that are written without specifying cast and/or stage directions. The Ruckus Theatre Collective will be staging 4.48 Psychosis with a trio of actors who will allocate the text in the moment, making each night’s performance different. A challenging work by one of the most important English playwrights of the late 20th century.
AI Love You (Exit Productions, 14+)
Artificial intelligence (AI) is top-of-mind for me thanks in part to a Philosophers’ Jam hosted by Langara College in June entitled, “Fools or Monsters”, where participants discussed moral questions surrounding AI. The timely remount of Exit Production’s AI Love You sounds like the perfect conversation-extender. Billed as a choose-your-own-story, interactive theatre experience, the show explores the boundaries between humans and AI. As the audience member, you’ll observe a seemingly regular couple on stage and be asked to decide whether the will of a robot should ever override the will of a human.
Amelie, A New Musical (West Moon Theatre, all ages)
What a fabulous destiny for Amelie Poulain fans! Chris Lam directs the Vancouver premiere of the musical version of Amelie, the 2001 film made famous by Audrey Tautou. Lam is Fringe-prolific, having previously directed Bondage (2017) and critically-acclaimed The Nether (2016). He’ll also be participating in the stage reading of we the same, part of the Festival’s Advance Theatre of New Works by Diverse Women. (Full disclosure: Chris is a former member of Assaulted Fish.)
Dandelion (Life & Depth, all ages)
Aaron Malkin, one half of the Fringe-favourite comedic duo James & Jamesy, performs this solo rumination on fatherhood. As Malkin delves into the imagination of his five-year-old, you can expect top-notch physical comedy, improvised interactions with the audience, and a moving, engaging, immersive theatre experience. Go get warm and fuzzy.
Dissection of a Indian Aboriginal First Nation Indigenous Native Full-Blood Status Non-Status Halfbreed Métis Rez Urban Mixed Heritage Woman (Nyla Carpentier, 14+)
As suggested by the title, North Vancouver’s Nyla Carpentier has a lot of identities. These include playwright/actor/storyteller/singer/dancer/poet, so expect them all to be on full display in this very personal exploration of her multifaceted Indigenous heritage.
Fake Ghost Tours 2 (Whells Phargo, 14+)
I’m here to tell you from experience: buy your tickets early for the shows you want to see. Last year, I dragged my heels and missed out on the first Fake Ghost Tours led by ghost-hunting twin brothers Abdul Aziz and Shawn O’Hara. This year, I’ll be following this hilarious duo as they scare up more tales from the shadowy corners of Granville Island.
Fool Muun Komming! [BeBgWunderful/YEsyes/4sure.Hi5. TruLuv;Spank Spank:SOfun_Grate_Times] (Sam Kruger, 14+)
Blessed with a title so wonderfully bizarre that I had to copy and paste it rather than trying to transcribe it, this monologue/mime/lucid dream/acid trip/alien love letter to humanity by Minneapolis-based performer Sam Kruger has been racking up great reviews on the festival circuit this year. Expect absurdist word play, physical comedy and a compelling, dynamic performer.
Inescapable and You Belong Here (Martin Dockery, all ages)
Sometimes the Vancouver Fringe Festival can seem like a whole bunch of guys doing comedic monologues. So if you’re going to see one, why not see one of the best? Martin Dockery is a perennial Fringe stalwart, and I try to catch him every time he comes into town. This time he’s bringing two shows: a monologue, You Belong Here, a “comically neurotic true story about the Forbidden City that’s about everything but the Forbidden City,” and a two-hander, Inescapable, a “comedic thriller that plays with our sense of time and identity”.
Lift (Awkward Stage Productions, 14+)
Who hasn’t been stuck in an elevator with a menagerie of characters and stories to share afterwards? Lift is set in London’s Covent Garden Tube Station and is billed as having “a rich, complex contemporary rock score and powerhouse vocals.” I always enjoy the musical productions by Awkward Stage. Even when the story doesn’t age well (e.g. 2015’s Dogfight), the shows are well cast, well acted and well produced. Their production of Cry-Baby saw sold-out shows during the 2017 Vancouver Fringe Festival and they went on to win Pick of the Fringe honours. In other words, get your tickets early.
Rape is Real & Everywhere (Rape is Real & Everywhere, 18+)
There’s a school of thought that says the essence of theatre and live performance is risk and this production certainly asks some extremely high-risk questions: Can jokes about sexual violence ever be funny and even if they are, is it okay to laugh at them? What if those jokes are written and told by stand-up comedians who are survivors of sexual violence? For the last few years, RIR&E has been touring the country with a changing cast of stand-ups telling jokes, exploring these questions and challenging conventional ideas of survivor-hood (this version features Ryan Lachance, Jane Stanton, Amanda Smith, Vanessa Woznow and Emma Cooper). Obviously, this may not be for everyone, but it’s an important conversation to be having in a day and age when all too often the only people joking about sexual violence are the perpetrators. (Trigger warning: It’s right there in the title.)
Red (John Logan, 14+)
When I was in London, I spent hours in the Tate Modern Gallery standing inches away from Mark Rothko’s “Seagram” murals and getting lost in the subtle washes of dark red and brown. John Logan’s Tony award-winning play, Red, tells the fascinating story of how these majestic paintings came to be and the impact their creation had on the artist.
The Russian Play (Lovecat Theatre, 14+)
I recently read Canadian playwright Hannah Moscovitch’s The Russian Play and I think it’s one of those works that needs to be both seen and read, which is why I’m looking forward to this Vancouver-based production. The Russian Play tells the story of Sonya, a flower-shop girl who falls in love with a gravedigger named Piotr. With their romance set against Stalinist Russia but told from sardonic Sonya’s point of view, expect satire, humour and heartbreak.
Check out the full schedule and enjoy Vancouver Fringe Festival 2019!
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