Catching the shows
From Marcus Fernando
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Loading ...Good morning Fringers!
Don’t you just love the word “Penultimate”? I mean, it’s such a useful word, isn’t it? The only other way you could express the same meaning is: “The one before the last”, or “second to last”, or something like that. “Penultimate” makes it sound…I don’t know…more cool!
Anyway, here we are on the Penultimate day of the Fringe. Where has it all gone? Eleven days of Frantic Fringe-ing, eleven days of fervent flyering and persistent postering, and now the party is nearly over. Penultimate. But hey! That means we still have TWO DAYS TO GO! Let’s party! The fun is not yet over! Mind you, by the time you get to read this, it will probably be nearly the final day. The ULTIMATE!
Well, at least I managed to get to a few more shows over the past couple of days. “Manners for Men” by Justin, from Screwed and Clued, was very entertaining. A bitter-dark comedy, but nicely told, and with great commitment to Physical Theatre and Mime. Very well done…and a nice blast from the past: happy memories of performing “The Mysterious Mr Love” in that venue way back in 2002!
We also managed to catch “Boxhead”; a tale for children about a boy who (quite literally) loses his head. We so much wanted to catch this show partly for the Physical Theatre and Mask work (both of which Tina is particularly interested in), but also because we kept on meeting the hard-working Todd around the Fringe site. In fact, he was one of the first Fringe Artists we met this year. The show was a lot of fun…and most importantly: the kids loved it!
Next show up was “Pitch Blond” over at the Cabaret Lounge. Again, an interesting and thought-provoking play, telling a true story from the American “witch hunt” years. Nicely performed, though a little self-restricting through extended use of recorded soundtrack, which rather limited how much the show could be adapted to allow for the different reactions of audiences. However, it was still a good show, and maybe all the more disturbing because of the fact that in some ways we’re not so very far from that sort of thought-bullying today.
And then, of course, we managed to see “Full Frontal Nudity”. A title suited to any half-decent Fringe, but in fact there was nothing of the sort in the the drama. Directed by the lovley Jim de Felice, it featured a cast of 4, and some nicely judged performances, and delightfully simple staging.
Sadly, we weren’t able to fit David Belke’s “The Maltese Bodkin” into the schedule, but we’re hoping to get to see his new work “A Final Whimsey” tomorrow, before our final show.
And that, as they say, will be that. The end of another Fringe. I may not have seen as many shows as I have managed to see in the past, but I’d have to say that all the shows I’ve seen have been good. Some, indeed, have been excellent. And which of all the shows I’ve seen has been the best? Well, I can’t really say. It’s all only a matter of opinion, after all…
A la prochaine!
FERNANDO
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About Marcus: I trained in archaeology and drama: how wierd is that?! Launched into the big bad world of acting, and 25 years later I'm still at it, and still running our theatre company "Dreamscape". However...on the way I also ventured into journalism. Worked for the BBC for a while as a radio journalist, and trained in photography.Still doing that. In fact I have a photographic gallery in Croatia, which I run with my partner Tina. Writing?..oh yes. I've written several plays, two screenplays, some short stories, a series of political sketches...and my e-mail newsletter "The Canada Chronicles' is still going after 10 years. Oh...and I'm British, but don't hold that against me. |
Tags: Edmonton, Fringe Festival, recommended, Reviews, Shows
