So how do you review a gazillion Fringe plays when you're a weekly that publishes the day after the festival opens and three days before it ends?

You put all your reviews on the web is how... and publish the best in the paper, which is exactly what we're doing.

After five days of Fringe action (before our publication deadline), the reviews you'll find in the July 24 issue of Uptown are of the best plays our reviewers had seen.

The rest of our reviews are being posted as they are written (OK, not quite) right here on our website at uptownmag.com. Our writers will be filing here until Monday, the day after the festival closes. Be sure to check back often, as this list will be updated daily.

Reviews by: Marlo Campbell, Liz Hover, John Kendle, Mike Sherby, Amanda Stefaniuk, Barb Stewart, Jared Story, John Towns and Jen Zoratti

All reviews are presented in alphabetical order according to show title

Last updated: Monday, July 28

A
A Brief History of Petty Crime
The Roodie Pancake Experiment
Venue 5
Jimmy Hogg proves you don't need other actors, props, a set of any kind - or even shoes - to create great theatre. Crossing the pond from the U.K. for his first appearance in Winnipeg, Hogg is sharp as a whip and effortlessly charming as he recounts stories of his formative years spent as a juvenile delinquent with a penchant for shoplifting and a whole lot of bad karma. Hogg is instantly likable, and the rapport he's able to build with the audience allows him the luxury of flubbing his lines occasionally and getting away with it (although it could be argued that he's actually at his most endearing when he breaks character and simply interacts with the room). Oh yeah, he has a cool accent, too.
- MC

B
A Midsummer Night's FEVER! The 10th Anniversary Show
Leithelle Productions
Venue 6
If William Shakespeare lived during the 1970s, do you think he would do a little dance, make a little love, you know, get down tonight? Leithelle Productions seems to think so, as it combines disco with The Bard's most playful work. It's basically the same romantic comedy of four Athenian lovers caught in a mixed-up love tangle because of a magic love potion, but in this case, instead of pansy juice it's the more Studio 54-appropriate cocaine. However, the plot is secondary, as FEVER is all about the boogie. The vocally adept cast shake, shake, shake though hits by ABBA, The Bee Gees, and even The Village People. The disco-fevered audience loved every tune, even clapping along to a few, like Gloria Gaynor's I Will Survive. While the acting was quite high school at times, and despite some bright moments, seemed just like filler between songs, FEVER stays alive on the strength of its songs.
- JS

C
A Party None the Less
Poet Master Productions
Venue 6
I'll admit I was excited when this play started. Three interesting people board an elevator for a party; a crazy old man in a fright wig, an uptight guy, and a cute girl dressed in drag. This party was going to be a blast! Except. this play wasn't about them. The senior lived on another floor, and any hope for a Just One of the Guys scenario was dashed when I realized the girl (marvelously played by Ali Tataryn) dressed in the best B-boy style was actually portraying a male, because the creators cast for talent rather than settle for a mediocre actor. Still, the few shining moments - such as Thomas Allan's drunken toilet soliloquy - suggest that there are better things to come in the future from the writing/directing team of Anna Jarosz and Steve McBey.
- AS

A+
Balls
Ten Foot Pole Productions
Venue 8
This is theatre at its best. Balls writer Rob Salerno has created a play that is both hilarious and extremely moving. The story follows two life-long best friends as they try to cope with the fact that one of them has testicular cancer. The writing is sharp, poignant, and hilarious, with Salerno capturing all the bravado and ribbing that goes on between two best friends perfectly. The two actors also flawlessly perform the show, drawing the audience in and holding it captive. Balls is so absorbing, you forget you're watching a play.
- MS

A-
Bat Boy: The Musical
Black Sheep Theatre
Venue 6
Fringe veterans Black Sheep Theatre do an outstanding job with the Off-Broadway cult hit Bat Boy: The Musical - a smart, strange and thoroughly entertaining comedy based on the Bat Boy of Weekly World News fame. Bat Boy: The Musical tells the story of Edgar, a half-bat, half-human who, despite heavy persecution from the folks in his small, East Virginia town, makes the transformation from wild animal to civilized society member. Zach Counsil is nothing short of perfect in the role of Edgar, giving a performance that was both endearing and hilarious. A well-executed show that exuded professionalism, Bat Boy: The Musical was in capable hands - even if a few voices warbled and the whole thing clocked in at a bloated 105 minutes.
- JZ

C
'Beth
Zero Sun Games
Venue 3
In this bizarre play inspired by Macbeth a mother (Angela Potvin) and her son (Vladimir Cara) hatch an ill-thought-out scheme to murder for money. Sadly, both actors are unconvincing in what is blatantly a hard script to begin with. Each actor plays two roles which is confusing and well, frankly a bit odd especially when they're talking to themselves in a mirror - which incidentally serves as an awkward prop as it's wheeled to and fro across the stage at appropriate intervals. There are brief moments when the actors hold their own but they're short-lived. Shakespeare this is not.
- LH

B
Blade
Theatre Anywhere
Venue 13
After being murdered by a serial killer nicknamed "the Hooker Killer" by Winnipeg's media, Angela sticks around to watch as her death - and the life she led before it - are defined and judged by people who have never even met her. Blade tries hard to make a statement about the intrinsic value of all women's lives and the way stereotypes can inform - or misinform - perceptions. But, while well-intentioned, it doesn't quite work. Angela's friends naively expect the media to accurately report facts without bias or sensationalism (seriously?) and their subsequent disillusionment is a little hard to swallow for anyone with even an iota of media literacy. Furthermore, clocking in at a mere 45 minutes, there's not enough time to develop empathy for any of the characters, save for Angela's mom - brilliantly played by Cheryl Soluk - whose anguish over the loss of her daughter is heart-wrenching. Even this is problematic, however, as Soluk's powerful performance outshines those of the other actors.
- MC

B+
BLAsT!
3 Sticks
Venue 2
Accomplished writer and performer Keira McDonald brings us into the world of disgraced astronaut Liza Novak in BLAst!, her newest play. For those who don't remember, Novak was the astronaut who drove across the country non-stop to confront her lover's mistress. McDonald takes this tabloid story and delves into it, trying to uncover the motives and emotions that lie behind the headlines. The play blends songs and multimedia sound clips into the story of Novak's interrogation in prison. McDonald is a skilled actor, and displays Novak's vulnerability through body language, only letting her finally speak at the end of the play. She's also quite the singer, and performs several hilarious musical numbers during her show, the funniest one being Astro-naughty.
- MS

B+
Boom
IL Productions
Venue 4
Boom writer and performer Andrew Connor has crafted a very interesting show. It's at times confusing, but if you can suspend your disbelief and get into it, it's a funny and rewarding experience. Part satire and part moral journey, the play follows a bomb maker living in a dystopian society. He's forced to make some ethical choices when a big company comes to town and starts building a new spaceport and taking over the city. Connor is smart enough to keep the bomb theme open-ended, yet still be able to tackle a number of issues. These range from the evils of privatizing public services to deciding how to use your talents. Connor excels at switching between the 10-odd characters in the show and keeps up a frantic pace. The only problem with the show was that a couple of Connor's characters voices sounded the same, and at times this caused confusion.
- MS

F
butterfly-bear
Canto Red Productions
Venue 6
butterfly-bear is basically four screwed up young people trying to navigate their way through life using music, drugs, sex with vagrants and some kind of vague aboriginal mysticism to help them. Frankly, I wish I had some - or all - of these things to help me navigate my way through this poorly written and executed mess. In fact, it almost seems as if there was no writer at all. It's like someone got up in front of the four actors and said: "Ok, we're going to do a play now - you're all tortured, young and have various vices, and you're trying to find healing or meaning in one another. Go to it! Oh, and don't forget to heap on the melodrama and metaphors, both
incomprehensible and painfully obvious. And make sure to mumble. Everyone loves not being able to hear what's being said." And away they went. The only bright spot is Ingrid Gatin's singing voice, which is of far too high a quality to appear in a production like this. This was an hour I could have spent doing something more useful, like hitting myself in the face with a shoe.
- JT

B+
Circumference
Awkward Moment Productions
Venue 3

This brutally honest one-woman show by Minneapolis native Amy Salloway tells of her lifelong struggle with her weight. Torturous junior high gym classes where she was teased mercilessly for finishing last in the Presidential Fitness Test and the lonely nights that come with a poor self-image have convinced Amy that a gastric bypass operation is the only chance for a "normal" life. Salloway is a charming performer, and assumes the quirky characters of her story easily - in particular, the spazzy junior high friend and the Super America clerk with the accent straight out of Fargo. She gives a high energy performance that spreads to the audience.
- AS

B-
Demons of the Mind
Theatre on TAP
Venue 4
With the dazzling physical work of Talia Pura at its core, Demons of the Mind is a haunting piece exploring one woman's horrendous struggle with madness and its tragic result.
Whether dangling from silks flowing from the ceiling or perched upon an aerial loop, Pura is captivating. Her steely strength is gorgeously counterbalanced by the graceful fluidity of her aerial dance, allowing her character Marie brief moments of liberation from the horrible weight of her mental demons, flying free from the nightmare of their grasp.
Given Pura's extraordinary physical abilities, it's disappointing the show's storytelling aspect, featuring Harry Nelken as a lawyer defending this lost soul who has murdered her own children, takes precedent over Pura's physical performance.
While the tale of Marie's descent into madness and her life-shattering crime are heartbreaking, there is little new ground being covered with a traditional narrative. What is exceptional is the beauty of implementing Pura's movements as part of the story, but this element seems woefully underused when its power is so singularly awe-inspiring.
- BS

A
Die Roten Punkte
Tobias & Bartholomew
Venue 1
Last year, I saw what was probably the funniest Fringe performance ever. And I'm not alone. Cue the woman behind me after this year's performance: "I think that's got to be the best fringe show of all time." Together Astrid Rot (Clare Bartholomew) and Otto Rot (Daniel Tobias) are Die Roten Punkte (The Red Dots, for those of you less familiar with German). They pretend they're from Berlin, but really they're an Australian comedy duo whose act is based around being in a rock band not unlike The White Stripes - except they tell more jokes. They sing, they play, they dance. And the audience loves them. I almost wet my pants last year. And I'm delighted to report they were pants-wettingly funny again. I implore you to see them. You will roar like a lion.
- LH

B+
Evelyn Reese's Family Room
Miss Reese Productions
Venue 2
I saw a short Evelyn Reese (Susan Fischer) sketch at the Fringe a couple of years ago and was not the least bit enamoured by this ridiculous chain-smoking, hand-bag swinging character. But in the name of fairness I agreed to give her a second chance this year. Imagine my surprise when I began to marvel at Fischer's brilliant writing and unwavering delivery during this solo show. Reese is vile, trashy, loud and flippin' hilarious. Dammit, I loved it! It seems that Reese isn't the kind of chick that makes a good first impression but get to know her properly and you'll learn to love her, smeared lipstick 'n all.
- LH

A
Evil Doers
TLS Theatre
Venue 5: Son of Warehouse
Exploring evil in 45 minutes is no easy task, given the thousands of forms the concept could take, real or imagined. Playwright Melanie Murray attempts to tackle the issue in an interesting way - by putting out a call for people to tell her their true stories of evils done to or by them, and distilling the stories into 13 vignettes, each exploring a different facet of what can be considered 'evil.' Evil Doers runs the gamut from murder to drug abuse to the depiction of evil in comic books, and it can be quite an intense and uncomfortable experience at times, although the heavier scenes are very wisely broken up by some comedic moments, presumably to keep the audience from feeling as if they need to go directly home and sit under a hot shower for hours. Daria Puttaert and Rob Vilar put forward very strong performances, seamlessly moving from evildoer to victim to innocent children and back again.
- JT

A
Fear of a Brown Planet
Third Man
Venue 10
When stand-up comics start their set with "on the flight over here" you know its complete bullshit, and they've had the upcoming joke in their repertoire for five to 10 years. That's not the case with Ottawa's Nile Séguin, who kicked things off with current cracks about uncomfortable Fringe Fest seats and his Fringe hosts in Wolseley. That's just how the half French-Canadian, half-Rwandan comedian operates, his conversational delivery being so natural that it really feels like he's just making it all up on the spot. Alas, the "milk-chocolate" comedian does have a bit, a damn good one in fact, exploring race and racism. Sure it's been done, but Séguin brings new life to the subject, straying far from the regular stereotypes, instead calling for peace, love and understanding. The audience seemed a little more enlightened after this one, maybe even feeling the need to confront its own prejudices (everybody's got them). Oh, and Séguin's really funny.
- JS

B+
FemMennonite 2: I Married a Jew
Saucy Gal Productions
Venue 11
Fringe fave Leigh-Anne Kehler returns with FemMennonite 2: I Married a Jew, the not-quite-a-sequel to 2006's Best of Fest hit FemMennonite - and clearly, from the sold-out show I attended, Fringers have come to know and love this girl. In this instalment, Kehler documents her real-life relationship with a Jewish filmmaker (who's played by a puppet), and their struggles with substantial cultural (and age) differences - and it's very, very funny. There's no shortage of clever one-liners about Mennonites and Jewish mother-in-laws - but they aren't cheap shots. Instead, Kehler offers up a genuinely funny, heart-warming one-woman show about love and understanding - but lest you think this is a syrupy after-school special, think again. There's a semi-uncomfortable puppet sex scene to spice things up.
- JZ


C
FREE-DUMB
Dog of Habit Productions
Venue 7
Dog of Habit describes its new sketch show production as a perfect post-beer-tent activity. It would be recommended to have a few beers before seeing this lukewarm comedy act. The actors were capable, but their Monty Python-esque skits were scattershot at best. The bits ranged from a pretty funny one about zombies to an unfunny bit about board games. The writing was solid, but the jokes tended to lean towards the predictable and the acting tended to be over the top when the jokes should have been left to stand for themselves. It wasn't terrible, but with so many great plays to see, why waste time on something that's merely adequate?
- MS

F
Guernica
Theatre Incarnate
Venue 20
The usually rock solid Theatre Incarnate makes a misstep with this free-form piece of physical theatre, in part inspired by Picasso's painting Guernica.
Such lofty inspiration falls completely flat in this wordless production. The cast, Delf Gravert, Brendan McLean and Mia Star van Leeuwen, writhe and grunt their way through a post-apocalyptic landscape littered with mannequin limbs and a woefully masked smoke machine. Feigning rape/sex, birth, violence and countless other "deep" subjects, the three's attempts at heartfelt artistic expression read more like a sketch comedy troupe's parody of such grandiose ideas - umbilical cord jump-rope anyone?
With all the subtlety of a teenage boy's wet dream, Guernica leaves the audience perplexed and uncomfortable with its amateurish attempt at art.
- BS

A
Hands Off
Hot Thespian Action
Venue 3
If Second City ever decided to set up shop in Winnipeg, it could hire Hot Thespian Action without tarnishing its good name. While this talented group works exceptionally well together, Jane Testar's Febreze-addicted housewife is one of the shining solo moments. Other highlights include running Reading Rainbow gags with books LeVar Burton would never recommend, and a scathing portrayal of a girls' night out at Applebee's. A visit to Hands Off is well worth your time - but you don't have to take my word for it.
- AS

B
How to Fake Clinical Depression
Daydream Productions
Venue 9
This autobiographical one-man show follows tanning salon employee and aspiring actor Steven Marrocco as he bluffs his way into being a test subject for a GlaxoSmithKline drug research trial in order to receive the $1,500 honorarium that comes with it. Along the way, Marrocco introduces us to an assortment of characters, including the Beverly Hills clinic staff who ply him with increasingly larger doses of anti-depressant and anti-psychotic medications, and several members of his family - all of whom are doped up on prescription cocktails of their own. Alas, How to Fake Clinical Depression falls short of being a provocative hard-hitting exposé of Big Pharma (a shame, really, given Marrocco's first-hand experience with it), but it's still a charming story with enough comedic zingers to make it worth your time.
- MC

A
Inflatable Buddha: Bigger Than Jesus!
Hammer & Tongue
Venue 6

This Brit ensemble led by comedian/poet Steve Larkin combines both music and comedy. The two work pretty well together - Steve is funny and the music is cool - even if it was hard to discern the lyrics sometimes. While Larkin clearly steers the show with quips and spoken word stuff, the support of his fellow musicians keeps things chugging along nicely - especially the divine Susanna Starling whose delicious voice, double-bass playing and matter-of-fact chat adds some chic to this beatnik clan. Of particular note is the song Fat Sex which Larkin says he wrote after thumbing through Cosmo in an ex-girlfriend's bathroom. Inflatable Buddha. promises to be back at the Fringe next year. Grab some pals, have a few drinks and spend an evening with these folks for a good ol' knees up.
- LH

B-
Jem Rolls: How I Stopped Worrying and Learnt to Love the Mall
Big Word Performance Poetry
Venue 14
There's no doubt Jem Rolls is blessed with keen talents as a poet and performer, obliterating any thoughts of the poet as a dewy-eyed sensitive soul who barely speaks above a whisper. And this philosophy-degree wielding Scotsman has a magnetic energy that keeps his audiences engaged and entertained. But one gets the feeling that with How I Stopped Worrying. Jem Rolls could do better. His angry and eloquent bursts about consumerism and the blind mania shopping can induce are intriguing, but Rolls tries to impose a narrative arc on the proceedings which is both unnecessary and unsuccessful and leaves the power of his words diluted.
At its best, Rolls' poetry gathers a hypnotic momentum which draws the audience into his philosophic excavation of the mall, but when he inexplicably careens into less poetic and more narrative structures, that momentum comes to a screeching halt. What we're left with feels like a flimsy attempt to make the show an appropriate length, which betrays the heart of his poetry.
- BS

C
Lester Gets KISSED
Magic Toaster Productions
Venue 6
Lester gets KISSED is about a family that's brought back together by the music of KISS. On paper it sounds like a great idea, but the presentation of the play is highly uneven. The musical bits are hilarious, but too often the jokes are cheap or fall flat. Dan Baker-Moor as Lester and Dorothy Carroll as the KISS-loving Beth were particularly good. Unfortunately, some of the other characters were fairly flat and at times insulting. Of particular note is the play's presentation of the mother as a militant feminist lesbian. It presents her as such an ugly, thoughtless stereotype that it borders on homophobia. Ultimately, Lester Gets KISSED raises some interesting issues but doesn't put enough thought into solving them. Sure, it's a comedy and supposed to be fun, but it's too one-dimensional to be a rewarding experience.
- MS

B+
Letters at Large
R.S.T.L.N.E. Productions
Venue 10
Less of a play and more of a lecture with accompanying PowerPoint presentation, Letters at Large is nonetheless entertaining as hell. Winnipeg native Jeff Sinclair has taken a simple premise - write ridiculous letters to an assortment of companies and organizations and see what they send back in response - and mined it for all it's worth for the last 10 years. The formula works. Highlights include the responses from mattress companies concerning an eight-year-old's problem with monsters under the bed, and the letter that prompted the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra to issue a security bulletin. Refreshingly, Sinclair's literary pranks are never malicious; instead, they're creative, playful - and, at times, absolutely hilarious. Just ignore his distracting hand signals.
- MC

B+
Mating Rituals of The Urban Cougar
Firebelly Performance Poetry
Venue 5
Performance poet Andrea Thompson does an excellent job keeping the audience interested, wending her way through poems about love, life, god and work. The only problem is that her insights into these topics aren't anything you haven't already heard, and there are precious few looks at what makes the elusive Urban Cougar tick. That said, Thompson is an excellent wordsmith and an engaging performer. She moves seamlessly from a forceful delivery that often comes across as though she's about to slip into some sort of religious fervor to moments of self-effacing comedy. Thompson is clearly a skilled poet and performer.
- JT

A-
Mr. Fox
Chipped Paint Productions
Venue 10
The king of crappy jobs, Greg Landucci (Dishpig), is back with his latest ode to the unsung hero. Here Landucci plays Craig Lombardi, a kid with radio broadcast dreams that ends up working at Vancouver's 99.3 The Fox, not as a DJ though, but as Mr. Fox, the station's mascot. Landucci, who worked as a mascot in real life, shows us the ups and downs of the sweaty occupation. Oh, and there are ups, like bypassing the line at the clubs to hanging with Steven Tyler and Joe Elliot. But as you can imagine, being a mascot isn't always so glamorous, and Landucci lets us on every embarrassing and sometimes disgusting detail. Performance wise, Landucci is a solid, high energy performer who can spit quick lines out with the greatest of ease. His fast-talking segue-after-segue radio breaks were a huge highlight. All in all, another great play from Landucci. Could use a better ending, though.
- JS