Fringe 2024 - Friday, August 16th - A Terrific Afternoon of Shows!

I caught three shows yesterday afternoon and had a wonderful time!

Bright Lights - So funny and so well done! This script is hilarious but it only works because the acting and directing is so excellent! I mean, you have to figure those that attend a group for Alien Abduction "experiencers" are going to provide opportunity for huour but I was laughing so much! Great to see some of our finest local actors in this piece and some in roles you wouldn't expect to hilarious effect! See it!

ROB AND CHRIS (BOBBY+TINA)-A NEW MUSICAL - Another excellent show. This one a new musical based on Collin Doyle's Let the Light of Day Through (perhaps the best new script I have seen ever and I think of it often...). The musical is the same but different, as it is a musical. But it is excellent. Doyle worked with Matt Graham to adapt the piece and it still has it's humour and heart break, but now with wonderful songs. I would avoid spoilers if you haven't seen the play as I think the reveal is important. If you have seen the play, you're prepared. Great chemistry between Rob (Garret Ross) and Chris (Jenny McKillop) and excellent voices. Kate Ryan did a great job directing it so it moves beautifully. 

The Black Widow Gun Club - A new show from Whizzgiggling Productions written by Trevor Schmidt and starring the trio of Kristin Johnston, Cheryl Jameson and Michelle Todd. One thing about watching these perennial favourites is that it really shows how diverse these three actors are. Each show has them playing vastly different characters! This is a dark but funny, film noir piece about three ex-wives and one dead husband. Who killed him? Striking lighting, and a fabulous aesthetic is the setting. Johnston channels a Joan Crawford-like heiress, Jameson is a wisecracking Bette Davis artist, and Todd is a Marilyn Monroe- inspired waitress. It's a lot of fun and there's a delightful twist at the end that every good Film Noir demands!