Rating: NNNNN
Laura McGhee in THE FUDGIE INCIDENT
The great visual of McGhee in a styrofoam Fudgecicle suit — she plays a much-abused baseball mascot — and her rapport with the audience buoy up an inflated storyline. NN (JK)
Joanne DAngelo in THE PERFECT GIFT
The engaging D’Angelo brings both an accomplished comic touch and a big heart to a quasi-philosophical comedy about the giving and receiving of presents as a sign of self-worth. NN (JK)
Dan MacDonald and Martin Moreau in SLAP
MacDonald as an old Polish partisan fighter and Moreau as the Nazi he dialogues with years later bring emotion to an overwritten, unconvincing script. NN (JK)
iona rose mackay and kimwun perehinec in static cling
The roommate-from-hell scenario has been played out from here to Timbuktu, but the watchable Perehinec and MacKay invest their thinly drawn characters with odd quirks and mannerisms that make the clichés go down easier. NN (GS)
noam rosen and friends in no, youre flame retardant!
Surrounded by lots of comic talent, stand-up Rosen seems completely at home onstage — he’s as shoulder-shruggingly carefree as Jerry Seinfeld — so he obviously doesn’t realize that his play, about awkward situations, is awkwardly constructed. NN (GS)
Kelly McAllister and Anita Vandeneykel in TWO VS IN A POD
The idea of two contrasted sisters discovering their similarities is sitcom-land material, but authors McAllister and Vandeneykel’s performances lend it some warmth. NN (JK)
Jackie Latendresse in 3
Choreographer/dancer Latendresse explores the three faces of woman — virgin, mother, crone — with energy but translates Tan Dun’s score into movement too literally. NN (JK)
wayne ward in anna
Ward creates a vivid, troubling impression as the husband of a raped and murdered woman in this incomprehensible look at male rage and vengeance. NN (GS)
EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT YOURSELF BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK FREUD
Others love this comic look at Freud and his ideas, but despite the energetic performances, some of us find the humour sophomoric. NN (JK)
FLESH
The contact dance element works better than the voyeuristic, stream-of-consciousness speeches in this relationship-themed performance piece. NN (JK)
JEM ROLLS in big word performance poetry
Regular bloke Rolls performs his series of poems with energy and enthusiasm, but the dense and untheatrical work would probably go down better after a few pints in a late-night cabaret setting. NN (GS)
marcia johnson and andrew moodie in perfect on paper
The thinnest 90-minute show at the Fringe, this derivative relationship comedy pretends it has something to say about feminism and romance, but the holes in the script are covered up by Johnson and Moodie’s relaxed, naturalistic performances. NN (GS)
