The 21st Atlantic Fringe Festival is over, and it went out with music, laughter and dancing at Zuppa’s Karaokalypse.

It was a marathon, but well worth it. I managed to take in all the shows, and I was truly blown away by how high the bar has been set. Here’s a brief run-down of what my final day consisted of:

Hit — the diegetic musical written by Rebecca Schneidereit. It was filled with catchy tunes (I especially liked White Dress/Black Veil) beautifully performed. While the story was slight, the cast chemistry was fun to watch.

Tanya Davis: Hello, change — Davis is a marvelous wordsmith, a talented musician, a deep thinker and a charming performer. When you put these things together, you have a show that entertains and inspires. She lays her soul bare as she explores her journey to self-acceptance and belonging. So powerful. So beautiful.

It’s Called a Sketch Show, Dummy! — The four funny guys from “Wealthy Bear Presents…” share that kind of off-kilter sense of humour that may well draw a cult following. Irreverent and ballsy, they put together a show of “silliness for sillinesses sake” that got lots of laughs.

Graft — Another show by George Dillon. While Saturday’s double bill of Dostoevsky’s Heaven and Berkoff’s Hell was my favourite Dillon show, this was another amazing performance. I noticed a lot of Halifax actors in the crowd who were also deeply appreciative of seeing this master at work.

Everything wrapped up with a musical retrospective by Zuppa Theatre that segued into an award ceremony/ karaoke party. Here’s a list of the award recipients:

Fringe Hit! Awards were given out to those with the best attendance.

FRINGE HIT! AWARD FOR HIGHEST ATTENDANCE OF THE FESTIVAL — Rainer Hersch’s Victor Borge

FRINGE HIT! HOT TICKET (Most Sold Out Show) — The Barnacle’s Tale

Fringe Hit! Of Danspace: Paradise Lost

Fringe Hit! Of The Living Room: Sirens: The Musical

Fringe Hit! Of Plutonium Playhouse: In the Valley

Fringe Hit! Of The Bus Stop Theatre: Whiteout

The jury, comprised of The Coast’s theatre critic Kate Watson (That's me!), blogger Amanda Campbell of The Way I See It Theatre Blog, and lawyer Kevin Kindred, made special note that there were 4 shows involving debauchery with puppets, and gave two special jury prizes accordingly:

Best Romantic Encounter With A Puppet - Jen Gallant, Visa Called This Morning

Best Sesame Street Dream Sequence Involving Puppets — Carlo Alban, Intringulis

They also bequeathed an award for “Fringiest Fringe Show” to The Barnacle’s Tale, a ten minute installation piece starring Ryan Doucette as an embittered barnacle stuck to the bottom of a capsized boat, staged in a film edit suite.

The awards presentation unfolded with a ridiculous twist. Instead of an acceptance speech, winners performed a karaoke number. Many award recipients brought down the house with lively musical performances. Afterward, the audience became the performers, taking over the karaoke stage until 2AM.

The big winner of the evening was Paradise Lost from Montreal, inspired by Milton's epic 17th century poem. Star Paul van Dyck accepted the award for Outstanding Show of the Fringe with a smashing karaoke rendition of Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive."

And the winners are:

OUTSTANDING SHOW OF THE FRINGE
Paradise Lost (Montreal)

OUTSTANDING DRAMA SHOW
Steal Away Home (Halifax)

OUTSTANDING COMEDY SHOW
Doctor Brown Becaves (Los Angeles, USA)

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR
George Dillon for Against the Odds (Berlin, Germany)

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE
Ensemble Cast of A Question of Sex (Halifax)

OUTSTANDING ACTOR
Matt Gorman, How Do You Feel (Toronto)

OUTSTANDING ACTRESS
Samantha Wilson, In the Valley (Halifax)

OUTSTANDING MUSICAL PERFORMANCE

The Ensemble Cast of Edges (Halifax)

The Atlantic Fringe offered 35 shows this year; 18 from Halifax and 17 touring from across Canada, Europe and the USA.

Perhaps the evening’s best reward came when festival organizer Thom Fitzgerald announced that 2011 Fringe artists will go home with $43,685 in box office—a stunning 108% increase over last year. “We are so happy to see explosive growth in our audience,” said Fitzgerald, "Everyone wins this year."

With only one show on my schedule for Saturday, I managed to take a bit of rest. But what a show!

I’ve started to think of George Dillon as kind of a theatrical surgeon. His acting is that precise. Every move, every gesture, every modulation of his voice is carefully chosen and exactly executed. And while you may think that calculation of this degree could make a show somehow soulless, the opposite is true. Case in point is Dillon’s Dostoevsky’s Heaven and Berkoff’s Hell. In Hell, Dillon (and Berkoff) create a very moving portrait of depression. The soundscape that accompanies Harry as he recounts his sad and tawdry life is perfect, galloping forward as he simulates energy, then slowing and pulling him back into his dark hole. In Dostoevsky’s Heaven, we meet a man preaches the golden rule with truly jaw-dropping zeal. Two powerful performances by a brilliant actor!

For shows times and locations visit www.atlanticfringe.ca

The intimate confines of Plutonium Playhouse are gloriously filled by actor Daniel Foley’s rich, mellifluous voice in Tiresias and The Player King. Foley is a classically-trained actor who has created a one-man show that tenuously joins story of Hamlet’s Player King with that of the blind Greek oracle Tiresias. Foley’s Player King is a memorable character, an old man reliving the most glorious moment of his past and still proving himself to be a fine actor. The show is not perfect—- theTiresias section is somehow less alive than the rest of the play, and the overly subdued lighting means that many of Foleys’s facial expressions are lost—- but I’d still highly recommend catching this performance.

A candlelit Saint Matthew’s Church was the perfect setting for George Dillon’s powerful The Gospel of Matthew. While I’m sure it wasn’t the first time that this particular story had been told from that pulpit, I have no doubt it has never been told so expertly, memorably and with such conviction. Dillon manages to make his Jesus both human and somehow more than human. HIs sermons and parables are riveting. And Dillon also vividly conjures up so many other familiar characters, from the grasping Judas to the unfaithful Peter. Dillon gave a tour-de-force performance that breathed new life into an old, familiar story.

My last show of the night was MonaRita, a dark and twisted comedy that made me laugh and think. Mona (Sara Tilley) is a frumpy housewife brought low by motherhood. Rita (Ruth Lawrence) is a brittle middle-aged woman searching for the right man to complete her. This unlikely pair forges a co-dependent friendship that spins out of control as they each approach the edge of insanity. Tilley is charmingly terrifying as the needy young mother and Lawrence is pitch-perfect as the outwardly poised but inwardly confused Rita. The play has lots to say about female angst and relationships, and it does with panache.

For shows times and locations visit www.atlanticfringe.ca

Jean, as written by Lee-Anne Poole and played by Stephanie MacDonald, is adorably forthright and self-aware. As Short Skirt Butch opens, she explains that she has gathered us together to apologize for behaving badly after a recent break-up. She assumes we have heard that she stalked her former lovers, stole their favourite sex toy and mailed it back to them with a saucy note—-and as she keeps reminding us, Halifax is a small town where that kind of gossip gets around. You don’t have to be familiar with all the various permutations of Jean’s sexuality “(I started as asexual and then became a pervert…at age six”, she declares) to enjoy this show. Jean wants what we all want: love, security and hot sex, and while she may apologize for her behavior, she never apologizes for who she is. It’s very refreshing.

I so wanted to like The Man Who was Hamlet. After all, fringe superstar George Dillon has toured this show all over the world to critical acclaim. But I honestly have to say that I just didn’t get it. The premise is that Edward de Vere, a court writer in the 1600’s whose work has drawn parallels with Shakespeare’s, may well have been the model for Hamlet, or perhaps even that he himself was its author. The 95-minute show zips through the history of the 1600s at high speed, yet perversely seems to drag. Dillon is an amazing performer to watch, but this work left me cold. Perhaps I’ll be swept away by tonight’s The Gospel of Matthew which is also a Dillon show. Stay tuned…

For shows times and locations visit www.atlanticfringe.ca

There was great news on Day 7 for The Fringe—-with four days still left in the festival, the box office had surpassed last year’s total!

Kingdom and Fatherland: Homeland Insecurity, the autobiographical show by Pakistani-Norwegian Muslim comedienne (There’s a mouthful for you!) Shabana Rehman, certainly packed them in at The Bus Stop. Rehman is and gutsy, likeable performer whose powerful story of triumphing over sexism, racism and abuse deserves to be heard. The show seems to be a bit of a work in progress, starting off strong but flagging a little in the middle. Still, it’s not every day that you’ll see a performance that can make you laugh, cry and seethe with righteous indignation. Go hear this woman roar!

Against the Odds is beautifully wrought story of family, loyalty and mental illness. Actor Jade Blue portrays Flora, a mathematical savant who has spent several years in a mental institution. She also portrays the most important people in Flora’s life—-her beloved father and his bon vivant friend Jack, her selfish mother, her contemptible grandfather and her kind aunt. Blue is a pleasure to watch and does a remarkable job of differentiating each character in voice and physicality. The play explores the roles of chance and choice in a unique and interesting way, leading to a heartbreaking conclusion.

Beauty and anger take centre stage with local writer/musician Shauntay Grant’s lyrical Steal Away Home. Gospel music, spoken word and even Scripture are woven together to tell the tale of Sista, an African Nova Scotian woman who has suffered sexism, racism and abuse (Feels like a bit of a theme on Day 7). Three amazing actors (Naomi-Joy Blackhail-Butler, Jessica Brown and Suzy Hansen) all play Sista, as well as her mother and grandmother, sometimes in unison, sometimes solo. Visually and aurally, this piece is gorgeous, but its subject is grim: Sista is consumed with anger against God, her family, white people, and especially against Black men. And while she has good reason to be angry, it’s hard not wish for some glimmer of forgiveness and peace at the end of this play.

For shows times and locations visit www.atlanticfringe.ca

Two entertaining shows in the air-conditioned splendor of The Neptune Studio kick off an evening that ended with a party at The Bus Stop. The social aspect of this year’s fringe makes for a great place to hear the buzz—-and people are certainly buzzing about Kingdom and Fatherland: Homeland Insecurity. (Review on that tomorrow)

Matthew Gorman could read the phone book and I’d listen, but fortunately he does something a little more interesting with his one-man show How Do You Feel. The piece starts with Gorman giving a little slide show about his early life with his professor dad. Family pictures are flashed on the screen—- baseball games, a family trip to Africa—- and the audience settles in for a sweet, gentle tale. The story takes a sharp turn when something very dramatic happens in The Gambia, and an even sharper turn when Gorman stops the show to inform the audience he’s been lying, attempting to make his life more interesting than it really is. From there, when he rambles off in another direction, you want to believe him, but can’t help but be wary. It’s a wonderful subversion of the typical, heartwarming life-journey fringe show.

I really can’t say enough about Rainer Hersch’s Victor Borge. This is the kind of beautifully crafted and performed show that you’d expect to pay top-dollar to see, yet it’s being offered here at Fringe prices. Hersch brings Danish comedian Victor Borge to life, complete with his distinct accent and staccato laugh, but he does so much more than an impersonation. This is a truly loving tribute from one funny man to another, a show that reveals a lot about Borge’s life and illuminates his comic genius. Hersch is a quick wit who peppers the show with spontaneous humour and references to Halifax. If you know Victor Borge’s work you’ll love this show, and if you don’t yet know it, you’re in for a real treat. Either way, how can you lose?

For shows times and locations visit www.atlanticfringe.ca

Only three plays to review for Day 5…a walk in the park this intrepid reviewer.

Last seen at the 2010 Fringe with her musical comedy show Emotional Condom, funny woman Ann Denny returns as Anna Danova in SeaHose Unplugged. Also joining her on stage is Bryan Babaracki (played by Ryan Veitmeyer), a new age-man dressed in purple satin. (Also deserving of mention is the uncredited actor who did a really funny turn as the band’s manager.) The pair ham it up as a singing duo making the crossover from corporate motivational singers to an “indie” band. The show is short and high-energy filled with campy, catchy songs improvised with suggestions from the audience. Good fringe fun!

You may have seen the play about speed-dating (In the Valley), but there is also a play called Post-its (Notes on a Marriage) which could be categorized as a play about speed-living. In this little gem, the entire relationship of a couple from first intoxicating love to old age is told in 15 minutes through a series of post-it notes they have exchanged. Vanessa-Walton Bone and Stuart Hiseler do a superb job of milking the nuances from each note and of connecting with each other despite never actually interacting. Sweet, truthful and funny, this ranks as a must-see.

I was unable to fit A Question of Sex into my fringe schedule until its last show, but I wish I’d seen it earlier just so that I could have recommended it to people. The four young actors (Ben Irvine, Jesse Robb, Claire St. Francois and Emma Laishram) have a field day with this Edwardian comedy of manners that revolves around a sum of money, a baby of the “wrong” sex and a very effective guilt trip. So much of the humour of play comes from the characters’ facial expressions, and these four actors are masters of having their mouths say one thing and their faces another. Too bad you missed it…

For shows times and locations visit www.atlanticfringe.ca

It was hot, hot, hot in Halifax on Sunday and hot, hot, hotter in some of the un-air-conditioned fringe venues, but with one exception, the plays were riveting enough to make it totally worth a little discomfort.

In fact, Michael McPhee’s Whiteout actually sent a few welcome chills down my spine. It’s a spooky ghost story that takes place in a remote cabin where five friends have gathered for laughter and good times. The set-up is lovely—-actors Rhys Bevan-John, Annie Valentina, Pasha Ebrahimi, Ann Doyle and Mathew Lumley capture perfectly the hostility and camaraderie that exist among old friends. (Lumley does an especially funny turn as the stoner fuck-up in the crowd.) The tension-building in the second part of the play is very effective, and while I did feel that the twist at the end was revealed in a too sudden and expository manner, I’d still highly recommend this as a great example of entertaining fringe theatre.

And the same can be said bi-coastal actor (born in Newfoundland, transplanted to Vancouver) Dolores Drake’s From Away. This one-woman show treads familiar fringe ground with its one-woman format and story of family and home. However, Drake is a riveting actress and talented writer who has created a well-crafted theatrical journey. In her quest to return her father’s ashes to out port Newfoundland and to discover more about her long-dead mother, she encounters a family secret that shakes her to the core. Drake brings to life the inhabitants of the village and narrates her journey with language that is both lucid and poetic. Sometimes sad, but mostly funny, add From Away to your “you’ll be glad you saw it” list.

Ick. Ick. Ick. Dr. Fuckingstein explains (love, desire and the brain) is the kind shit that makes you wish you could rewind time and reclaim the hour you wasted. Disgusting and for the most part nonsensical, this lecture-style show plays like a disturbing rant by a disturbed individual. I left.

Fortunately, long-time fringe participants Saints Alive! were up next with their production of the song cycle Edges. This youth theatre society attracts talented young singers and actors and this slightly edgy show definitely showed off their skills.The company knows how to stage a performance like this—-the pacing was brisk, the songs were illuminated with a nice theatricality and the performers (Matthew Beasant, Sarah Slemko, Taylor Long and Danielle Wilson) all have great voices and presence. Bravo!

The buzz on Dr. Brown Becaves has made for sell-out audiences with good reason. This is a tear-streamingly funny show is unlike any you’ve ever seen. Audience members spend an hour in the hot seat being manipulated by a mostly non-verbal Dr. Becaves…and they love it. This comic has the sex appeal of a crazy, fuzzy Joaquin Phoenix (The girls behind me we’re all but throwing their panties) and the mesmerizing eyes of a prophet . Funny and filthy, this guy is Mr. Bean on steroids and Viagra. Two shows left. Just try to get a ticket.

For shows times and locations visit www.atlanticfringe.ca

I can’t say enough about the sheer variety, and quality, of shows of I’ve seen so far at The Fringe. On one sunny Saturday, I managed to take in six shows with topics as varied as homicidal fairies and randy, bitter barnacles. In between, I had time to indulge in sushi on the waterfront and I ended my evening with rockin’ party at the Bus Stop. Does summer in the city get any better than this?

My first show of the day was a polished piece of Fringe artistry entitled Visa Called this Morning. Toronto comedian Jen Gallant does this one-woman show about her love affair with credit…an affair that ends very, very badly. Gallant is a funny lady with malleable face that allows her to transform herself into a myriad of characters. The material, which is expertly woven into a well-paced show, got lots of laugh. Visa is traditional fringe fair done right.

Next up was the completely charming and very amusing In the Valley written by local actress/playwright Natasha MacLellan and produced by Forerunner Theatre. Samantha Wilson plays a woman in her thirties who turns to speed dating as a way to meet a man. In one evening, she meets five very different would-be suitors who reveal a lot about themselves in their three minute “sales pitches”. This is one of those plays where everything including the acting, directing, writing and even the venue come together to create a match made in heaven.

The hottest ticket of this festival is proving to be an eight-minute piece called The Barnacle’s Tale that is creatively staged in a tiny portion of The Plutonium Playhouse lobby. This little show starring Ryan Doucette is full of surprises which I won’t reveal, but suffice it to say the laughs are worth way more than the toonie you’ll spend to get in.

Rejection hurts, but it can also be pretty entertaining, at least when you sit in the audience and watch something like The Rejection Chronicles. This is a show that uses voice-over and short scenes to bring to life actual letters of rejection. Some of the scenes are sad (a young girl writes to her aunt to explain why the Facebook tribute page to her dead mother is just too hard to view), some are funny (a girl dumps her lover on his birthday with zany, over-the-top style) and some use personal rejection to make a bigger comment (a young woman in the 1930’s receives a letter explaining that women are simply not hired to be animators at Disney Studios.)

It’s no easy feat for a writer to honestly review the work of not one, not two, but three of her editors, as I have to do with Sirens: The Musical which is written by The Coast’s Tara Thorne (my first arts editor) and stars Stephanie Johns (my current editor) and Allison Saunders (Listings Editor). Fortunately, I can be completely truthful when recommending this campy cop musical comedy. If you like your women cute but hardboiled, your music catchy and your shows light and laugh-filled, you’ll like this show. Phew!

The evening wrapped up with another magical offering called Waltz of the Fae: Sure as Death by the talented young women of Once Upon a Theatre Collective. The story weaves together an ancient fairy tale and the lives of four friends who share gossip, games and plenty of red wine. Actresses Gina Thornhill, Lesley Smith, Jessica Barry and Meghan Hubley share an easy, natural camaraderie which is apparent in the first half of the play. When things take a darker turn, the four reveal their power as singers and actors. This show stands out by virtue of its originality.

For shows times and locations visit www.atlanticfringe.ca

My very varied Day 2 at DanSpace was a mixture of story,dance and poetry with projections being key in all three of the productions. It was a wonderful reminder of just what an eclectic mix of entertainment the Fringe offers.

Actress and Parks Canada interpreter Kersti Tacreiter has brought the forest to the city with her one-woman show A Forest Jubilee. The piece begins with charming and apple-cheeked Rose offering delicious mint tea to the audience. Rose then proceeds to regale the “visitors” with poetic stories woven with facts about her beloved woodland home. She even reads a picture book to her guests, reminding me how much I’ve missed the simple, childish pleasure of being read to. Projections of the majestic Cape Breton Highlands Park are used to illustrate her words. A Forest Jubilee is a wonderful example of the kind of unusual show that makes The Fringe such a treat.

As I sit to write about New Brunswick choreographer Meghan MacNeil’s Songbird Stories, I realize that the show I saw bears little resemblance to the write-up in the program which promises interplay between projections, one dancer and a pianist. Yes, there were beautiful projections, but there were two dancers and a recorded guitar soundtrack. This is not a bad thing…only puzzling. My writer’s mind attempted to construct a story as the two women contorted and cavorted against the backdrop of colourful flowers and lush forests. They seemed to be looking to the future, striving to get somewhere, sometimes helping one another, sometimes competing and sometimes oblivious to the other’s presence. It was lovely puzzle.

In Paradise Lost, Beyond the Mountain Productions of Montreal has created a stirring, visually-astounding, memorable piece of theatre that I predict will be among the best Fringe plays I see—-ever. (All right, I suppose Milton deserves some of the credit, too.) Paul Van Dyck, the actor in and adapter of Milton’s epic poem, is a compelling performer whose Lucifer is part little-boy- lost, part terrifying avenger. The Adam and Eve puppets are a sheer delight. It’s wondrous strange to see their ungainly forms come to life and convey such tenderness, sensuality, anger and lust. Other Fringe artists should watch and learn how projections can be used as more than mere add-ons. These are integral to the story line and elegantly executed: Satan is engulfed in projected flame, yet illuminated from behind by earth’s blazing sun. Sex, sin, puppets and projections make for a truly must-see production.

For shows times and locations visit www.atlanticfringe.ca

When a person turns 21 we celebrate their coming of age, and I think the same can be said of the 21st Atlantic Fringe Festival.

For two decades this festival has been offering quirky, affordable theatre experiences, and now it’s ready to take its place on a wider stage by attracting an even bigger audience with more local and international shows.

Opening night included two shows at the Neptune Studio and one great party at the Economy Shoe Shop. Die-hard Fringe fans mingled with Fringe-newbies who were lured from the Mezmerize belly dance audience by free beer tickets from the festival sponsor St-Ambroise. It was also a great chance for the local theatre community to meet and greet the out-of-town artists like Carlo Alban who brought his show Intringulis from New York.

Intrigulis is a remarkable one-man show that explores the plight of illegal immigrants in the United States. Alban tells his own story of leaving Ecuador with his parents and one of his siblings to make a new life in New York where they lived in fear of deportation. Alban, who is a talented actor and musician, manages to make his story very specific (I don’t know any other illegal immigrants who starred on Sesame Street!), but also to deal with bigger issues like what it means to belong. And while it might seem easy as Canadians to dismiss the heartbreaking plight of these immigrants as a uniquely American problem, a lively discussion at the post-show party disabused me of that idea. I imagine this show will spark many such discussions.

Mezmerize came with its own built-in audience of exuberant belly dance fans, but this beautiful show will appeal to everyone. It’s a well-paced, well-orchestrated taste of many belly dance forms, woven with some lovely and amusing circus performances. The show is sexy, funny and jaw-droppingly beautiful. It is a celebration of the feminine form in all its shapes and sizes, and the costumes alone are worth the price of admission (especially the spectacular golden Isis wings). Truly a feast for the eyes.

For shows times and locations visit www.atlanticfringe.ca

It’s over, and I’ve failed. Sigh. I set myself the task of seeing 30 plays in 11 days at this year’s Fringe, but I only managed 28. Two plays, Mud, Blood ‘N’ Honey and Jumble House Presents Active Space Improv, pulled out of the festival part way through their runs, so I missed out. I’ll blame it on Earl who disrupted my perfectly-planned assault, and cross my fingers for next year.

The Halifax Jazz Dance Collective is a small group of dancers and musicians who come together to explore jazz music and to create jazz dance pieces. Their Fringe show was a an upbeat and invigorating combination of originally-choreographed dance numbers using recorded pieces such as Fats Waller’s “Ain’t Misbehavin”, and live music by woodwind player extraordinaire Scott A. MacDonald. This show managed to be both highly polished and exquisitely fresh. The young women of this collective dance with an infectious joy, and watching them express themselves is an uplifting experience.

The last Fringe show for me was Jewish Girls Don’t Kayak, and I have to apologize to Robyn Israel for not seeing it sooner. I’ve come to realize that bringing a show from outside Halifax to the Fringe (as Ontario native Israel did) means you don’t have the same built-in audience that local performers do. I can only hope that the houses were full for this funny, life-affirming story. Israel shares her struggles with coming to terms with her name, her Jewishness and her life as a single woman. While most of the material is light and humorous, Israel also explores some poignant examples of bigotry and hatred. This is a show that will speak to anyone who is searching for what it means to belong—and I imagine that’s just about everyone!

Well, the Fringe is abuzz with talk of actor Mikaela Dyke’s open letter of complaint against festival director Ken Pinto. I believe it is a brave act and that it may be a step towards making the Atlantic Fringe stronger and more professionally run. I look forward to hearing Pinto’s side of the story. But controversy aside, Day 10 offered some outstanding theatre experiences.

Oh, how I wish I’d had a high school teacher like the cool, kind Art Moore, the New Brunswick native who has brought My Five Near Death Experiences to the Fringe. I can imagine that kids are jockeying to get into his class, and that the lucky ones who do get in are more compassionate, literate human beings when they leave. He is a natural story teller who has built a show by weaving together stories and poems from his life that centre on people helping one another. The tales include things like a lesson that Moore learned from his father about helping the less fortunate, and friendships formed on a relief mission to Haiti. But it was his description of the connection formed between his High school students and a soldier whom they “adopted in Afghanistan that moved me to tears. It’s very uplifting to know there are people Moore to act as role models for our youth.

Fleeing the bonds of domestic drudgery is an interesting topic for a show produced by a bunch of twenty-somethings. Speaking from the point of view of a middle-aged woman, I was pleasantly surprised by how astute some of the observations were. The “housewife” in Housewife: A Hip-Hopera (played by another Fringe all-star, Sarah Vanasse) both loves and hates her roles as wife and mother. Her house is her kingdom, and her daughter is the light of her life, but she has a nagging desire for fulfillment on a personal level. Unfortunately, her idea of shaking up her life is to have a kind of icky one-night stand with an old school acquaintance. I can’t help but feel that there was truth in this short, entertaining show, but that the ending left something to be desired.

Man, does actor/writer Alison Wearing ever nail it. And by “it” I mean the joys and burdens of motherhood. Her lovely, lyrical one-woman show Giving Into Light describes everything from the way a child turns life upside down (graphically and hilariously acted out by Wearing) to the truth about the horrors of maternal sleep deprivation. But this isn’t just a show about babies: Wearing also takes the audience on a sight and sound-filled journey to Mexico where she lived and learned with her infant son and partner. Mothers will recognize many truths, and others will simply enjoy this gorgeous, beautifully-performed show.

• Mikaela Dyke

While performer Mikaela Dyke, who's been receiving positive reviews for her play Dying Hard, has enjoyed being in Halifax for her Atlantic Fringe run, which ends this weekend, she hasn't been as happy with the treatment she's apparently received from the Fringe's director, Ken Pinto.

In fact, Dyke has written an open letter of complaint to the Halifax arts community, and now: "A number of local and touring artists are petitioning the Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals (CAFF) to withdraw its affiliation with Halifax's Atlantic Fringe Festival while under the leadership of the current festival director, Ken Pinto."

We've been speaking to Dyke, a couple of other artists and members of CAFF, as well as Pinto. Look for an article in Thursday's paper. In the meantime, here's Dyke's letter:

An Open Letter to Halifax Arts Patrons

Dear Halifax,

I am a touring artist, who has felt nothing other than welcome and support in your beautiful and cultured city. Welcome and support from your artists and audiences, from the local businesses and the media. So it pains me very much to say that I would tell other touring artists that they would be best to avoid your Fringe Festival, and that I would not wish my experience with the current Atlantic Fringe Festival director on anyone.

I am from the East Coast myself, and love the other CAFF (Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals) festivals I have been a part of, so I jumped at a chance to bring my show to Halifax. I certainly hope that the patrons who were left waiting outside the box office for an hour and a half on Sunday past, and others who have shown up to shows only to discover that they were cancelled without any updates to the website, the 1-800 line, or even signs on the door won't be upset with the artists themselves. We have no control over many of these variables and, in fact, pay a fee that is intended to cover things like box office and marketing. When I tried to ask the festival director why these things weren't being taken care of, I was told that I was rude to ask, that my complaints were unimportant and that I didn't matter. I am ashamed that this is the way the East Coast allows touring artists to be treated, and understand why other touring artists warned me strongly against participating in this Fringe.

Halifax, you have a vibrant and friendly arts culture, and your city and its Fringe deserve to attract national and international acts from all over, like the other festivals associated with CAFF. You need only compare your Fringe's lineup to any other Fringe in the past couple of years to understand what you are missing out on. (Try Saskatoon, Victoria or Orlando for comparable city size, or length of time running.)This is a loss due largely to the unprofessionalism and rudeness of your festival director.

When the festival director told me that my complaints didn't matter, he was correct in a way. My problems as an artist simply mean I won't return, and will warn others against coming to the Fringe here, like others tried to warn me. It's really you, the audience, who are being cheated out of the wonderful nature of Fringe everywhere else in the world, where you can see a little bit of something from everywhere. It breaks my heart to say that I have filed a formal complaint with CAFF recommending that they remove their affiliation with this festival, at least while the current festival director is involved. I suggest that if you want touring acts to return to your city, you send them a letter as well - info@fringefestivals.com.

With love and regret,

Mikaela Dyke

Complaints aside, there are two days left of Fringe: if you haven't seen anything yet, do so. There's some fantastic productions. Kate Watson has boldly reviewed every play for this column. Times here.

Since the Fringe began last week, I’ve seen shows on pedophile parents, terminally-ill miners, murdered teens, failing seniors and brave cancer patients. That’s a load that can make your heart heavy, so it was a real pleasure to simply enjoy Anne-Marie Woods’ The Fringe Show — Live and Fully Improvised! The show consists of several segments including Woods’ “therapy session”, a comic riff on issues in her life. The audience participation section was raucous on the night I went, with volunteers singing Whitney Houston songs and doing a memorable rendition of the robot. The talk show portion of the evening proved to be entertaining and informative and included a young local spoken word/visual artist and mother and young daughter who share a gift for visual arts. The evening ended with Woods slipping into her spoken word alter ego Amani to share her beautiful poetry and singing voice. The perfect antidote to a heavy heart!

The Fringe Show — Live and Fully Improvised! runs Sept. 11 at 3:40 and 9:40 and Sept. 12 8:50 at the Bus stop Theatre.