Fringe is back! August 30th marks the beginning of the 22nd annual Atlantic Fringe Festival. The festival will begin with the Fringe Sampler Smorgasbord Showcase (an hour long show that samples every show in the festival) and an Opening Night Party.
The festival, which runs until September 9th, includes 50 performances, featuring performers from across Canada, as well as performers from the US, Zimbabwe, Australia and Europe.
New this year is the Fringe Comedy Night (Sept. 2 at the Pier 21 Museum) and a Fringe Carnival (Sept. 8 at Halifax Seaport Pavilion 20).
Shows to catch include award-winning Balls (about two best friends confronting testicular cancer), Confessions of a Mormon Boy (directed by Tony award winner Jack Hofsiss), Fucking Stephen Harper (winner of Best of Fest in Winnipeg), The Panel Show (a comedy quiz show) and Shakespeare on Trial.
Ticket prices range from $1 to $10 and for shows to run from two to 90 minutes.
Venues are all over the peninsula, and you can watch the performances at the Halifax Seaport, Pier 21 Museum, the Fringe Centre in the Seaport Pavilion 20, The Bus Stop Theatre, Sir James Dunn Theatre, Theatre Nova Scotia’s The Living Room, North Street Church Theatre, DANSpace and Shakespeare by the Sea’s Park Place Theatre.
Check out the full line-up below:
ASH by Emily Forrest, Forerunner Playwright’s Theatre – Two grieving sisters watch a barn burn.
ATHENA IN LOVE by Julie Strong, DaPopo Theatre Company – Athena versus Medusa.
BALLS by Rob Salerno, Plutonium Playhouse Society – Two best friends learn what it takes to be a man as they confront testicular cancer.
BHOWESA NKAZANA (YOU GO GIRL) by Intombi Zomqangala (Zimbabwe) – A highly energetic dance musical, encompassing a mixture of teenagers and young women.
BILL WOOD presents MAGIC YOU’LL ENJOY – The poise of a hustler, the mad gestures of a stage illusionist and the cheeky grin of a coin vanishing grandfather.
BLOOD AND QUICKSILVER by Michael McPhee (The Doppler Effect) – An absurd comedy in the film noir genre. It's a tale of sex, murder and urinal cakes.
BLUE MOONS AND WAITING ROOMS by Kristin Slaney (Once Upon A Theatre Collective) – A play about lunar lunacy.
THE BOOM SHOW (Toronto) – Sketch, stand-up and musical comedy.
CLOSE TO YOU by Franceca Barnett-Cowan – A zoologist and a piano teacher wonder why we associate the heart with love.
CONFESSIONS OF A MORMON BOY by Steven Fales (USA) – After excommunication, divorce, prostitution and drugs, a sixth-generation Mormon tells all.
CROSS YOUR HEART by Amanda Campbell – Three teenagers–Wendy Darling, Billy Shakespeare and Mary Magdalene–meet in a bus station, all heading to New York City.
DREAMS OF THE SILK ROAD (Cabaret Serpentine) – A fantasy dance spectacular showcasing belly-dance, hula hoop, flamenco, contortion and Indian dance.
EIDOLON by Francesca Mountfort (Nervous Doll Dancing, Australia) – A beautiful and haunting story told through cello, film, animation and illustration.
FRINGE INVOCATION EXPERIMENT: BILL, KAT, MARY FAY, MATT (Misery Loves {theatre} Company) – A collective creation.
FRINGE INVOCATION EXPERIMENT: GINA, AILSA, RHYS (Misery Loves {theatre} Company) – How does a secular mind, steeped in irony, define a relationship with nature?
F---ING STEPHEN HARPER by Rob Salerno (Ten Foot Pole Productions, Toronto) – We’ve all heard how journalist Rob Salerno “sexually assaulted” Stephen Harper. Now hear Salerno’s side of the story.
GERRY FARMER: THE VOICES IN MY HEAD COME OUT – A comedy reviewing Gerry’s life and what Gerry thinks.
GOD DAMN THE MARIACHI STAR by David Etherington and Jacob Martin – A brother and sister are lost together in the woods with their own personal mariachi player.
GOING ON by Liz Richardson – A one-woman show about a theatre tour with Peter O’Toole in the 1970’s and a 3-year Buddhist meditation retreat in the 2000’s.
HANSEL AND GRETEL by Caroline Thomas and Zara Tufts – Pebbles, breadcrumbs, gingerbread houses, and an evil witch! For young audiences.
HER BIG DAY by Natasha MacLellan (Forerunner Playwrights) – Jeremy, on his wedding day, and the only woman who could change his mind about walking down the aisle.
IF WE WERE MORE by Kenzie Delo – Old friends, split into pairs by time.
LOVE FRINGE ALWAYS: THE OFFICIAL FRINGE FESTIVAL TALK SHOW - Featuring local comedians interviewing fringe artists.
THE MAIDS by Jean Genet – Rife with sadomasochistic ritual, this psycho-sexual thriller explores abuse of power by those in supposed positions of authority.
MAYBE SOMEDAY by Johnelle Sciocchetti (Wildfire Theatre Collective) – After Carly breaks up with Jake, serendipity leads her to Joe, who, fatefully, befriends Jake.
MELODY MOORE by Richard Hanna (Ireland) – Witness actor Richard Hanna morph into 12 of Irish icon Thomas Moore's dearest friends and enemies, including Lord Byron and Wordsworth, using the personas of well known British actors like Alan Rickman and Maggie Smith.
MERV’N OUT by Merv Hartlen – Journey deep into the mind of Merv Hartlen and experience what it truly means to Merv out.
MUSHROOM by Stewart Delo – The lives of nine artists, misfits and petty criminals collide.
OBSESSION by Petra O’Toole – Harnessing the beauty of dance and the force of theatre, Obsession is an edge of your seat, taking your breath away struggle to find happiness.
ONLY PLACE (Katheros in Motion, Toronto) – Lives lived, lovers loved and secrets kept unravel in a room where private becomes spectacle in dance, drama and electronica.
THE PANEL SHOW (Toronto) – A comedy quiz show wherein Canada's smartest and funniest people battle it out for a novelty-sized cheque worth a million dollars.
PICKIN’ ‘N’ SCHTICK by Tony Molesworth (Toronto) – Comedy, variety, music, banjo, one-liners, shtick, magic, fun, fast-paced entertainment.
PROBLEMS WITH AUTHORITY by The Us Vs Them Theatre Cooperative - A neurotic and dark journey through the life and mind of Evan Brown, a theatre technician who has... problems with authority. From pieing the Prime Minister to running from mounted police in Montreal, or being pepper-sprayed in Halifax, gassed in Quebec city and kettled in Ottawa the question always remains: "Why the hell do we do this? Why the hell do we not do this more?"
A QUARTET OF DEVIOUS DEALINGS by Janet Godsell: Drawing the Line – An opinionated teacher and the indignant parents come to loggerheads over a school project; A Little Secret – A man is driven to distraction by the activities of his neighbor; Totally Organic – The retailer makes a visit to a farm; A Business Arrangement – A woman hires a man for a delicate business matter.
RADIO:30 by Chris Earle (Stick Man Concepts) – Veteran voice actor Ron is recording yet another 30-second radio ad in this witty, biting satire on advertising penned by Toronto Second City alumnus Chris Earle.
ROOM SIX By Juliana Fombona and Colleen MacIsaac – On the morning of a prison riot, six women are confined to a small room and confront each other.
SOME SUNNY DAY by Jessica Barry and Meghan Hubley (Once Upon A Theatre Collective) – When you don't know why you're in love, or how you fell in love, or that you're even in love at all, when you might be making it up, when you might be just a bit nuts, and when you might not care at all.
SPEAKS ALONE – Twenty monologues from across theatre’s history, performed by Halifax actor Emily Jewer.
STAY AT HOME DEAD by Andrew Chandler, Dorian Lang, Claire St. Francois, Elizabeth Thomas, Jonny Thompson – The culmination of a year of collectively adapting Thomas Middleton's A Yorkshire Tragedy (1608) into a contemporary setting while taking inspiration from present day murders.
STIR (Live Art Dance Productions & The Room) – Choreographers Jacinte Armstrong, Deborah Dunn, Lisa Phinney serve up new works three nights in a row.
TERRA FIRMA (Random Acts of Dance, Toronto) – A truthful reminder that we are not alone in our moments of despair.
THIS YEAR IN FILM by Rebecca Schneidereit (Housecat Theatre) – The star-crossed romance of armchair critics Max and Judy.
TOMATO & TOMATO (Prelude) – Tee and Tee. Laffs! Dancing? Free-styling! Puns a plenty!
THE VAJAYJAY MONOLOGUES by Lindsay Burns (Outport Productions) – Humourously maps the social evolution of vaginas since Eve Ensler’s 1996 “The Vagina Monologues.”
WISH, DESIRE, VOW (Votive Dance) – Six new works by choreographers Rhonda Baker, Kathleen Doherty, Stephanie Mitro, Amanda Stafford and Catherine Hayward.
