The Lethbridge Fringe Festival, second edition got off to a fine start this week, beginning, Sept. 15.
I managed to catch the two Lethbridge entries in the Festival on Friday, Sept. 16, which coincidentally are both happening at Club Didi at various times throughout the weekend.
The Theatre Outre improv wing, featuring several veterans of now defunct local improv troupe the Drama Nutz, showed improv is a whole lot more than Whose Line is It Anyway style laughter.
“No Way Out” features a family dinner between three siblings who meet for a reason determined by audience suggestions. And while there are a lot of chuckles things get real really quickly as the cast shows some substantial dramatic chops.
The first night the siblings were meeting because of an intervention. Friday night’s show was about how they cope with their sick mother choosing the option of assisted dying.
Things started pretty light hearted with the younger sibling Connor Christmas explaining to eldest brother Greg Wilson about how Snapchat works and what the whitest kind of sushi is and his love for taco chips, but things get pretty serious when Camille Pavlenko, the middle child and oldest child Greg sit their young brother down to tell their young brother that their mom isn’t doing as well as they hoped.
Things got even more serious got a call from “doctor” David Gabert to get down to the hospital when their mom, Erica Barr tells Greg she doesn’t want to fight cancer anymore and wants to explore the assisted dying option.
She impresses me more and more every time I see her in a dramatic role, though she can be absolutely hilarious. Pavlenko also showed some serious emotion throughout though unfortunately she had her back to the audience for most of the show and was blocking Wilson. I usually know her as a comedienne, so it was great to see her show her dramatic side. Connor Christmas, I think actually cried during the final scene of the show. It was very convincing.
Gabert did double duty in Club Didi as the doctor as well as the siblings’ dad.
A bell ringing signified a scene change and usually a flashback.
“No Way Out” runs at 7 8 p.m. in Club Didi on Sept. 17 as well as Sept. 18 at 6 p.m.
After that, I was in the mood for some comedy, so I hung around for Mav Adacer’s one man show “No Allegiances.”
It is basically a though provoking comedy routine full of stories and a lot of jokes exploring politics, university life, racism and hatred and growing up as a Filipino immigrant to Canada. Of course there is a recurring white penis joke, which is balanced with more serious jokes
Adacer also takes you to China with him as he builds school and experiences racism there and the frustrations of being in China without having officially become a Canadian citizen and thus not having the right paperwork.
He has a great rant about a redneck in a white pick-up truck shouting slurs as the gay pride flag was raised at city hall, imagining what the driver might really be thinking as he wanders through each row of the audience.
“No Allegiances” runs at Club Didi at 6 p.m., Sept., 17 and Sept. 18 at 8 p.m. He will also be at the Love and Records comedy tent, Sept. 17.
You can get your Fringe button and programs at Casa at the Fringe headquarters where you can also buy tickets for those shows as well as “Nothing Is Enough” at Casa at 4:30 p.m., Sept. 17 and Sept. 18; A Woman of a Certain Age at the Gate at 5:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Sept 17; Belle Paris at Casa at 6:30 p.m., Sept 17 and at 2:30 p.m. at Casa on Sept. 18; “Commencing” at the Gate at 7:30 p.m. and “Enlightened Swinger”at Casa at 8:30 p.m., Sept 17 and 6:30 p.m. Sept. 18. Tickets are $10 per show, which all goes to the performers.
