#vanfringefest

Time to rest up for tomorrow!

F*ck tinder here we come.

So it's really over. What a wild 11 days! We saw 57 shows in total and lost several pounds running from show to show. That and living on nuts and sandwiches often eaten in line waiting for the next show. Why do we do it? Because we love it! Live theater is simply the best and you just never know when you will discover your new favourite performers. Theater is necessary and important. Theater can change people's minds and expand perspectives. Theater gives you a new way of looking at the world. So keep doing it. Check out the pick of the fringe shows and the pic plus. We are heading to Shirley Gnome and Pete and Chris this Friday. There are lots more great shows. See you there.

We started our last day at the firehall for Sechs which was all about the relationships a group of millennials had going on with each other. There was a lot of mix and matching going on and the songs were pretty good. It was OK. Then down to the island for the rest of the day. It was pouring rain so of course our first show was outside. It was called Slumber Here and it was an interactive fairy tale with characters all over the park. It was semi self guided and would have been lovely if only it hadn't been raining. We had planned on seeing Fifty Shades of Dave on the last day because we just knew it was going to be fantastic and you want to have the last day of the festival to be wonderful. We were not disappointed. We saw Nico Dicecco at the August fringe cabaret doing a few bits and we wanted more. His delivery of this vinyl cafe parody was spot on. This guy is someone to watch for in the future. Saor was up next. Squirrel suit from Welland Ontario Carlyn Ramey was a delightfully engaging storyteller. The stories were all about her life and we enjoyed hearing all about it. Charming. Chris and Travis are fringe perennial favorites and they bring their all to their shows. Fortunately they are from here so their are opportunities to see them in action outside of the fringe. The show is entirely improvised and these guys are the masters. You just never know where they will take you with their wild imaginations. Also a pick of the fringe so you can still catch them. Setting Bones was up next. We're still not really sure what they were going for with this piece and it wasn't our cup of tea. Some people seemed to enjoy it so it's all personal taste. Finally we saw Almost a Stepmom. Loved it. Great story about moving to Ireland and trying really hard to make a relationship work dispite having to deal with a crazy ex. Her boyfriend's ex was destructive and crazy and as she said at the end "sometimes love just isn't enough". We throughly enjoyed it.

Bombay black by Anosh Irani was absolutely amazing! The story was engaging and the acting brought the whole production to life. Nimet Kanji as Parma was wonderfully demented. She alternates between comedy and homicidal mania with amazing ease. And her daughter Apsara played by Agam Darshi was terrific as she tried to rationalize what her life had become and why she had this crippling dependancy on her mother until a stranger changes everything. Munish Sharma's performance is nothing short of brilliant. He comes looking for Apsara for reasons of his own and he is drawn into an unexpected situation. This whole production was just amazing and getting chosen for pick of the fringe was well deserved. By tickets ASAP!

Could we say enough wonderful things about Multiple organism? No, it's simply not possible! We LOVED this show! Mind of a snail does it again. This is my new favourite show by this amazingly creative and talented duo. How do they come up with this stuff. This is like nothing you have ever scene before. Try to see it. They only have one more show tomorrow! Draining the Swamp the musical This was a fun show with exactly what you have come to expect from Jaques Lalonde. Some great songs and dances. Some superb voices and just darn good time.

Figmentally was our first show of the day. From Oakland these two performers are very accomplished in physical comedy. One of them is trying to read a book and the other is doing everything to make that impossible. Clowning and magic with juggling thrown in. Love the human chair. Charming performance. Then off to the Cultch to see habitat. We've been looking forward to this show ever since we saw a much shorter version at the revolver festival earlier this year. This version was totally enchanting. So elegant and whimsical. Both characters played excellent roles. This is a show to experience and they got a much deserved standing ovations. We finally saw TJ Dawe's Rollercoaster at the Firehall today and this show only affirms that TJ is still our hero. This show was fantastic. Classic TJ. Multiple threads running throughout the show. Loved the stories about the Orlando fringe and all the Trump scenarios. We love you TJ. See this show while you can. Our final show of the day was The Messenger. This was a show about seeing messages all around you and deciding to follow them and taking a drug trip to change your life with a shaman in Mexico. Not our cup of tea but it might be yours.

We started out the day at the first reading of Sex, Drugs & Age the last taboo. It went amazingly well for a first reading. Sex for seniors, dementia or not, consent when your partner doesn't remember who you are. All important subjects and handled very well while still leaving a lot of questions unanswered. Really looking forward to where this script goes from here. Then Teaching Shakespeare at the waterfront. Very much like taking a class that you really tried to get out of but couldn't. Except this time your watching your professor slowing losing his grip on reality. Entertaining to watch. Then up to studio 16 to see Distractingly Sex by Milly Mumford. There's a theme running through this year's fringe. Women in science and Milly's take on this subject is extremely funny. She is a charming performer and extremely intelligent as well as being, yes, distractingly sexy. Check it out! We had not heard anything about our next show so we were just taking a chance and we are so glad we did. Naturally by Pocket Theater from Seattle was fantastic. Apparently they are actually doing 2 versions of this show depending on the day. This version was about the heart. Sophie and Clayton work so well together and they each play multiple characters. In the end there is a very moving scene where they read the eulogies that they wrote for each other. Great show! Last but not least we made the trek to commercial to see Megan Phillips in Periscope. This show is in an actual yoga studio with no shoes and a variety of different seating options. This has the feeling of a therapy session where you're watching your best friend have a complete meltdown. Megan is trying so hard to have her Happy Ever After and she resorts to drugs while working a party and then things go horribly awry. Megan is a compelling performer and we loved this show! And there are free hugs after the show.