I heart Fringe

The second year of the resurrected Calgary Fringe Festival started last Friday, and although I haven’t seen a huge number of productions (there are 38 this year, or something like 100 fewer than Edmonton’s, one of the world’s largest), I’m thrilled with what I’ve taken in, so much so that the whole event gets a macchiato heart from me:

Fringe is always something of a gamble, but at the festivals I’ve been (here and in Toronto), I’ve never had anything but good luck. There’s this sincerity, this earnestness, about Fringe theatre that makes me wish that I’d ever been involved with it (at the artist end, I mean). So far this year, I’ve seen three plays: Cinderella the Wizard, from Edmonton’s Promise Productions; Jihad Me at Hello from Calgary’s Obscene But Not Heard, and Jesus in Montana by (and starring) Barry Smith. JiM was one of the best plays I’ve ever seen, a monologue with slideshow about Smith’s experiences in a cult that… well you can probably figure it out from the title. I chatted with Smith after the show, very briefly, and asked him one of the most inane questions he’s probably received touring this play:

Me: Hiya- that was brilliant! I loved it!
The Artist: Thank you very much.
Me: Hey, did you change that reference you made to “grade three” from “third grade” for a Canadian audience?
The Artist: Yes I did.

And that was what I had to say about this incredible performance. I can only hope he blogs about what a knob he met after his first Calgary show, because, you know, there is no such thing as bad publicity. Mr Smith, it’s M-A-N-Z-O.

Fringe runs until August 19 at venues in and near the Epcor Centre.