by Amy Barratt

The Fringe artists have arrived from all over North America and beyond, the beer tent is up in its rightful home at the corner of Rachel and St-Laurent, the opening party starts at 9 p.m. tonight, June 8, and, beginning at 6 p.m. tomorrow, we’ll have 97 Fringe shows to feast on over 10 days. To quote the TV producer in Tootsie, “Don’t don’t don’t don’t don’t don’t panic.”

The Montreal Fringe is sweet 16 this year and they’ve chosen a tomato motif in their advertising. Perhaps they are suggesting that 16-year-olds are like ripe tomatoes, ready to be picked. Perhaps the smashed tomato graphics are telling us that when the city gives them tomatoes, the Fringe makes ketchup. Certainly it has been a stressful spring for Hechtman, Agombar et al, and it is still unclear whether the fest will break even this year, given the arrondissement Plateau Mont-Royal’s restrictions on the use of the outdoor space, particularly regarding the sale of beer—otherwise known as the Fringe’s bread and butter.

Are you still with me? It’s simple really: the best thing you can do for Fringe artists is go see their shows. The best thing you can do for the Fringe itself is to drink beer. It’s a tough job but we believe you’re up to it.

This being the theatre desk, this column will focus on Fringe offerings that resemble plays, as opposed to dance or sketch comedy, puppetry or performance art—though if any of the above is your cup of tea, the Fringe program is a treasure trove.

Hometown harvest

Drama can be a tough sell at the Fringe, but Departure Lounge, by Jennifer Kierans, stood out at the Fringe-for-all last week. A man and a woman who haven’t seen each other since their relationship ended badly 10 years before, run into each other at an airport and are forced by weather to deal with the past. Ladies Room is a comedy by Caitlin Murphy (The “O” Show) that finally answers the perennial male question, “What do you women do in there?” The Girl With No Hands is Talya Rubin’s one-woman exploration of the world of the Brothers Grimm. Comedian Derick Lengwenus (Dr. Avocado) returns to Théâtre Ste-Catherine with his autobiographical one-man show, My German Father.

Former CBC sportscaster Drogheda Woods has written her first play and convinced the cream of anglo theatre society to put it on. A boozy dark comedy, Gorgeous features KC Coombs and Danette MacKay (reunited following star turns in Dayna McLeod’s video Teabagging and Other Beauty Secrets) as twisted twins. The lovely Gilda Monreal completes the cast under the direction of Jen Morehouse. No less a light than Ana Cappelluto has created the set.

I must confess, I had grown a little weary of Keir Cutler’s academic shtick, which began with Teaching Shakespeare at the 1999 Fringe and has continued apace. However, I was transfixed by his two minutes at the Fringe-for-all and have put his Teaching As You Like It at the top of my personal list.

Out-of-town oddities

Real Time is brought to you by the company that did BoyGroove, Edmonton’s Ribbit Productions. There’s no music this time but it promises to be a frenzied Fringe take on internet dating. Desperate Housepets has a classic Fringe title, an impressive Fringe pedigree and is donating 10 per cent of proceeds to the World Society for the Protection of Animals. Everybody wins!

Evil Is the New Good is a new one-man show by Nile Seguin whose mix of stand-up and storytelling was a hit last year in Fear of a Brown Planet. Evil could just be your best source for political humour at the 2006 Fringe. I’m also looking forward to Living Shadows: A Story of Mary Pickford, a one-woman show from Edmonton about the silent movie star who happened to be Canadian. Then there are the two one-man shows I keep getting confused: Pentecostal Wisconsin and Jesus in Montana. The former is a comedy with songs about growing up in the land of religious ecstasy and cheese. The latter, also a comedy, is subtitled “Adventures in a Doomsday Cult”: ’nuff said.

Cabaret corner

The Montreal All-Star Cheerleaders return to the Fringe with their new show The Sum of all Cheers. Political satire and short skirts frame a mystery surrounding the theft of a Canadian treasure: Terry Fox’s right sock.

Fans of last year’s Sugarpuss Burlesque won’t want to miss The Chicken Kerfuffel. The company, although sadly sans the lovely Holly Gauthier-Frankel, has been re-constituted as Dames in Disdress. The new show promises fast-paced comedy, music, satire and of course, a little skin.

Also of interest are Crossroads: An Astonishing Musical Journey (covered in this space last week); My Little Rant, a one-man musical starring Stephen Pietrantoni and Mae Day, a burlesquey delight set in the 80s. It’s directed by Davyn Ryall and features the vocal stylings of Carolyn Fe-Trinidad.

I’m running out of space, so I’ll send you to the program to check out Backstage at Da Fonky B (New Orleans), Better Parts (Toronto), Plugged: A Rock Opera (Vancouver), and Big Spender (Boston). Bargain of the year goes to How’s it Going?, a 45-minute comedic drama from Fredericton’s Punching Ptarmigan Productions, at $3 a ticket.

The Fringe Festival runs June 8–18, www.montrealfringe.ca

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