by AMY BARRATT | More Fringe reviews...

The condo owners must have been happy. The outdoor Fringe site was almost deserted on opening weekend due to cold and rain. The Academy Club was warm and cozy though, and I kept dry taking in the following shows.

Better Parts

A Beat poet for the MySpace generation: dimples for days and not a goatee in sight. Nicole Stamp is adorable in this 22-minute tease that leaves us wanting more, more, more. (Venue 11, the Nest, 3673 St-Dominique)

Departure Lounge

Who doesn’t have that one relationship in their past they’d love to revisit and somehow resolve? In Departure Lounge, a short but sweet theatrical offering by screenwriter Jennifer Kierans, Sean and Jessica meet (again) in an unnamed airport when both of their flights are delayed by a snowstorm. It’s a 30-minute whirlwind tour of awkwardness, accusations, affection and... well, you wouldn’t want me to give it all away. Nicely acted by Kierans and Gavin Drummond in the laid-back Club Lambi space. (Venue 2, 4465 St-Laurent)

Living Shadows: A Story of Mary Pickford

This one-woman tribute to the little girl from Toronto who became America’s sweetheart is easily one of the most professional, polished shows you’ll see in the Fringe. Although the performance I saw was the official world premiere, writer-performer Tracey Power was more than ready to get in front of an audience. The premise is that Pickford, 12 years after her last appearance on screen, is meeting with Billy Wilder about starring in his picture Sunset Boulevard (she really was up for the part of Norma Desmond that ultimately went to Gloria Swanson). Mr. Wilder, represented on stage by a director’s chair, wants to know who the real Mary Pickford is, so Mary starts telling him the story of her life. Beautifully directed by Brian Dooley, this show’s life is guaranteed to extend well beyond the Fringe circuit. (Venue 7, Portuguese Association of Canada, 4170 St-Urbain)

Teaching As You Like It

In this final installment of his “Teaching” trilogy of monologues, Keir Cutler’s Shakespeare scholar has fallen, he thinks, as far as he can fall: he is teaching high school English. Substitute teaching. It’s a position, he tells us (the audience stands in for a class of 10th graders) that is devoid of all power. And this is an important point because, you see, there have been rumours about our anti-hero abusing his, ahem, power with a 15-year-old student. Cutler’s monologues are always clever and funny. This one demands more depth from him as an actor than anything I’ve seen him do and, as directed by T.J. Dawe, he is well up to the task. A tight script. A riveting performance. (Venue 4, Mirror Stage, 4247 St-Dominique)

Dork: One Woman’s Sexual Journey

The title is more fitting for the pre-recorded video sequences used to cover Micheline Marchildon’s costume changes than for the piece as a whole. The video bits record the sexual adventures of a young woman who just can’t figure out what she’s doing wrong. Live on stage, Marchildon portrays not one woman but three women and a man. Her teenage headbanger wannabe is quite touching; her take on a belly-dancing housewife is, frankly, a cheap shot. (Venue 4, Mirror Stage, 4247 St-Dominique)

The Chicken Kerfuffel

The New Burlesque is looking a lot like the old burlesque. Maybe this Dames in Disdress revue isn’t meant to be more than a tribute to the glory days of burley-Q. Certainly this show will please Fringe patrons whose expectations are met by a couple of pasties and a corny joke or two. But why, when there’s a live band right there, do you have pre-recorded accompaniment on about half the numbers? (Venue 9, Mile-End Cultural Centre, 5390 St-Laurent)

Infringement news

Seven generations of mothers and daughters are portrayed in Ghost of the Tree, opening tomorrow, June 16, and one actress, Mackenzie Gruer, plays all of these women. Written and directed by Charles Robertson, the production has received praise across Ontario. Performances Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m., at Toc Toc (6091 Parc).

>> Stage Listings