by AMY BARRATT

I remember a time, not that long ago, when it was possible to take in every show at the Montreal Fringe festival. I'm not saying I did it, just that I recognized it was feasible, provided you had absolutely nothing else to do for 11 days in June.

Those days are gone. The Fringe has grown to include over 80 shows. Add to that the more than 20 shows and events in this year's inaugural Infringement Festival and the choices were dizzying.

Fringe numbers indicate that 45,000 people attended this year's fest (18,000 of them at the indoor shows). By any measure, Father's Day, a one-man show from Los Angeles, was the hit of the year. It sold out most of its shows, had a midnight performance added on closing night, and also walked off with the Centaur Theatre "Off the Main" award. This means that it will be offered a slot in Centaur's Wild Side festival next January.

While I offer my congratulations to the insanely talented writer-performer of Father's Day, Kahlil Ashanti, I can't say that any of this is a positive development. Father's Day never really belonged in the Fringe in the first place. Not because it is "in development as a major motion picture" (did anyone ever develop something as a minor one?) or because it is slated to open on Broadway in autumn 2005. The trouble with Father's Day winning awards at the Fringe is that it's a totally mainstream show.

The Just for Laughs judges also felt it necessary to say how great they thought Father's Day was but explained that they couldn't consider it for their prize because it "wasn't comedy." That must have come as a surprise to stand-up comic Ashanti. They ended up choosing The Imponderables for a spot in the JFL On the Edge series.

There are dozens of shows I wish we would have a chance to see again but probably won't. Just the local ones include: Caketown, Bowlin' Ghosts, Kabarett: A Cheerical, Steel, Wanting and, of course, Never Surrender's Greatest Adventure.

Infringe politics

The Infringement Festival, as we probably all know by now, was born out of a long-standing beef with the Fringe. It's not my battle, and I refuse to fight it in this space. The point is that, despite its, well, spiteful beginnings, the Infringement wasn't just a protest vote; it showed us a different way of doing things and, in the end, provided a real alternative. I hope it will be back next year. But I also hope that the organizers, OTL and Travesty Theatre, will, like Kahlil Ashanti in Father's Day, break free of the "abusive parent" and get on with their lives. For its own good, the Infringement Festival should not run concurrently with the Fringe. If it continues to do so, it will be robbing itself of media attention and audiences. Why not take the 10 days immediately following the Fringe? That way the Infringement could benefit from the Fringe momentum without directly competing with it.

Meanwhile back in the subscription houses, the Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre wraps up its sold-out run of Fiddler on the Roof this weekend. Those who missed it will get another chance at the end of the summer, Aug. 25–Sept. 2, 739-7944 for info.

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