From everything I’ve heard and read, something I love about Fringes is that they all have their own personal ~vibe~, and I really feel like this year’s fringe fest was a return to the pre-covid era party – people are chatting in lines, lots of artists are walking the lines, swapping favourite picks with people you run into going from venue to venue, running into artists at coffee shops around town, and as un-quantifiable as it is, there felt like there was a lot more buzz around town.

I really lucked out with this year’s fringe selection. Everything I saw was really good, so many shows were polished and ready for the stage, and even those few that were still getting on their feet had so much to offer. It really was a dynamic and exciting fringe from where I sat – and if you happened to catch some shows, I hope you had as much fun as I did!

It was incredibly hard to pick a top 5, but here they are (note the blood, sweat, and tears that marks this blog post)!

5. Dear Jax – To the Hilt Production

Dear Jax was an unexpected, beautiful little gem of a show. I hadn’t heard much of anything about it, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.

It begins with a voice in the darkness. Soft, gentle, a little imploring.

We are then taken on a journey of loss, of losing one’s mother slowly, and in pieces. It is heartbreaking and doesn’t shy away from the reality of this terrible journey.

It’s about asking for help from an unexpected source. It’s about family, legacy, and finding yourself. It’s about beautiful moments in the midst of the atrocious ones. It’s about the unfairness of it all, and finding solace in the roots of the relationship.

I almost don’t want to talk any more about this show, because I don’t want to give anything else away.

The loss of a parent is a common theme in so many shows, movies, and books. It makes sense, as the relationship with our parents is so fundamental to how we understand the world around us, and our later relationships in life. A challenge for artists, with this theme being so common (showing up in several fringe shows I caught this year), it can be hard for audiences to feel connected, especially with the parent who is gone. What I felt Jean-Marc LeBlanc was so able to deftly provide, was who his mother was. I have never understood departed parent so clearly as the woman LeBlanc shared with us.

All this in 35 minutes, it was a truly special show. I’m honoured to have experienced it.

4. Are You Lovin’ It? – Theatre Group Gumbo

Starting on a high note of high energy, Are You Lovin’ It? just. keeps. going. up.

In any one else’s hands, this would feel frantic, teeth-grindingly erratic, but Gumbo takes us all for a ride together. It’s playful and it feels like everyone in the audience is in on the joke together.

It’s lightly political, but in a way that feels very human. It’s bizarre, but that doesn’t matter because you’re all just there together, having a good time. My initial impression was that it felt like a bit of fever dream, and while my impression still feels true, I would add that it’s a fun fever dream.

I have to hand it to this company – to travel across the world, and hope that audiences from a different cultural background will get your jokes, get your vibe, get your energy – that’s a big swing, and I think they did it wonderfully.

3. 40 Year Old Puberty – Ti Malik Coleman

Ti Malik Coleman’s performance begins with a warm chat – he’s new to town and wants to know what he should check out while he’s here (our audience was obsessed with telling him to go look at various trees, which was… odd.).

This warm, casual way of telling his story makes everyone feel welcome, even if you don’t share his story or his background.

The joy of watching Malik become himself is so beautiful, and the journey to get there is filled with heartbreak that touches so deeply to the core of who he is, and the core of what being a human being is. The euphoria he experiences is life affirming for everyone in the audience, and it feels like we are so close to him to hear so much of his story. His journey is uplifting and cuts straight through so much of the political rhetoric swirling around without even trying.

One line I will never forget: “He’s cute!” If you saw it, you get it.

2. Horseface – Alex Dallas

With an opening line of “BALLS!”, you know you are in for a rowdy time, but this play is so much more than just a rowdy time. Alex Dallas is seasoned comedian and performer, and knows exactly how to hold our attention rapt – she’s funny, touching, and zeroes in on the stuff that matters.

A lot of her subject matter hurts, because if you are a woman, you know someone who has experienced this – or you may have experienced it yourself. If you’re a man, you probably know a woman who has been through that garbage, even if she never told you.

So funny and so moving, Alex Dallas knocked it out of the park with this one.

1. Tango, It Takes Two – PointeTango

I’m not someone well versed enough to comment on most forms of dance – but I cannot think of a single person who wouldn’t be impressed with this incredible duo.

How spectacular it is to see an incredible dance performance! How even more invigorating to have them challenge and bend every rule of the form, to draw you in with stories, sweet and simple, and poetry that makes you cry. To hold your breath as their seemingly effortless lifts reach unthinkable heights. To gasp with the rest of the audience and break into peals of applause that you simply can’t hold back.

And for them to be the only artist in the world that does this form of dance?

Well, that’s pure magic.

I promised myself this list would only be five, but here are some other shows I LOVED:

ciarán and islay make coffee (Cowboy) – If you think there’s been enough time travel/alternate timeline shows to last you for a little while, I implore you to think again and give this dynamic duo a try. Playful, experimental, all while refusing to take itself seriously, this was such a fun show!

Potayto, Potahto (Jimmy Hogg) – I missed out on the potato king last year because it was a sellout. I bought my tickets early and raised my expectations unfairly high because, well, it was a sellout. Hogg is hilarious and doesn’t mind a bit of salty language or themes. He knows how to have fun and connect with an audience, and it was a great way to end my fringe season.

New Wave Your Behaviour (Tor Lukasik-Foss) – One of my big wins for a show is someone who is live scoring their own performance, and another is a performer who does not waste a single element of their show. Tor Lukasik-Foss does both, and somehow, for a first fringe show (and if I recall correctly, his first ever theatre show), he makes it look easy. Lukasik-Foss winds together his mental health journey through his self-discovered archetypes in new wave music. Touching and funny, honest and upbeat, there was so much in this show that blended together spectacularly.

Free Kittens (Megan Milton) – I don’t know how to describe this show without making it sound maudlin. It’s incredibly heavy, and yet, so incredibly funny. Megan Milton’s story is honest, hard-hitting, blindingly raw, and white hot political. It stayed with me for days.

My Thoughts On Fringe

I hit my personal high score of 18 fringe shows this year which was more than half of the shows offered this year. On reflecting, I think this is around the maximum I can see in a fringe season. Any more, and I feel like I risk not being able to give time to appreciate the artists work and the nuances of what I saw.

A few years ago, I made a friend precisely by trying to figure out if it was even possible to see all the shows at our fringe (turns out, that year you could but it would be really tight). I guess for me, even if I could see all the shows, I’m not sure I would want to. Sure, there’s always a bit of FOMO, but with all the spectacular theatre I saw this year, I can’t feel hard done by.

Happy fringe to all who celebrated, and looking forward to another great year of theatre!