by Kat Fournier, Laurie Fyffe, Barbara Gray,  Patrick Langston, Maja Stefanowska, Alvina Ruprecht, Iris Winston and Jamie Portman

Scroll down on the web site for the reviews..

As of June 26, 2 014   36 plays reviewed, many more SEEN, several reviewed twice

total reviews 45  and  more coming.

Portable #3  3 reviews J. Portman, I.Winston , A. Ruprecht

Chase and Stacey present Joy Ride  2 reviews J. Portman, I.Winston

Immolation 1 review by A.Ruprecht..

Can’t Argue With Pussy  1 review by Maja Stefanowska

Wunderjammer  1 review A.Ruprecht

Immolation  1 review A. Ruprecht

Kitt and Jane   2 reviews Kat Fournier, A.Ruprecht

Great Battles of History   1 review Alvina Ruprecht

High Tide   1 review Alvina Ruprecht

Never own anything you have to paint or feed  1 review Alvina Ruprecht

Iredea    1 review Alvina Ruprecht

Mr and Mrs Jones   1 review  P. Langston

Othello 1 review Kat Fournier

A Mind Full of Dopamine   2 reviews. Patrick Langston, Laurie Fyffe

The City that Eats You  1 review P.Langston

First Words 1 review Maja Stefanowska

Moonlight after Midnight  1 review Kat Fournier

Burnt at the Steak 3 reviews   P. Langston,  A. Ruprecht, I. Winston

Cupidity 1 review M. Stefanowska

The Surprise  2 reviews  P. Langston  A.Ruprecht

Eclipse  1 review K. Fournier

Wasteland Radio 1 review M.Stefanowska

A Universal Guide to Loving Your Shadow  1 review L. Fyffe

Poe Show 1 review  A. Ruprecht

Getting Through ‘1 review M. Stefanowska

Dont Tell My Dad 1 review M. Stefanowska

First Words 1 review M. Stefanowska

Oceans Apart  2 reviews A Ruprecht, L. Fyffe

Kavaliers Curiosity 1 review K. Fournier

Women Who Shout At Stars 2 reviews L. Fyffe,  P. Langston

Against Gravity 1 Review P. Langston

Stories of Davey Punk P. Langston

Einstein 2 reviews A. Ruprecht, P. Langston

Paco V Put to  Sleep. 4  reviews A. Ruprecht, P. Langston, I.  Winston, J. Portman

Who Killed Gertrude Crump 2  reviews A. Ruprecht,  P.Langston

I found so little joy in the first two skits in this joyride that I left for greener pastures and another show- one of the great escapes offered by a Fringe festival.

A great disappointment after Chase Padgett’s fine showing last year in 6 Guitars.

Venue: Arts Court theatre

Chase and Stacey Present Joyride.

Stacey Hallal, Portland, USA

Martin Dockery..

The Surprise is a beautiful work of theatrical art. Inspired by Dockery’s relationship with his father he brings his whole body into play as he tells and shows us how  deeply emotional relationships develop with people who are close to him. A fine, subtle and accomplished performer, he constructs a scenario that flows faultlessly to a conclusion that we did not expect. From one surprise to the next.

A performance  genius in our midst!

It plays at the ODD arts court.

The Surprise Performed and written by Martin Dockery

Also watch for Moonlight after Midnight

A study in inertia that tips its hat to Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter and Edward Albee, Paco P. Put to Sleep manages to maintain interest in what doesn’t happen when “somebody should do something.” It just will never be done by any of the (intentionally) sluggish characters on stage.

Ambitious, amusing and interesting for lovers of Theatre of the Absurd.

Plays at Arts Court Theatre

Paco P. Put to Sleep

By Martin Dockery

Black Sheep Theatre, Ottawa

Venue: Arts Court Theatre

High Tide performed by Morgan Johnson

A poetic, near mystical experience of bonding with the sea and the earth in general, this performance presents the work and the person of Rachel Carson, who launched environmental thinking in the 1960’s

The actress appears to be someone who does not have too much experience but it’s the words that are important and they make you want to learn more about Carson. As a performance, it might have benefitted from some images of the sea projected somewhere on that space that seemed so large and high with a single performer but luckily it only lasts 45 minutes and that is perfect.

A flight into transcendence and a moment of calm in all the frenzy of the Fringe.

Plays at the ODD box in Arts Court.

Great Battles in History

Performed and written(?) by Mark Shyzer

If one knows German, the family name of this fellow could be problematic but no matter. This is the perfect Fringe anti-theatre where Jeff mumbles, fumbles, works his way through a musical performance that was meant to be but doesn’t quite make it because the people involved haven’t turned up, and in any case Jeff the narrator, director, actor can’t play the Ukulele, can’t sing and he hates musicals. An event that appears to deconstruct theatre (musical theatre really)   by giving us a slightly campy vision of the great battles of history and singing songs off key to highlight those moments. Actually, this is not about history, its about  theatre and mainly about Jeff’s transgressive vision of the world who tells us he doesn’t need all these established models because he has new ones and doesn’t have to find evasion in those soppy heroic romantic performances that musicals and historical narratives  usually are. He has his own models and he is fine because he knows exactly who he is. All kidding aside, that is a lot more profound than you could imagine. Clever and annoying!

Plays at Arts Court

The Surprise

Martin Dockery, Brooklyn, N.Y.
ODD Box

Reviewed for the Ottawa Citizen

The Story: Martin Dockery – who’s lightened our lives  with Wanderlust, The Bike Trip, in years past- rockets through another true-life adventure in his usual riveting storytelling style. This time it’s rooted in his trip to  Vietnam and Cambodia to meet for the first time his two Vietnamese siblings, both decades younger than he. The story is a series of surprises, none more memorable than the wrenching conclusion.

Pros:   Dockery’s gifts, here in full flight, include not just an extraordinary sense of dramatic pacing but an eye for character, place and the funny or poignant or just unexpected element in an otherwise unremarkable event. This tale of family, love, other cultures and our essential aloneness in life feels as true as anything he’s ever done.

Cons:   Dockery’s high-energy shows can be exhausting, but who’s complaining?

The Story An Italian raised in Texas decides to stake a claim in New York City show business. Since she needs to work while awaiting her big break, she lands a job as manager of a high-end steak house, providing the fodder for Carolann Valentino’s first-class, true-life, one-woman musical about following your dreams and the idiots who clutter the highway between you and your goal.
Pros Valentino, a firecracker of a performer, sinks her teeth into the audience as though it were a prime rib steak and never lets go. Her parade of characters – a ditzy hostess, obnoxious customers, a clueless fellow manager – are boldly delineated, and you feel as though you’ve been given a ringside seat in this restaurant where dysfunctional humanity is the main course. Valentino also serves up terrific songs including a funny and lewd variation on Moon River.
Cons What there are don’t matter.
Verdict Delicious.

Burnt at the Steak

Carolann Valentino Productions, New York City
Academic Hall