The Elephant Girls….Critics’ pick for the Ottawa Fringe Festival 2015

 

Best show:      The Elephant Girls: this original show was the result of  historical research which could possibly become an important text in the Canadian repertoire. Margo Macdonald’s excellent interpretation took the actor into an area of solo performance that was uncharted  for her and could be the beginning of a new orientation of her own stage work.

                           Runner up:   Three Men in a Boat. We were impressed by the professional quality of this show and the impeccable stage work of the trio who  recreated a whole world around their boat trip, by their physical interaction, their vocal performances  and in general the precision of their ensemble work.

   Best performance:    John D.Huston ( Screwtape) A solo  performance that transformed a non-theatrical text by C.S. Lewis  into a highly textured exchange with several demonic individuals whose presence we had no trouble believing. The actor  kept us transfixed as he painfully tranformed himself into a centipede while maintaining his stance as a highly professional performer who  revealed the enormous range and subtlety of his acting talent.

                            Runner up:  Martin Dockery (Bursting into Flames, Inescapable) is one of the exceptional individuals who incarnates Fringe theatre. The two shows he presented this year again revealed his  great talent as a solo actor, as a playwright and as an effective on-stage partner.

The critics are:  Kat Fournier, Barbara Gray, Patrick Langston,  Jamie Portman, Alvina Ruprecht, Maja Stefanovska, Rajka Stefanovska, Iris Winston

All photos courtesy of the Ottawa Fringe festival 2015