For a highly comedic yet bitingly critical take on the good old days of high school, one need look no further than Alli Harris’ one-woman musical High School High, directed by veteran theatre artist AL Connors. Based on the performer’s own experiences, the show takes the viewer on a not-so-whimsical tour of all-too familiar situations (including being numbly bored in class and the school assembly which goes wrong) and characters which mark this period. What sets this production apart from similar works is the fact of it being entirely performed by one person. Harris is a duly talented performer not only in portraying multiple characters, but also in remaining coherent while singing fast-paced songs. Special mention also goes to her competency at strumming the guitar. …

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Anishinaabe artist Josh Languedoc’s story-telling drama Rocko and Nakota: Tales From the Land (produced by Indigenized Indigenous Theatre of St. Albert, AB) is easily one of the most imaginative offerings at this year’s Fringe. Centering around the frame narrative of the play around  the relationship between Nakota, a young boy who has fallen ill from anxiety attacks, and his grandfather Rocko, Languedoc incorporates a rich trove of traditional Indigenous stories to advance the growth of the relationship and characters. These traditional stories, which Rocko says that he used to tell his grandson before he grew tired of them, are simultaneously instructive and engagingly performed by Languedoc (who also portrays both grandfather and grandson). …

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With the voice of a young man calling out “Hello?” against the backdrop of a completely darkened stage, Paris, France-based company 1919’s production of 25 immediately piques one’s curiosity. It only takes a few moments for another voice (that of a young woman’s) to answer the man. Back and forth, the two debate the whereabouts of the man’s long-lost parents. Yet what at first seems to be a child’s quest to find his parents turns out to be much more, as soon as the scene ends and the lights come on, enabling the actors to present an altogether different scenario. In this play, two actors (Elliot Delage, also the creator; and Anastasia Wells) take on the roles of 12 characters in total together, who each have one thing in common: being young adults who are faced with difficult choices and circumstances. According to the Fringe program and Delage himself, each of the characters are attempting to find purpose while at the “crossroads of life.” …

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Beginning with a chair, table and a woman anxiously waiting for her date to arrive, Phoebe Webber’s new self-created work The Date starts off promisingly, genuinely piquing the viewer’s interest. ‘How will it go?’ is indeed the question to be asked of the play. The answer, however, is never given-all that the audience is given is the woman’s numerous questions and imaginings of her date’s potential flaws. Initially coming off as indecisive about the type of man she’s looking for, Webber’s character soon spirals into coming up with paranoid scenarios (such as whether he still lives in his mother’s basement) about the guy she’s never even met yet. …

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Oftentimes, it is the perspective of pets which proves to be among the most humorous and oddly insightful. The story of a family dog coming to terms adjusting to the arrival of a new puppy in House Rules is definitely no exception in this regard. The show, a new work created and directed by Mark MacDonald, is a thoroughly competent and funny workshop piece on the canine mind. The story starts off with Waffles (portrayed by Nick Wade) still getting over the move of his older brother Duke to the farm. Unexpectedly, a new puppy arrives; Waffles is at first suspicious of this new arrival, whom he thinks is the family replecement of his brother.  As he grudgingly spends more time with the puppy and trains him in the ways of the house,  Waffles comes to eventually accept him as one of their own. …

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