Darcy Smith’s one-man show, A Modest Attempt is a project very personal in nature. Beginning with taking questions from the audience about the show, a light-hearted atmosphere is immediately established. He then grounds his story in his background from childhood with both the Internet and theatre; the two intersect heavily in this performance, as its main conceit is the tricks Smith does to impress audiences on the World Wide Web. The anecdotes Smith relays of his earlier years, such as dialling up to use the internet in the late 1990s and the resultant convulsions he performs due to the hair-raising sound of the connection loading, are communicated with good humour. …

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Harold Pinter is a veritable master of dramatic text; his plays are specific enough to be captivating, yet general enough to be deeply felt across multiple generations of theatregoers. Third Wall’s Pinter Stew is aptly named, an at-times quite jumbled re-hash of Pinter classics. Pinter junkies will be thrilled, while others will find themselves lost, unfortunately.  …

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In Beyond the Pale, Californian theatre artist Sherri Rose weaves an intriguing tale about three generations of European Jewish immigrants to the US and the experiences, both positive and negative, that they have there. Rose’s show, however, is not an ordinary narrative of migration, for a supernatural entity known as the ‘Evil Eye’ accompanies the family from the old country, the Pale Settlement …

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Ghosts are totally a myth, of course, but demons—well those are 100% real and getting ready to plunge a small Ontario town into the apocalypse. That is, if the EXDEMONators don’t manage to save the day. If only their demon blasters were as powerful as their comedy is funny they’d be able to take on any Level 30 demon no problem.

From Ottawa’s Leaping Mammal Collective, ExDEMONators brings to the stage three demon hunters who might be better off just switching into comedy full-time. Already the laughingstock of the town, the trio have to fight demons and fight for recognition in a town that doesn’t really want them around. …

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Sarah Haley prefaces her solo show exploring her culture through cooking by saying that she’s normally behind the stage and gets pretty nervous on stage. That’s hard to believe in this endearing show that ends with a delicious meal for the audience. Haley understands better than most the intersection between culture, diaspora, and food and has crafted a charming cooking show that explores her background while commenting on international relations. …

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Ludwig(a)

Playwrights and actors Adam Linton and Amy Cachero on the task of queering European history in their short play about Empress Elisabeth of Austria and King Ludwig II of Bavaria, Ludwig(a). The play follows an evening with Ludwig and his cousin the empress during and after a court ball and explores Ludwig’s queer identity and Elisabeth’s stifled role as a royal wife. …

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A production by the improv group Black Box Comedy, the premise of GoFundYourself is promising enough. The show, directed by Chris Hannay and Dani Alon, begins with performer asking an audience member what their big dream is; this dream will then be the goal that both the performers and spectators will try to raise funds for that particular evening, in a telethon style format. The catch is that instead of financial donations, the funds will take the form of laughs elicited from the audience by the various sketches enacted. …

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Joan MacLeod’s play The Shape of a Girl, inspired by the 1997 murder of Reena Virk in Saanich, BC, pulls no punches in its depiction of bullying among girls and the disastrous consequences it has on all of those involved, including the victim, bystander and bully. The production at Ottawa Fringe, directed by Sabrina Casanova, is one that does due justice to the difficult subject matter presented onstage. The play tells the story of a young teenager from Vancouver Island, Braidie, who is affected by the murder of Virk amidst witnessing a similar situation play out within her own friend circle. Having three young actors (Zuzia Kochanowicz, Eve Beauchamp and Hayley Dennis) portray the role of Braidie creates a unique dialogic effect between the conflicting thoughts that are expressed by her. This choice of casting multiple actors is arguably more engaging than having only one would have been, as the internal tension within Braidie is displayed more overtly with each actor voicing a different sentiment. …

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