The Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival is here and there is no better time to get yourself an artistic shot in the arm than during the month of August. It is during this month that many theatre companies take a much-needed rest after the year’s hullabaloo. People of the arts need their time at the beach too.
Now I am not one to talk. My experience with the Fringe is not on such a grand scale as my best friend and writing partner Ed Sum who has been Fringing since 2009. To admit sheepishly that I have only seen one Fringe show ever, and that I’ve only gone to St. Michael’s University to see a show, it is them who have that distinctive honour of opening my eyes wide open. It was their stage version of Avenue Q last year that finally pulled me off the fence to land onto the well-trimmed green front lawn of the Fringe.
Before Avenue Q, my earliest memory of knowing the Victoria Fringe Festival existed was a play that took A. A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh characters and thrust them into the harsh realities of frontline World War I. It was the first Fringe show I had an urge to see.
The list of guests for the Island Fantasy Convention continues to grow and with their latest announcement, I squealed like a nerd.
In the month of September, Cinecenta has a treat for film lovers of both old and new. Movies such as Ghostbusters, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Obvious Child, Neighbors, Edge of Tomorrow, Maleficent, and Lawrence of Arabia will delight all at the little theatre located at the University of Victoria campus.
