How to Do the Victoria Fringe Festival In-Person & Online 2021 Edition

Purple peacock with a watercolour design on a yellow background, with Victoria Fringe logo.Victoria Fringe Festival
Runs August 13 to Sept 24

The Victoria Fringe Festival is changing things up in its return late Summer. It’s hard to say if this pandemic will ever go away, but everyone wants to stay safe, and the organizers are changing up their event so that is can also operate with online and in-person events. The fun starts August 6th and runs more than a month-long! Their schedule is live and online to view.

Topping the list of what can be viewed from home is MIMI The Gourmet Cat, by the Mochinosha Puppet Company, which will be part of the Fringe KIDS livestream. More details about this particular show be found online on the show website.

The following are my quick picks in what to check out. The links go to further information, including in-person shows, and how to buy tickets.

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[Victoria Fringe Festival 2019] Tim Mooney’s Man Cave Needs A Soundtrack

Location:
Langham Court Theatre
(Fringe Venue 5)
805 Langham Court

Remaining Shows:
Aug 28 08:45 pm
Aug 29 07:00 pm
Aug 31 10:00 pm
Sep 01 02:15 pm

When the world is about to end, ala Chris Nolan’s Interstellar with all the loss of natural resources going on, Tim Mooney is sure to survive. His one-man show, Man Cave, a One-Man Sci-fi Climate-Change Tragicomedy is set in the future (2029 to be exact) and global warming is at the forefront of all damage going on. Although only a decade away, what he says is a touch uncomfortable since it suggests we have time to reverse the damage. After seeing Freeman the Handyman‘s Timeline for Homo Sapiens last week, you’d think the producers of the Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival would pair the two shows together for an evening of T-talk and radio show about the decline of civilization (and what we can do to fix it).

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[Victoria Fringe Festival 2019] Jon Bennett: Playing With Men & A Lot More, A Review

Location:
Victoria Event Centre
(Fringe Venue 1)

1415 Broad Street

Remaining Shows:
Aug 29 09:30 pm
Aug 30 07:00 pm
Aug 31 08:45 pm
Sep 01 06:45 pm

Disclaimer: Profanity, sexual themes and adult humour.

Jon Bennett is always amazed in how he never misses performing at any Fringe Festival from around the world. The Gods of Comedy must love him and influence the lottery selection so that this comedian will never miss a chance to share his story. I knew I should not miss his latest show, Playing with Men, and its themes is not for the conservative minded. This show looks at what being machismo is about and the fallacies associated with it. At the same time, he talks about the most aggressive sport on Earth, Aussie rules football, and how it relates to his life now. That means:

  • No holding the man
  • No holding the ball
  • Out of bounds
  • Boys don’t cry

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[Victoria Fringe Festival 2019] The Robber Bridegroom, Brothers Grimm

Location:
Metro Studio Theatre
(Fringe Venue 3)
1411 Quadra Street

Remaining Shows:
Aug 26 07:45 pm
Aug 30 05:15 pm
Aug 31 03:45 pm
Sep 01 05:45 pm

Chimera Theatre‘s revisionist take on the Brothers Grimm fairytale The Robber Bridegroom is simply a masterpiece of German expressionism. Not only is this adaptation a love letter to this artistic movement but also a Shakespearean playwright was behind the reconstruction of the seminal tale. I have to tip my hat to Andrew G. Cooper for his use of turning the Sisters Grimm to a wicked new take of the Moirae as they are the narrators to an otherwise mimed show using various styles of puppetry to tell the story within the story. That is, to recount the seminal tale with sound, light and vision.

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[Victoria Fringe Festival 2019] The Trophy Hunt Rolling Tour!

Location:
Fan Tan Alley
(Fringe Site D)
539 Fisgard Street

Remaining Shows:
Please check Intrepid Theatre’s show listings here. Three shows a night.

The scents of the nearby restaurants during a very DIY Fringe show, Trophy Hunt, certainly made me go on an expedition (for food) afterwards. In what’s unique about this performance is that it offers to local talents a chance to interpret Trina Davies dialogue and broadcast the ideas in new creative ways. This Vancouver, BC based playwright is best known for Shatter, Multi User Dungeon and The Bone Bridge.

Here, Parker (Geneviève Doyon), Jan (David Radford), and Soraya (Christina Patterson) talk about the thrill of the hunt and the reasons for why they embark on this ritual in a point of view that few understand. This show does not endorse these safaris. It does, however, delve into all those questions people ask to others who enjoy hunting. Is it really a crime? What makes being a predator so special? Is it some endorphin which gives the stalker some sense of perverted pleasure? Or is there something else?

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Victoria Fringe Festival 2019 and 12 Picks!

August 21 to Sept 1
Victoria, BC

The last days of Summer are almost here, and it’ll soon be time to do the Victoria Fringe Festival! This event has been defining the local arts scene for the past 34 or so years now with its unjuried selection of local and travelling acts. To see fond favourite performers return is always a joy.

However, to end the month, this party is one way to lounge around in the garden city (located on the tip of Vancouver Island). I try to grab a snack between shows and next up will be an updated list of where to get quick bites. On Labour Day—the busiest time of the 12 day event—the fuel runs are needed to keep anyone going. Some theatre-goers like to Fringe Binge.

Personally, I like to space my thrills out.

This year, my list of must see shows include (to buy tickets, please click on link): Continue reading