Cat McCluskey

This show was the perfect way to end Fringe for me. Around and About Theatre Co. have truly done it again, this year with a show that was sweet, hilarious, and surprising in all the right ways. Leah Pritchard is a comedic genius and brought Craig to life in a fully embodied way.

I loved the idea of a different God every night (a very omniscient decision, if you ask me), and truly wished I could have seen all of them in a very Gotta God Them All kinda deal. Dan Hendricken was our God and did a fantastic job of bringing the judgement.

Fantastic job all around to this team!

I. Find. Cults. FASCINATING!! So a show about a cult all about being comfy and cozy? Count me in! With a slightly later start time on the final day of the Halifax Fringe, the audience was small but MIGHTY as we were led through the rise and fall of the Comfy Wizard's cult. The story and performance was entertaining, the audience participation was hilarious, and I think a great (and educational) time was had by all (and not just because we were all given candy).

The Halifax Fringe Festival was truly blessed with some fantastic one-person shows, and this one was no exception. We were expertly guided through a tale of love, stress, curiosity, and enlightenment (of a sort) as Gada Jane led us through her journey of discovering her psychic abilities. The story was easy to follow alongside, and I really appreciated the visuals used to enhance the story.

This was by far the most intense show I saw this Fringe, but not necessarily in the ways I anticipated. I'm a big fan of a few folks who were involved which was why this was one of the shows I wanted to make sure I caught, and their performances, the set, and the costumes did not disappoint. However, I found that the show's intensity was at a pretty consistently high level throughout and I was left wanting for almost less indirect exposition or more intentional plot setting that lets the audience into how and why exactly these characters ended up in this Service Canada (which truly was a hilariously perfect location). We only really know them in their capacity as the four horsemen which may have been the point, but I wanted to know who they were and why we should care about this particular point in time. I applaud the team for the run of this show, and look forward to hopefully seeing what iterations of it may arise in the future.

Truly the perfect Fringe show. As a self-proclaimed horse girl in my youth, this show hit home (especially the track with all the horses). Devin Bateson was a hilarious delight, moving between scenes, songs, and costume changes with a practiced ease and well placed water breaks. This show was truly the perfect level of chaos for me, and I loved the way Devin seemed to feed off the energy of the audience (who was eating the metaphorical sugar cubes of the show out of the palm of his hand).

What a performance! Roz Browne is a maestro of storytelling, comedic timing, and audience connection. It wasn't hard to fall in love with her on stage and with the ease that she moved from story point to story point. As an added bonus? She had family in the audience that she had been able to meet for the first time thanks in part to the Halifax Fringe. She may have been In Search of Black People and community came out to support enthusiastically!

This show was on my list of "must see" shows thanks to rave reviews I'd heard from pals who had already seen it, and they were right. They were so right. With Dwayne Morgan on the mic, 60 minutes felt so much shorter, yet the apparent hour was jam packed with some of the sharpest, sweetest, and most honest writing I have ever experienced. And not only the writing, but his delivery packed a perfectly articulated punch so that you were sure to hear every single thing he said, even above the laughter, spontaneous applause, and murmurs of agreement. What a gift to have him here for this year’s Halifax Fringe.

What. A. Delight!! Most folks who know me know the deep love and appreciation I have for drag, but they may not also know how much I love operas. Put them both together and you have a show filled with heartfelt stories, soaring arias, and a delightful number of wig and costume changes. Fans may also be surprised to discover that opera has been made even more accessible to the typical Canadian audience member with lyrics in English, something I was both shocked and delighted by. Aida/Steven navigated the tiny stage like a true maestro of the arts, and as a vocalist who has also often wondered if the art I love is the career for me, I truly appreciated the story of the life that led them to finding their voice.

While I hate that a genocide led me to Saf's poetry, they have been a devastating yet beautiful reminder that resistance exists in all forms and that solidarity is a collective experience. Listening to her read the poems she has created over the past nearly three whole years was a strange experience. As she made her way through the years, I remembered every situation, every moment illustrated through her poems. I also couldn't help but think about how draining this would have been for Saf, reliving these moment six times over the course of the festival. This is an upsetting piece. This is an uplifting piece. This is an honest and powerful show and I'm so glad it's happening at the Halifax Fringe.

I think this show is going to be hard to top for me this Halifax Fringe. Created by GaRRy Williams, Kristi Anderson, and Amy Reitsma, this show is like if Merrily We Roll Along featured an older (complimentary) and hornier (also complimentary) cast. The three took turns sharing the spotlight while also sharing harmonies in a show that felt cheeky in its joy yet heart wrenching in its softer moments. I'm a huge fan of this team as it is, and this show was a beautiful testament to music, friendship, and love in every form.