"Bittergirl", originally produced in 1990's Toronto, is play which follows three women, all in different stages in their lives, who are coping with well... being dumped. From self-care, to violent thoughts, to rebounding, Bittergirl follows the up and downs of a breakup with a sharp script and excellent acting.

Bittergirl is one of a decent number of Fringe shows this year which license pre-existing work, in this case a 27 year old Canadian play (with some updated references). The choice of Bittergirl, written by Annabel Griffiths, Alisan Lawrence, and Mary Francis Moore, for Little Sis Co. is a natural decision. Having caught, and loved, Primadonna last year, the choice of female fronted work with a fast pace is very on-brand for the collective. The actors, all from Primadonna plus a new face in Jacob Gorr, take to Bittergirl with the same ferocity and chemistry as last Fringe. They work insanely well together, and nail their individual moments too. The characters are differentiated well from each other too in the performances, an impressive feat for a script where the characters tend to mesh together a bit.

The actual script itself is messy, not in a bad way, and quite relatable to a variety of relationship issues. It does have a tendency to work itself into circles, which can be understood as break-ups don't exactly go down easy, but could have been benefitted by a little more character development, even if just to give the sudden ending some more justification. As well, even as someone who adores fast pace shows, both the script and its execution could use some valleys to balance out the hills. It starts at 100 and stays there throughout, which leads to some impressive acting performances and quick lighting design that is very effective, but also makes individual scenes and monologues start to feel a little same-y. While, as mentioned, the actors do a good job differentiating their characters, the script and blocking occasionally begins to meld together. If a few scenes or even just moments had a bit of a slower pace, it would have made the overall show feel more realized and impacting. The directing (Abby Witte) as a whole is superb, and each inch of the stage is used, but that would have brought it to the next level.

If I have any critiques, it's mostly because Little Sis Co. is an incredibly talented company and I've already seen them create outstanding, top rate theatre. For this show, it is a very worthy addition to their canon and only makes me more excited to keep seeing what they do next.

Andrea Noga, Alberta Youth Theatre Collective.