Opening Night:
featuring the Georgia Straight Fringe-For-All!  

40 Live Theatre Trailers on Stage! 
Hosted by Abdul Aziz (Fake Ghost Tours) and Davey Calderon (Big Queer Filipino Karaoke Night!)
Experience the ultimate sample pack featuring 2-minute bites of different Fringe shows!  
Sample what you’ll indulge in during the Festival.

Join us at 7:00pm for hors d’oeuvres and desserts from The Keg and Dockside Restaurant and a tasting of new products from Georgian Bay Spirit Company.

Wednesday, September 4, 2019 at 7:00pm Performance Works, 1218 Cartwright Street
Early Bird Tickets: $20 (Deadline August 19!)
Regular Tickets: $25
Tickets are available on VancouverFringe.com/OpeningNight or at the door!

Are you a donor? RSVP to Chelsey to join us for an exclusive Donor Event starting at 6:00pm! Not a donor yet? Make sure to donate a minimum of $25 by September 1 to get your invite.

Fabrizio and Cabriolet In: Water, Dirt, Breeze, Fire!
Duo Doppio
Portland, USA
Playwrights: Summer Olsson & Ari Rapkin

Their accents are from somewhere in Europe. Their clothes are from somewhere in the ‘70s. Their follies are universal. In this hilarious show, full of physical comedy and idiotic foibles, two egotistical vaudevillians—Fabrizio and Cabriolet—try to pull off a spectacular homage to the four elements.

Funny / Silly / Weird / All Ages / Smoke/Fog / 55 minutes

This show is created by an underrepresented Artist.

Created and performed in part by a transgender Artist.

R’n’J: The Untold Story of Shakespeare’s Roz and Jules
Stolen Cactus
London, UK
Playwright: Carmina Bernhardt
stolencactus.com

Juliet is double pregnant, Rosaline decides she does indeed want Romeo dick, but Romeo is definitely dead. Join Roz and Jules, direct from their Edinburgh Festival Fringe world premiere, on an epic Thelma and Louise-style multimedia tragicomedy adventure in clearing their good names, healing age-old family strife, and safely delivering those babies!
 
Funny / Tear-Jerker / Poetic / Multicultural / 14+ / Coarse Language / Violent Content / 60 minutes

This show is created by an underrepresented Artist.

Written, produced and performed by a mixed-race East Asian (Japanese-Chinese)/European woman with a cast of three other performers.

There Ain’t No More
Breaker/Fixer Productions
Fayetteville, USA
Playwright: Willi Carlisle
breakerfixer.com

In his final concert, an old folksinger confronts his troubled past, his legacy, and death itself with five instruments, square-dance calls, and dirty jokes in this haunting, heartfelt hootenanny. This tour-de-folk operetta addresses the faded and sometimes problematic legacy of American folk culture. 

Preview at the Havana Theatre added, August 31st at 9:30pm

Winner of Best Show at the Orlando Fringe, 2017.

***** —CBC, Winnipeg & KC Applause 
“Powerful ... Worth seeking out.” —Washington Post 
“[A] manifestation of the current Renaissance of Americana.” —Chelsea Now 
“Hauntingly beautiful and stunningly enchanting.” —Cincinnati City Beat
 
Funny / Musical / Poetic / 14+ / Coarse Language / 60 minutes
Low vision

Those Who Can’t
Jill Lockley
Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: Jill Lockley

There are some classrooms that can’t be tamed: this is one of them. Principal Penny is desperate to find a substitute teacher for a group of sixth-grade students who are determined to torment every teacher who steps through the door. If you’ve ever taught a classroom or been in a classroom, this show was written for you.

Funny / Silly / Weird / 14+ / Coarse Language / 30 minutes

This show is created by an underrepresented Artist.

The show is a comedy written and directed by a queer woman.

Perv Hunters
Stephanie Mills and Friends
Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: Stephanie Mills

Police officers and best friends McNally and Rick have one duty: catching pervs. When the notorious Butt Photocopy Pervert continues to elude them, McNally goes off the deep end, jeopardizing his friendship with Rick. Can McNally catch the butt photocopy pervert and get his best friend back?

“Deeply odd and deeply entertaining, Perv Hunters is mandatory viewing for anyone who is not a pervert.” —Tom Hill, comedian from Hip.Bang!

The Sunday, September 15 performance will be live described by VocalEye for patrons with low vision.

Funny / Silly / Weird / 14+ / Coarse Language / Sexual Content / 65 minutes
Deaf/low vision

Ludwig and the Hammerklavier
Boondogglers Theater Co.
Everett, USA
Playwright: James W. Jordan
boondogglerstheater.com

1818! Join the cranky-but-friendly, idealistic-but- ... tired? ... Beethoven in his flat for drinks, a chat, and some piano. In a “raptus,” he takes measure of his life by scribbling measures for a new sonata, the Hammerklavier—a work (celebrating its bicentennial) that pulls him from a rut and heralds his “Late Period” (and his final years...).

This is a world premiere of the first act. The second act of the complete show is the full piano performance of the Hammerklavier. This full production is coming in 2020.

Funny / Intellectual / Intimate / All Ages / Coarse Language / 75 minutes Low vision

Jimmy Hogg: Like A Virgin
Jimmy Hogg
Toronto, Canada
Playwright: Jimmy Hogg

The multiple award-winning English comedian brings you his comedy about the trials of youth, love, and loss of virginity. Physical, fast-paced, hilarious storytelling from a veteran of the Fringe circuit. 

“Telling really funny stories is what Hogg does best. … If you want to know how to take ordinary life and turn it into theater, this guy is a master.” —Orlando Sentinel 
“Jimmy Hogg’s exaggerated-for-comedic-effect sexual history/biography is piss-your-pants hilarious.” —Plank Magazine, Victoria
“Hogg is sharp as a whip and effortlessly charming.” —Uptown Magazine, Winnipeg
***** “Dickens would love this guy.” —Orlando Sentinel

Funny / Naughty / Intellectual / 14+ / Coarse Language / Sexual Content / 60 minutes

SpinS
janoah...anygoodjokes?
Peaks Island, USA
Playwright: Janoah Bailin
https://www.janoahanygoodjokes.com/spins

A wildly dizzying whirl of juggling, giggling, magic and movement, puppetry, PJs, circus and socks, totally tangled together! A unicyclist careens on stage, unpacking a quirky world of clothes-pin towers, erratic toothbrushes and gargantuan grins. Objects swirl into chaotic creation as Janoah constructs a performing-partner puppet from piles of props!

“Silly escapism, and I mean that as a great compliment. ... This artist makes a choice to play before each bit. Like a child on a fancy playground, but mixed with the adult’s years of training.” —First Looks, PortFringe Festival

Funny / Silly / Weird / All Ages / 60 minutes

The Moaning Yoni
Joylyn Secunda
Vancouver, Canada
Playwrights: Joylyn Secunda & David Secunda

In Healing Circle a magical elixir awakens Zoë’s clitoral consciousness. From Tinder to Tantra, Zoë and her Yoni cross a sexual battlefield in a psychedelic journey. Will she learn to embrace her asexuality? Joylyn Secunda’s 17 characters whirl through songs, dances, and stunts in this cosmic comedy.

Joylyn Secunda’s 17 characters whirl though songs, dances, and stunts in this cosmic comedy.

 “Great comedic timing … as well as a killer, unique singing voice.” —Mooney on Theatre
“I wish everyone under 30 could see this show. There’d be hope for better sex for everyone.” —MK Piatkowski, One Big Umbrella

Funny / Intense / Intimate / LGBTQ+ / 18+ / Coarse Language / Violent Content / Sexual Content / 60 minutes

Connect
Aaron Alexander Presents
Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: Aaron Alexander
enchant.space

If you could suddenly feel what a stranger feels or know what they know, how would it change the way you understand people, the world, or even yourself? Connect invites participants to rediscover the miracle of real “non-digital” human connection through a unique blend of participatory theatre, storytelling, and cutting-edge science.

Preview at the Havana Theatre added, August 29th at 9:30pm

The Present Imperfect
Fiona Martinelli
Barcelona, Spain
Playwright: Fiona Martinelli

The true story of a professional foreigner! In this uplifting, amusing, and soul-searching show, Fiona takes us on a world tour of her uniquely challenging life. Through her ESL classroom, the audience discovers—and at times participates—in Fiona’s journey from a multicultural upbringing to life in 10 countries, with five kids, and 17 well-worn passports. 

“I’ve just watched your show and I’m in tears. Tears of joy. Tears of empathy. Tears about the questions it raises for my/all our lives. Happy tears but bittersweet too. It is superb!” —Mitchell Butel (Artistic Director of State Theatre Company South Australia.)

Funny / Warm and Fuzzy / Intimate / All Ages / 55 minutes

LIGHTS! CAMERA! ODD JOBS?
3rd Floor Productions
Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: Arthur MacKinnon

Join an actor in the quest for a career that goes from acting work to the many odd jobs in between. Stories of acting gigs, interwoven with real life roles such as cherry picker to call centre representative. Unexpected discoveries and reflections from the work. A journey towards...

Intimate / 14+ / Coarse Language / 60 minutes
Low vision

Lift
Awkward Stage Productions
Vancouver, Canada
Music and Lyrics by Craig Adams, Book by Ian Watson
awkwardstageproductions.com

Lift is a contemporary musical set in London’s Covent Garden Tube Station. The elevator ride takes one minute, but the journey inside takes us through eight lifetimes, allowing the characters to see and say things that might not otherwise ...come up. A rich, complex contemporary rock score and powerhouse vocals will not disappoint.

 **** “Adams’ witty and poignant score brings coherence amongst fragmented bursts of dialogue, each song an eruption of unsaid truth.” —Whatsonstage.com (Soho Theatre Production)

Musical / Warm and Fuzzy / Intimate / Multicultural / LGBTQ+ / 14+ / Coarse Language / Sexual Content / 80 minutes

Zack Adams: Love Songs for Future Girl
Weeping Spoon Productions
Perth, Australia
Playwright: Shane Adamczak
weepingspoon.com

Celebrating the show’s 10-year anniversary, Australia’s rock’n’roll funny man returns with his award-winning Comedy Cabaret about love, loss, heartbreak, growing bad ginger beards and everything in between. Think of it as a cross between a rock concert and group therapy. 

**** “Hilarious, sometimes raunchy, and often raunchily hilarious.” —CBC
“Laugh? I nearly died … This is a consistently funny, professionally executed show from one of Perth’s most industrious comedians.” —The West Australian

Funny / Naughty / Musical / 14+ / Coarse Language / Sexual Content / 55 minutes
Low vision

The Trophy Hunt
November Theatre
Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: Trina Davies
novembertheatre.com

An exploration of who eats who. Parker has waited his whole life for this trip. Jan follows this same path and makes this same trip every day – there is still some enjoyment in nature. Soraya wishes they’d all leave her alone on her beach vacation. Go on a hunt for something wild and dangerous... you just might find it.   Part of a rolling World Premiere mounted at five Fringes across the country this summer.

This site-specific production is part of a rolling World Premiere of this play that is being mounted at five Fringes Festivals across the country this summer. 

Praise for Trina Davies’ previous show, Silence:
“Silence had me in tears the first time I read it.” —Dennis Garnhum, London’s Grand Theatre

Funny / Intellectual / Intimate / All Ages / 50 minutes

My Name is SUMIKO
New(to)Town Collective
Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: June Fukumura
newtotowncollective.com/sumiko

June Fukumura is a Japanese-Canadian theatre maker based in Vancouver. By day she is a polite, well-mannered theatre artist and by night she is her dark humoured, hyper kawaii, raunchy clown alter-ego, Sumiko. Sumiko dices, slices, and blends up Japanese stereotypes and serves up a zany, East-meets-West comedy about life, death, and love.

Funny / Weird / Naughty / Multicultural / 18+ / Coarse Language / Violent Content / Sexual Content / 60 minutes
Deaf friendly

This show is created by an underrepresented Artist.

Created and performed by second generation Nikkei (Japanese-Canadian) clown

Inescapable
RibbitRePublic
Liverpool, Canada
Playwright: Martin Dockery
RibbitRePublic.com

Fresh off its NYC Off-Broadway run, Inescapable is The Twilight Zone as conceived by M.C. Escher and written by Samuel Beckett. As two old friends try to escape a holiday party, a lifetime of secrets are exposed just as quickly as their inability to remember them. 

**** “Sure to fill your inner geek with glee ... Let your brain run wild and crazy!” —CBC
**** “Mesmerizing.” —Edmonton Journal
**** “Hilarious.” —Edmonton Sun
**** “Thoroughly entertaining.” —Winnipeg Free Press 
**** “The kind of show you’ll want to see again right away.” —NOW Magazine, Toronto “Compulsively engaging.” —Orlando Weekly

Funny / Intense / All Ages / 55 minutes

Tomatoes Tried to Kill Me but Banjos Saved My Life
Quivering Dendrites
Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: Keith Alessi
tomatoestriedtokillme.com

Triple award winner at the 2019 NYC Frigid Fringe. An inspirational true story of life, challenges, battles, and triumph. What choices do you make when confronted with life’s challenges? Will pursuit of a passion take you to a place you never imagined?

Preview at the Havana Theatre added, August 30th at 7:30pm

“A gem in New York City’s off-off Broadway scene.” —The Paper/FUpaper Blog, NYC
“Raw, authentic and beautiful.” —Theatre Addicts, Vancouver 
“An intimate and affecting show.” —Vancouver Presents 

The Most Massive Woman Wins
Splendiferous Theatre
Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: Madeleine George
splendiferoustheatre.wordpress.com

Four women of various shapes and sizes sitting in the waiting room of a liposuction clinic explore their perceptions of body image. From painful childhood memories to frustrations with the opposite sex, these experiences both haunt and empower these women.  

“A thought-provoking glimpse at the anguished consequences for women trying to conform to society’s often unattainable image of female beauty.” —Martin Hernandez, LA Weekly

“Packs a powerful punch.” —Kathy Flynn, Discover Hollywood Magazine

Funny / Tear-Jerker / In Your Face / 14+ / Violent Content / Sexual Content / Nudity / 45 minutes

This show is created by underrepresented Artists.

A feminist, multicultural production team with an all-female cast of diverse body shapes and sizes.

Waiting Time
Offspring 
Esterel, Canada
Playwright: Anna Dupuis Zuckerman
www.waitingtime.ca

Two sisters are spending the winter at their childhood country home. Francis is waiting for a liver transplant and her sister Jesse joins her to be a caregiver. Time slows as they wait for the hospital call that will decide life or death. They talk about their memories, their dreams, and the option of the organ trade.
 
Intense / Intellectual / Intimate / 14+ / 60 minutes
Low vision

BikeFace
bike circus
Toronto, Canada
Playwright: Natalie Frijia
natandthebike.weebly.com/bikeface.html

A two-wheeled adventure of Canadian proportions! This one-woman storytelling whirlwind spins strange-but-true tales from a real life cross-country bicycle ride. Meet Wild West proprietors, haunted graveyards, and wanderers with secrets only fit for strangers! BikeFace will tickle your funny bone and ignite your thirst for adventure.

**** “A heartfelt adventure that’s equal parts classic road trip story (but on two wheels) and feminist ode to cycling.” —NOW Magazine 
“Funny, inspiring, suspenseful, and wonderful.” —Kings River Life  
***** —Vue Weekly 
**** —Global News, Edmonton

Funny / Intense / Intellectual / 14+ / Coarse Language / Violent Content / Sexual Content / 60 minutes
Low vision

Josephine
Lil Theatre Company
Orlando, USA 
Created by Tymisha Harris, Michael Marinaccio, and Tod Kimbro
liltheatre.co

Six-time “Outstanding Performance” winner Tymisha Harris stars in this six-time Best of Fest winning off-Broadway biographical musical that combines theatre, cabaret, and dance to tell the story of the iconic Josephine Baker, the first African American international superstar and one of the most remarkable figures of the 20th Century.

***** “Tymisha Harris’ performance is a tour de force.” —CBC 
***** “If there’s a truly must-see show... it’s Josephine.” —Winnipeg Free Press 
***** “It’s is a perfect piece of theatre for the time we are currently in.” —PlaysToSee, New York

Musical / Intimate / LGBTQ+ / Multicultural / 18+ / Sexual Content / Nudity / 75 minutes

This show is created by an underrepresented Artist.

Tymisha Harris, the performer and co-creator, is an African-American woman. The subject of the show is Josephine Baker, the first African-American international superstar, who was also bisexual.

Old-ish
GoodSide Productions
Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: Susan Freedman
susanfreedman.ca

Old-ish won the Pick of the Fringe Award at the 2018 Nanaimo Fringe. It's about aging and death only WAY funnier! Susan’s fifth one-woman comedy travels the hilarious, rocky road from denial to grudging acceptance of getting older. Her most recent Vancouver hit, Spilling Family Secrets garnered rave reviews at Fringe Festivals across Canada.

Preview at the Havana Theatre added, August 29th at 7:30pm

“Freedman sparkles … instantly likeable ... you don’t need to be old to appreciate Old-ish.” —Winnipeg Free Press

Reviews from previous shows:
“Pithy and hilarious observations about getting older.” —the Georgia Straight 
****1/2 “Riveting storyteller.” —Edmonton Sun

The Friday September 13 performance will be interpreted into ASL for patrons who are d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
 
Funny / Intimate / 14+ / 45 minutes
Low vision

The Devil’s Daughter: a story of an almost murder
Crooked Teeth Theatre
Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: Melody Owen
crookedteeththeatre.com

If you knew the Devil, would you kill him? 

The true story of a young girl's journey from mischievous imp to rebellious teenager to the Devil’s daughter and an almost murderer. 

Farm life is isolating but the farm animals are a great audience for young Melody’s misadventures and heartbreaks. When the adults in your life are dangerous, how does one survive?

World Premier!

Intense / Tear-Jerker / Intimate / 14+ / Coarse Language / Violent Content / Sexual Content / 60 minutes

Dion Arnold: How I Killed My Nan      
Dion Arnold    
Vancouver, Canada    
Playwright: Dion Arnold    
DionArnold.com    

Let me explain...  

“The perfect person to do a performance such as this.” —This Is Radelaide, Australia 
“Wicked sense of humour... No-holds-barred attitude.” —TheatreView, New Zealand 
***** “Die [your] best death.” —Mysteria Maxima Magazine
****½ “Brilliant storytelling.” —Winning At Failing, Australia
****½ “Profoundly funny.” —FringeFeed.com, Australia

Funny / 14+ / Coarse Language / 60 minutes

Thumbtacks
Green Room Theatre Camp
Vancouver, Canada
Playwrights: Green Room Theatre Campers
greenroomtheatrecamp.com

Thumbtacks is an original show, devised by the 2019 cohort of the Green Room Theatre Camp. The show features emotional vignettes, powerful monologues, and hilarious re-enactments, all mined from the weird walls of the Green Room. Come witness the wacky and wonderful imaginations of this brilliant teenage generation on display in their world premiere.
 
Weird / Poetic / Intimate / 14+ / 60 minutes

This show is created by an underrepresented Artist.

Written, produced, and performed by youth from a wide range of cultural backgrounds.

Chase Breyer: Part-Time Substitute Teacher, Full-Time Canadian Super Spy
SNAFU
Victoria, Canada
Playwright: Rod Peter Jr.
snafudance.com

The madcap action-adventures of a Canadian James Bond and part-time substitute teacher. 

“The most memorable comic performance I’ve seen. Best physical comedian in town.” —David Lennam, CBC Radio

“Cool” substitute teacher, Chase Breyer is called to action to find a fellow Canadian spy who has gone missing, only to find out the country is in more danger than thought!

Funny / Silly / Weird / All Ages / 60 minutes

Guards at the Taj
SACHA (Vancouver)
Burnaby, Canada

Playwright: Rajiv Joseph

A flourishing empire, an architectural marvel, one of the cruelest acts in (perhaps fabricated) history, intense drama, and at the centre of it all... a weird bromance? 

Adele Noronha and Andeep Kalirai star in playwright Rajiv Joseph’s sharply written story of two Imperial Guards who stand on duty at the famed Taj Mahal in India in 1648.

“Joseph writes sly, funny dialogue laced with jolts of lyricism, and the initial exchanges between the two guards are highly captivating, even if some of the play’s verbal detours are more bewitching than enlightening.” —Hollywood Reporter

Weird / Intense / Poetic / Multicultural 14+ / Coarse Language / Violent Content / 90 minutes
 
This show is created by an underrepresented Artist.

Directed and Performed by South Asian Artists

The Legend of White Woman Creek
The Coldharts
Brooklyn, USA
Playwrights: Katie Hartman & Nick Ryan
thecoldharts.com

The American frontier, 1867: A young woman flees her war-torn home to start a new life in an unfamiliar land. A 13-song cycle of love, betrayal, and revenge sung by the ghost of Anna Morgan Faber.

***** “A series of magnificent narrative songs, performed just perfectly ... An absolute triumph of music, production and mischievous willingness to unnerve.” —Edmonton Journal “One of the most moving musicals I've seen in many moons.” —Orlando Weekly

Intense / Musical / Poetic / 14+ / Coarse Language / 60 minutes

Red Glimmer
Dusty Foot Productions
Vancouver, Canada
Written & Directed by Patricia Trinh

Abstract Sci-Fi dramedy. An interdimensional science experiment! Woman involuntarily takes an all inclusive internal trip after falling into a deep depression. A scientist is hired to navigate her neurological pathways from inside her mind – tackling the fact that humans cannot physically re-experience somatosensory sensation, like pain. What if that were the case for traumatic emotional pain? A creepy little girl is heard running by. What happens next?

Weird / Poetic / Intellectual / LGBTQ+ / Multicultural / 14+ / Sexual Content / 50 minutes

This show is created by an underrepresented Artist.

Written, directed, and produced by local theatre Artist Patricia Trinh, a Queer, Asian-Canadian female.

Crazy for Dick Tricks: A Dirk Darrow Investigation
Tim Motley
North Adelaide, Australia 
Playwright: Tim Motley
www.facebook.com/detectivedarrow

All new from Tim Motley... 
Winner of 12 Fringe Festival Awards! 
***** “Incredible.” —Edmonton Journal 
***** “A perfect mix of magic show, stand-up routine, and murder mystery.” —Vue Weekly 

Help everyone’s favourite psychic detective solve a murder in a 1930s asylum as he interrogates the hilarious and colourful new characters trapped inside.

Magic / Funny / Intellectual / 14+ / Coarse Language / 60 minutes

The Walk in the Snow: The True Story of Lise Meitner
big word performance
Finchampstead, UK
Playwright: jem rolls

Physicist, fugitive, pioneer, heroine.

On Christmas Eve 1938, two refugees from the Nazis walk out in the Swedish snow. Sat on a tree-trunk, they make the shocking discovery: the atom can be split. 

And the world changes forever. 

Jem Rolls tells the remarkable life of a determined and forgotten woman.

 “I will have nothing to do with a bomb.”

 From the creator of The Inventor Of All Things:
***** “If you love history, science and great storytelling, you cannot afford to miss this show.” —Edmonton Journal

Borderline A**hole
Julie Gieseke, Solo Performer
San Francisco,  USA
Playwright: Julie Gieseke
juliegieseke.com

After years of falling for totally unavailable women, Julie has just found her ideal girlfriend. Everything is perfect except they can’t agree on one thing: That Julie is the problem. Is Julie an Asshole or a Borderline? Julie can’t tell.

“There is an immense genuineness at the heart of Borderline A**hole. Gieseke bares her true self... her warmth and sincerity give you the sense that you are being told a story by a close friend. ... Sure to make you laugh.” —Theasy.com, New York

Funny / Intense / Tear-Jerker / LGBTQ+ / 18+ / 65 minutes

This show is created by an underrepresented Artist.

The writer/performer is a 53 year old bi-racial Lesbian.
Low vision

In Ireland We Rented a Car from Criminals
Dumb Ax Productions
Saskatoon, Canada
Playwright: Rod Macpherson
facebook.com/dumbax.prod.7

In the famine graveyards of County Clare, Tom and Mary search for their Irish ancestors, meeting along the way an Irish dozen of storytellers, from the old woman in the cotter’s hut to the graveyard historian. Back at the car-rental kiosk, Aidan and his helpers plan an unhappy ending to their vacation. Comedy, blarney, and Irish drinking songs.

Funny / Intimate / 14+ / 60 minutes

Monica vs. The Internet: Tales of a Social Justice Warrior
Rage Sweater Theatre Productions
Victoria, Canada
Playwright: Monica Ogden

Award winning Filipina storyteller Monica Ogden sheds light on activism in the age of the internet, mixed-race identity, and why white feminism is like Lays chips. 

Pick of The Fringe: Bravest Show, Victoria Fringe. 

“Monica Ogden is the worst looking asian I ever saw. Filipinas are supposed to be hot, not feminist.” —Nice white man online
“Sharp, incisive, funny, well-constructed, and devastating.” —Janis La Couvée, I Have My Own Life To Live
“It would be a true shame to miss the opportunity to hear the testimony of this talented, unapologetic warrior.” —Niko Mumford, Showbill Victoria

Funny / Tear-Jerker / LGBTQ+ / Multicultural / 14+ / Coarse Language / 60 minutes

This show is created by underrepresented Artists.

Monica Ogden, the performer and writer, is a chronically ill, disabled, mixed-race Filipina Polynesian cisgender woman who lives with chronic pain and mental illness.

Ann-Bernice Thomas, the director and co-creator, is Queer, non-binary, and of the Afro-Carribean diaspora.

The Russian Play
Lovecat Theatre
Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: Hannah Moscovitch

Love is beautiful. Girl meets Boy. Boy digs graves. Girl sells flowers. Love is shit.

“…Heart is very strong organ. You can rip it out and put it back in again and it still work okay. So what is big problem?”

 “It’s the rarest of all theatrical experiments: a clever satire with a beating heart.” —Kamal Al-Solaylee, The Globe and Mail

This show is created by an underrepresented Artist.

Producer and musician Demi Pedersen identifies as part of the LGBTQ+ community.

“The story-telling is spare. Compelling. Humorous and heartbreaking.” —Lynn Slotkin, CBC Radio

Funny / Poetic / Intimate / 14+ / Coarse Language / Sexual Content / 45minutes

Didn’t Hurt
Tonic Records
Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: Rodney Decroo
rodneydecroo.com

A story about a tough upbringing, and how that played out, by Rodney Decroo (Stupid Boy in an Ugly Town), directed and dramaturged by TJ Dawe (Medicine, Marathon, The Slipknot, and more). 

“Few artists risk attempting it: turning something profoundly and deeply painful into a work of transformative beauty.” —the Georgia Straight
“Creative powerhouse.” —Canadian Beats 
“An unassuming yet mesmerizing performer.” —Winnipeg Free Press
“Decroo can create a crystal-clear scene, rich in detail. From a child’s hero worship of cowboys to an adult getting a life-changing massage, the audience is there with him.” —Orlando Sentine

Intense / Tear-Jerker / Intimate / 14+ / Coarse Language / Violent Content / Sexual Content /  75 minutes Low vision l

Girls Night In
Monica Lee and the Couch Choir
Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: Monica Lee
www.monicaleemusic.com/couch-choir

Preaching from the couch, Monica Lee and the Couch Choir are tackling some of the most pressing issues of the day for women: wine, chocolate, women peeing on public toilet seats, how to make lemonade, sexting... Join these ladies for a Girls Night In!

Funny / Silly / Musical / 14+ / Coarse Language / Sexual Content / 60 minutes
Low vision

Andrew Frank: Cognitive Goof
Andrew Frank Comedy
St. Charles, USA
Playwright: Andrew Frank

andrewfrankcomedy.com

Andrew Frank: Cognitive Goof is an hour of cerebral stand-up comedy. Belief systems, social constructs, the human mind, technology, the biosphere, and the Cosmos are all one grandiose and hysterical joke.

**** ½ “Frank is a witty man, trading obvious jabs for sly observations, cerebral quips, and machine gun spitted declarations on the morality of the western world.” —Edmonton Journal

Funny / Silly / Intellectual / 18+ / 60 minutes 

Low Vision

Rape is Real & Everywhere
Vancouver, Canada
Playwrights: Emma Cooper & Friends
rapeisreal.com

Can rape jokes be funny? What if the people telling them were survivors? Rape is Real is seasoned stand-up comedians, raw honesty, and cathartic laughs. This hit independent show sold out across the country before #MeToo gained momentum and is back because we always need to laugh at the hard stuff.  

“I found it 100% more hilarious than being raped.” —Lucia Lorenzi, PhD

Funny / Intense / In Your Face / LGBTQ+ / Multicultural / 18+ / Coarse Language / Violent Content / Sexual Content / 75 minutes

This show is created by an underrepresented Artist.

Written and performed by diverse survivors. Visit rapeisreal.com to learn more about the show's 20 stand-up comedians.

Low vision

Democracy: A Short Farce
A Company of Strangers
Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: Bruce Mohun

A dollmaker’s wife, caught between determined guerrillas and a corrupt government, wields the second law of
thermodynamics and a broom to find a democratic solution. Much fun ensues.

Preview at the Havana Theatre added, August 30th at 9:30pm

Funny / 14+ /30 minutes

Tommy’s Amazing Journey
kevztunz
New Westminster, Canada
Playwrights: Pete Townsend/Kevin Armstrong

In 1969, The Who released Tommy, a concept album that was the first “Rock Opera.” Fifty years later, Kevin Armstrong (Opera for Heathens) brings his astounding solo performance of this seminal album to the Fringe, singing all of the roles while playing 8-string guitar. 

Come and join us on an “Amazing Journey” with the “Pinball Wizard.”

“Opera for Heathens is a beautiful and often electrifying display.” —Vue Weekly, Edmonton 
“And that voice, my God, that voice! … Prepare yourself for an hour of intense musical talent.” —Brieanna Ingram, Plank Magazine, Vancouver

Intense / Musical / Intellectual / All Ages / 60 minutes
Low vision

AI Love You
Exit Productions
London, UK
Playwright: Melanie Anne Ball
exitproductionsltd.com

Adam and April are a regular 20-something couple, very nearly blissfully generic, aside from one important detail: one of the pair is an “artificially intelligent companion.” Their joyful veneer has begun to crack and they need YOU to decide the future of their relationship. Is the freedom of a robot or the will of a human more important?

For AI Love You: 
***** “Magnificent, complex and beautifully addictive.” —Spy in the Stalls 
**** “Emotionally charged, deeply moving piece ... I was left with goosebumps.” —West End Wilma 
**** —London City Nights 
Past shows: 
***** “The perfect show.” —Theatre Box

Intellectual / Intimate / Shocking / 14+ / 75 minutes

Scaredy Cat
Squirrel Suit Productions
Hamilton, Canada
Playwright: Carlyn Rhamey
squirrelsuit.ca

Award-winning storyteller Carlyn Rhamey (The ADHD Project, SAOR) returns with tons of new comedic tales of being afraid... of everything: scary movies, haunted houses, the ocean, everything in the ocean, her job, wrinkles, death, FOMO, glitter, sleepovers, dinosaurs, cheese graters, first graders, the cover of Goosebumps novels, and... her mother.

Reviews for SAOR:
“A one-woman theatrical hurricane.” —View Magazine
“A fantastic physical performer.” —Apt613
Reviews for The ADHD Project:
**** “A talented storyteller, with a great sense of comic timing.” —Edmonton Journal

Funny / Silly / Weird / 14+ / Coarse Language / Violent Content / 60 minutes
Low vision

The Robber Bridegroom: A Grimm Fairy Tale
Chimera Theatre
Kamloops, Canada
Playwrights: The Brothers Grimm, adapted by Andrew G. Cooper
chimeratheatre.com

An impoverished miller seeks a better life for his only daughter by arranging her marriage to a wealthy stranger. She wants to help her family, but something wicked lurks in the woods where her bridegroom lives... Chimera Theatre brings back their dark adaptation of this classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale through puppetry and physical theatre.

“The Robber Bridegroom took what was already an eerie fairy tale to a new level … and had even skeptical audience members on the edge of their seats and scared.” —Kamloops This Week 
“This is a show for you.” —The YYScene

The Saturday, September 14 performance will be live described by VocalEye for patrons with low vision.
 
Intense / Poetic / Shocking / 14+ / Violent Content / 60 minutes

This show is created by an underrepresented Artist.

The director/adapter and two of the performers are LGBTQ2+ and one of the performers is Métis.

Gloria’s Happy Hour
Kat Single-Dain Productions
Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: Kat Single-Dain
gloriashappyhour.com

Meet Gloria, your one and only for one night only. Gloria may be over-the-hill, but she is running down the other side! A showgirl in her prime, she doles out relationship advice to anyone who doesn’t ask and ends up getting it herself. Hilarious. You may just meet the love of your life.

From the creator of Jesse Award nominee Hard Times Hit Parade. 

“Kat Single-Dain … has one of those resumes that compel instant credibility. Seeing her … in action proves her distinctions are entirely deserved.” —Elizabeth Nolan, Gulf Islands Driftwood “More complex and entertaining than a three-ring circus.” —Ed Farolan, Review Vancouver

Funny / Naughty / Musical / 18+ / Sexual Content / 65 minutes Low vision

Legoland
Ragamuffin Productions
Surrey, Canada
Playwright: Jacob Richmond

Siblings Penny and Ezra Lamb have been home-schooled on a hippie colony all their life. They have been dying to visit the outside world, described to them only as “Legoland.” Once the colony is busted for being the largest marijuana grow-op in Saskatchewan, the opportunity finally arrives. However, it is not as joyful and loving as expected.

Funny / Silly / Weird / 14+ / Coarse Language / 60 minutes

Larry
Candy Bones Theatre
Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: Candice Roberts
candy-bones.com

Can a man get in touch with his femininity without losing his balls? 

It’s your ol’ pal Larry. He’s “no idiom,” and he’ll be the first to tell you that he’s handier than a pocket on the back of a shirt. Bold, smart, and f@#king funny, it turns out that Larry’s internal trip is more terrifying than he ever thought was possible.

“This piece of theatre/comedy/stand-up/performance/dance called Larry, brought tears to my eyes. I was laughing and recognizing and cringing and in awe of this amazing performer, Candice Roberts. It is not to be missed.” —Annette Loiselle, Festival Director of SkirtsAfire Festival

Funny / Weird / Poetic / 18+ / Coarse Language / Strobe Lights / Nudity / 60 minutes

Workin’
Theatre Terrific
Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: Susanna Uchatius
theatreterrific.ca

Workin’ addresses the personal and public value of work, the hierarchical status of different types of work, who works where, and why. What defines “something” as work and “something else” as not work? 

“I long to accomplish great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble.” —Helen Keller

Funny / Musical / Poetic / LGBTQ+/ Multicultural / All Ages / 45 minutes

This show is created by an underrepresented Artist.

The cast and crew are composed of people who are neurodiverse (Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, brain damage), Indigenous  (Haida, STL'ATL'IMX', Gitxsan/Witsuwit'en, Cree, Meti), Filipino, intersex, and living with a disability.

Pretty Beast
Kazu Kusano
Los Angeles, USA
Playwright: Kazu Kusano
kazukusano.com

“Shut up, you’re a girl!” Tired of hearing that? #MeToo. Growing up in a dysfunctional family in Japan, Kazu finds humour as a survival tool, but a girl being funny is a problem. Nevertheless, she persists. You’ll laugh and cry. 

Won Best of Fest at Crazy Woke Asians Solo Performance Festival in L.A. Kazu is an award winning Japanese stand-up comedian.

Funny / Intense / Intimate / Multicultural / 18+ / Coarse Language / Strobe Lights / 60 minutes

This show is created by an underrepresented Artist.

Written and performed by an Asian woman
Low vision

Old Fart
Theatre Praxis
London, Canada
Playwright: Tim Bourgard

Hilarious, touching, fun. Old Tom is a quirky Old Fart. He takes you through the joys and challenges of living long, laughing hard, and loving deeply. Stories, jokes, songs, and tears, but mostly laughs. He’s everyone’s Granddad with a twist. He’s actually funny! Young or old, you’ll love him! 

Winner of the People’s Choice & Best Actor Awards at the London One Act Festival, and Nominated for Best Comedy at the Brickenden Awards, London.

“A delightfully warm, poignant, silly and fun 60 minutes suitable for all, one that is sure to put a smile on your face that will stay long after you leave the theatre.” —Joe Belanger, the  London Free Press

Funny / Silly / Musical / All Ages / 60 minutes

Ingénue: Deanna Durbin, Judy Garland and the Golden Age of Hollywood
Melanie Gall Presents
St. Albert, Canada
Playwright: Melanie Gall
melaniegall.com

Judy is an icon—loved as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. But in the 1930s, Deanna Durbin was a far bigger star. A favorite of Roosevelt, Churchill, even Mussolini, her first kiss was front page news. At 27, she disappeared to a life of obscurity in France. The true tale of the lifelong friendship and rivalry of two great stars of Old Hollywood.

“Marvelous.” —Orlando Weekly
“Gall has whipped up a fizzy mix of history, personality, and musicality in this charming show.” —Orlando Sentinal

Musical / LGBTQ+ / Multicultural / All Ages / 60 minutes
Low Vision friendly

Mx
Lili Robinson
Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: Lili Robinson

What of culture and ancestry lives within us, and how much is determined by our upbringing? Does blood equal belonging? Pulling on elements of clown, bouffon, and mythology from the African Diaspora, Mx cracks open notions of mixed-race, Black, and Queer identity through the lens of a character stuck in the in-between.

The Sunday, September 15 performance will be interperted into ASL for patrons who are d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Funny / Intense / In Your Face / LGBTQ+ / Multicultural / 14+ / Coarse Language / Violent Content / 75 minutes


This show is created by an underrepresented Artist.

The cast and core creative team of Mx is made up entirely of queer and/or BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour) Artists. The show is based around navigating queer, Black, mixed-race identity, based on the experiences of creator Lili Robinson.

In assembling the Mx creative team, centreing the vision and artistry of Black women and femmes was given top priority.

Legend of the Frozen Trees
Danger Salad
Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: Nick Charrette
dangersaladstories.com

A Magic Birthday Present, A Sleeping Witch, A Hungry Bean, and a Door that Ran Away. Spooky Stories that will make you smile and Funny Stories that will make you wonder—all told beneath a Grove of Frozen Trees (with a story about those, too!) 

A series of campfire bedtime stories—but before bedtime, and without a campfire.

Funny / Warm and Fuzzy / Kid’s Show / 45 minutes
Low vision

How to Become More Less Crazy
Stay Awesome
Seattle, USA
Playwright: Bill Bernat
stayawesome.com

Eternal despair is a little funny! TED speaker, The Moth Radio Hour storyteller, and Goalcast inspirational speaker Bill Bernat shows you how to connect to people and your own awesomeness. Gain comically diagrammed insights from Bill’s transformation from suffering with addiction, depression, and social anxiety to loving life—or at least liking it.

“Hilarious show that’s equal parts comedy and counseling.” —Josh Kern, MyNorthwest.com 
“Bernat’s performance is being recognized by both the theater and mental health communities.” —Broadway World

Funny / Intellectual / Intimate / 14+ / Coarse Language / 75 minutes

tadpole.: the last episode
THEATRECORPS.
Richmond, Canada
Playwright: Eddy van Wyk
theatrecorps.ca

A prophet in the hospital. A psycho in the village. The Age of the Medicated. What’s going on? Is stigma blinding us? Are we sick? Is this part of the evolution of consciousness? Is this a dramatic collective nervous breakdown? Meds, drugs, doctors, healers, remission, recovery, numbing, awakening, and sensation...

Intense / Poetic / Intimate / Multicultural / 18+ / Coarse Language / Nudity / 50 minutes

This show is created by an underrepresented Artist.

Created and performed by a non-neurotypical Artist. The show is based on their experiences with mental wellness, illness, and medical systems.

Advanced Field Zoology for Beginners
Shawn O’Hara
Victoria, Canada
Playwright: Shawn O’Hara

A follow-up to the award-winning hit comedy Field Zoology 101! Armed with a collection of stories almost as unbelievable as his credentials, infamous Field Zoologist Brad Gooseberry returns from a court-ordered sabbatical to bring you up to date on the newest and most exciting developments in the animal sciences.

**** “Brilliant.” —Edmonton Journal 
**** “A first-rate comedic talent.” —Winnipeg Free Press 
“Never stops surprising.” —the Georgia Straight 
“Shawn O’Hara is my new Fringe hero.” —Colin Thomas, Fresh Sheet

Funny / Silly / Weird / 14+ / Coarse Language / 50 minutes

Conduit
The Body Orchestra
Vancouver, Canada
Choreographer: Jenn Edwards
jennedwardsdances.com/the-body-orchestra.html

This triple bill of contemporary dance is a feast for the senses, with choreography by Jenn Edwards, music by award-winning composer Mary Jane Paquette, and a powerhouse ensemble of seven dancers. Gathering inspiration from cinema, psychology, orchestral conductors, and Broadway musicals, Conduit weaves a visceral dreamscape you won't soon forget.

**** “This youthful company clearly has something to say, and has become its own conduit to say it.” —Winnipeg Free Press 
“Visually stunning and aurally captivating.” —The Jenny Revue 
“Bristling with street punk energy.” —Dance International

Weird / Intense / Poetic / All Ages / 65 minutes
Deaf friendly

A Woman of a Certain Age ®
Archetype Productions
Calgary, Canada
Playwright: Wendy Froberg

A hilarious, poignant, and truthful portrayal of six women who, as they grow older, are pushed to the edge by the demands of family and career, struggling with the changes and losses that accompany becoming an “invisible woman” in a culture obsessed with youth and beauty. Widowhood, grey divorce, dementia, on-line dating, botox—it’s all here!

“Froberg’s charm, charisma and approachability carry her performance.” — Edmonton Sun
“Tackles universal subjects in an honest and entertaining way.” —Edmonton Journal 
“An admirable job of moving between the characters.” —Winnipeg Free Pres

Funny / Tear-Jerker / Intimate / 14+ / 60 minutes

4.48 Psychosis
Ruckus Theatre Collective
Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: Sarah Kane

Kane’s own poetic and haunting account of clinical depression is fragmented stylistically by three performers who have learned the entire text. Each night, they will allocate the text in the moment, making every performance unique.

**** “Rawly powerful and laceratingly honest.” —The Telegraph
**** “Pushing the edges of what can be performed on stage.” —DC Metro Theater Arts

Intense / In Your Face / Intimate / 18+ / Coarse Language / 55 minutes

This show is created by an underrepresented Artist.

Some Artists in the company identify as queer, non-binary, and Filipinx.

The Magic Chamber
The Magic of Joey Pipia
Port Townsend, USA
Playwright: Joey Pipia
joeypipia.com

The original, world class magic of Joey Pipia is featured in The Magic Chamber: 60 minutes, 30 seats, One outrageous event. Expect to be dazzled by this performance, honed on the road in Pipia’s successful tour of the Pacific Northwest recreating the legendary cadre of the great traveling magicians of the earliest days of the vaudeville era.

“This man could hide an elephant in his coat.” —Northwest Magazine 

Funny / Intimate / All Ages / 60 minutes

One Man Avengers
Chicken for Supper Productions
Victoria, Canada
Playwrights: TJ Dawe & Charles Ross
onemanstarwars.com

Charlie Ross (One Man Star Wars, One Man Lord of the Rings) portrays Iron Man’s armour, Cap’s shield, Hulk’s rage, Thor’s biceps, Loki’s helmet, Black Widow’s butt, and Thanos’ chin. 

“If anyone can be described as a one-man multimedia machine, Charles Ross is it.” —Australian Stage 
“Nuclear levels of energy.” —Variety
“Like the Energizer Bunny.” —Calgary Herald 
“Nerd heaven.” —Chicago Tribune 
“An uncanny ability to perform multiple characters at the drop of a hat.” —Boston Theater

Funny / Silly / All Ages / Coarse Language / Violent Content / 60 minutes

Pretending Things Are a Cock
A Mulled Whine
Wellington, New Zealand
Playwright: Jon Bennett
jonbennettcomedy.com

The product of award-winning comedian Jon Bennett’s three years of global wandering. An artistic, phallic-filled photographic display alongside hilarious and surprisingly heart-wrenching tales from Bennett’s life. A unique stand-up experience. 

Five time Pick of the Fringe Award winner.

****½ “Instantly likeable, Bennett is a deft storyteller with a frank, confessional style that blends pathos and humour to great effect. —Uptown Magazine 
**** “True brilliance.” —Vue Weekly

Funny / Warm and Fuzzy / 14+ / Coarse Language / Sexual Content / 60 minutes 

Where the Quiet Queers Are
Amplify Choral Theatre
Vancouver, Canada
Playwrights: Laura Fukumoto with Sara Jellicoe & Elyse Kantonen
facebook.com/WheretheQuietQueersAre

She said, “How many of us build our families from our friends?” Two friends build an unlikely home in each other in the face of exhaustion, rising rent, and messy relationships. Using choral music, a cappella soundscape, and spoken poetry as the medium, this ensemble explores where the quiet queers go, and how to find family in a transient city.

Preview at the Havana Theatre added, August 31st at 7:30pm

Musical / Poetic / Intimate / LGBTQ+ / All Ages / Coarse Language / 45 minutes
low vision friendly

This show is created by an underrepresented Artist.

Poetry and script is written by a queer, mixed-race woman of colour. The show is conceptualized by queer women, and the cast is composed of LGBTQ+ Artists.

Alice in Glitterland
Geekenders Theatricals
Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: Fairlith Harvey, based on the works of Lewis Carroll

Alice in Glitterland is a new immersive dance-theatre experience created inside the historic WISE Hall. 

Audience members explore retro-glamourous Glitterland, a golden era cabaret palace where every open door dives deeper down the rabbit hole alongside 12 fantastical and familiar characters on an intimate and interactive electro-swing journey.
 
Intimate / LGBTQ+/ 18+ / Smoke/Fog / 75 minutes
Deaf friendly

Please not the WISE Hall is a 19+ venue in the evening only.  Patrons attending evening performances must be 19 or older and present ID at the door.

Operatic Panic Attack
TJ Dawe
Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: TJ Dawe
tjdawe.ca

Jessie Award winning Fringe fave TJ Dawe (A Canadian Bartender at Butlin’s, Roller Coaster, Medicine, Marathon, The Slipknot) tells a story about being a theatre student, sexual anxiety, and discovering beautiful music. This is TJ’s 117th Fringe Festival. Yup.

“A master monologist.” —Toronto Star 
“A flawless performer.” —Charleston City Paper 
“Dawe has storytelling down to a fine art.” —Vancouver Sun 
“A natural and prodigious gift for storytelling.” —Montreal Gazette

Funny / Tear-Jerker / Intimate / 14+ / Coarse Language / Sexual Content / 75 minutes
Low vision

Dandelion
Life & Depth
Gibsons, Canada
Playwright: Aaron Malkin
aaronmalkin.com

With jaw-dropping physicality, spot-on comedic timing, and live science experiments, Malkin dives into the boundless imagination of his five-year-old child. Malkin is a Canadian Comedy Award winner, Off Broadway performer, and 20-time Best-of-Fest winner for his British Comedies in the popular comedy duo James & Jamesy.

***** for 2 for Tea —CBC & Winnipeg Free Press 
***** for High Tea —Torontoist & London Free Press 
***** for In the Dark —CBC & London Free Press 
***** for Thunderfoot —Winnipeg Free Press & Theatre in London

Funny / Warm and Fuzzy / Intimate / All Ages / 60 minutes

Fake Ghost Tours 2: Journey to the Other Side (of Granville Island)
Whells Phargo
Vancouver, Canada
Playwrights: Abdul Aziz and Shawn O’Hara
fakeghosttours.com

Ghost hunting twin brothers Abdul Aziz and Shawn O’Hara return to fill you in on even more of Granville Island’s sordid and supernatural history. Pass through the veil, stride into the lands of the dead, and look both ways before crossing the street: you never know what might be lurking in the shadows (it’s ghosts).

“Fake Ghost Tours would almost be believable if it wasn't so hilarious.” —Theatre Addicts
“Funny, smart, and charming.” —Vancouver Presents
“Well worth the walk.” —the Georgia Straight

Funny / Silly / Weird / 14+ / Coarse Language / 60 minutes

This show is created by an underrepresented Artist.

Co-Written and Performed by a Middle-Eastern individual.

You Can Too
What Lab
Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: Jarin Schexnider
whatlab.ca/you-can-too

Do you feel a woop coming up? Then come on down to You Can Too. Using portable cassette players, this audio physical performance piece weaves a choose your own adventure story of poetics, post-truth realness, self-help culture, and aerobic workout routines. You might even win the daily double. We suggest you bring a pair of corded headphones.

In Your Face / Poetic / Intimate / 14+ / Coarse Language / 45 minutes
Low vision

Dissection of a Indian Aboriginal First Nation Indigenous Native Full-Blood Status Non-Status Halfbreed Métis Rez Urban Mixed Heritage Woman
Nyla Carpentier
North Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: Nyla Carpentier

Which part belongs to who? Told through family and personal stories, poetry, dance, and a bit of song. One woman tries to find out who she is and where her mixed heritage is pulling her. Unravelling and weaving together her experiences to figure out how to fit within society and not set it on fire.
 
Warm and Fuzzy / Tear-Jerker / Poetic / Multicultural / 14+ / Coarse Language / 60 minutes

This show is created by an underrepresented Artist.

Written and performed by a Mixed Heritage Woman (Tahltan First Nation, Kaska First Nation, French and Scottish)

Princess Rescuers
Ben Bilodeau Productions
Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: Ben Bilodeau
benbilodeauproductions.com

On their 18th birthday, every princess gets put in a tower to be rescued and waits for her future husband. Nowadays a prince can save a lot of effort by hiring PRINCESS RESCUERS! When two bumbling rescuers screw up yet another contract, they desperately take on their most dangerous and challenging princess rescue (and princess) yet...
 
Funny / Warm and Fuzzy / In Your Face / LGBTQ+ / 14+ / Coarse Language / Sexual Content/ 75 minutes

How to Confront a Rhinoceros
Tinkerspace Theatre
London, Canada
Playwrights: Tyler Graham & Jocelyn Graham
tinkerspacetheatre.com

An enormous protest erupts in the city of Freedomville when the newly elected rhinoceros mayor flies an offensive flag at City Hall. Citizens are forced to choose sides in an increasingly polarizing municipal debate. An all new one-man Orwellian dark comedy from Tinkerspace Theatre, winner of the 2015 Fringiest Show Award.

Funny / Weird / Shocking / 18+ / Coarse Language / Violent Content / Strobe Lights / 60 minutes

Elemental: A Hyper-Natural Variety Revue
The Crystalline Cabaret
Vancouver, Canada
Playwrights: The Crystalline Cabaret
facebook.com/thecrystallinecabaret

Inspired by the world around us, The Crystalline Cabaret brings to the stage a sensuous and ethereal dreamland based on the four elements: earth, air, fire, and water. Each element interpreted through variety acts, this show is a feast of dazzling burlesque, dance, drag, singing, and magic!

 On The Crystalline Cabaret's House Nocturnae: 
“The performers are playful and entertaining providing a smorgasbord of burlesque performances to suit almost any palate, from latex to lace to feather boas.” —Theatre Addicts, Vancouver

Naughty / LGBTQ+ / 18+ / Nudity / 60 minutes Deaf friendly

This show is created by an underrepresented Artist.

The cast and crew are composed of femme-identifying individuals.

Two Modern Noh Plays by Yukio Mishima
Midtwenties Theatre Society
Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: Yukio Mishima
mtstheatre.com

Upon a successful run last year, Midtwenties Theatre is proud to be back to premiere Two Modern Noh Plays By Yukio Mishima for the 2019 Dramatic Works Series. 

A 20-year old poet falls in love with a 90-year old woman and a young girl waits for a long-forgotten lover in this double-bill of two Noh plays by famous Japanese writer, Yukio Mishima.

“Hauntingly enigmatic, subtle and beautiful, Mishima’s masterpieces reach back into the deep past of ancient myth and brings into the modern world stories that are part fairy-tale, part surreal drama.” —Broadway World

Poetic / Intellectual / Intimate / LGBTQ+ / Multicultural / All Ages / 100 minutes

This show is created by an underrepresented Artist.

Collaboratively produced and performed by Artists from different genders and cultural backgrounds, including Asian and Métis.

Becoming Magic Mike: An Action Adventure Comedy
DK Reinemer
Portland, USA
Playwright: DK Reinemer
dkreinemer.com

Comedian DK Reinemer (Help! I’m American) returns to the Vancouver Fringe with a brand new, smokin’ hot, action adventure comedy about a detective thrust deep undercover in the unfamiliar world of male stripping. He’s undercover, underdressed, and over the top. Can he pull it off? Bring your dollar bills ya’ll ‘cause it’s raining comedy.

Winner of Cool as a Cucumber Award, Orlando Fringe 2018 and Outstanding Artist Award, Calgary Fringe 2017. 

“It’s essentially a Michael Bay blockbuster movie with 100% more male twerking.” —Bad Feeling Magazine

Funny / Naughty / In Your Face / 18+ / Coarse Language / Violent Content / Sexual Content / Gunshots / 55 minutes

You Belong Here
Martin Dockery
Brooklyn, USA
Playwright: Martin Dockery
MartinDockery.com

A totally unique storytelling experience. Dockery (2018’s Delirium) tells a comically neurotic true story about The Forbidden City that’s about everything but The Forbidden City. 

“A masterful storyteller.” —Herald Sun, Melbourne. 
“A verbal magician.” —NOW Magazine, Toronto
“Engaging and evocative.” —Chortle, London, UK 
“Editor’s Choice.” —the Georgia Straight
“DO NOT MISS THIS SHOW it is absolutely wonderful!” —Kings River Life Magazine, Fresno, CA
“Of the many, many Fringe storytellers I’ve heard over the years, Dockery remains the best.” —Orlando Sentinel
“[Dockery’s] latest one-man marvel.” —Orlando Weekly

Funny / All Ages / 70 minutes
Low vision

How to Really...Really? Really! Love a Woman
Dance Naked Productions
Portland, USA 
Playwright: Eleanor O’Brien
dancenakedproductions.com

From the creator of the hit shows GGG: Dominatrix for Dummies and Lust & Marriage comes a timely tale that is all about paying lip service to the divine. Part storytelling, part stand-up, part TED Talk, and part Vagina Monologue, H2Rx3LAW celebrates a return to good ol’ fashion Goddess worship—and learning how to make the pussy purr...

“It’s funny, empowering, and just slightly terrifying all at once. … I highly recommend HTRRRLAW.” —Broadway World 
“It is just so damn refreshing to see a sex show with its big girl pants on. See this show.” —CBC

Funny / Naughty / Intimate / LGBTQ+ / 18+ / Sexual Content / 60 minutes
Low vision

Pieces of Eight
Publius Productions
Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: Nathan Narusis
PubliusProductions.com

Housing costs or commuting blues got you down? Can Vancouverites team up to make our own solution? Romulus thought so and his friends rallied behind him. But can eight singles buy a 5,000 sq. ft. Kitsilano house without losing their sanity? And will the Mayor stop them before they find out? Don’t give up on Vancouver before seeing Pieces of Eight.
 
Funny / Intense / Intellectual / 18+ / Coarse Language / Sexual Content / 75 minutes

Amelie
West Moon Theatre
Vancouver, Canada
Playwrights: Craig Lucas, Daniel Messe, Nathan Tysen

Amelie is an extraordinary young woman who lives quietly in the world but loudly in her mind. She covertly improvises small but surprising acts of kindness that bring joy and mayhem. But when a chance at love comes her way, Amelie realizes that to find happiness she’ll have to risk everything and say what’s in her heart.

“Bushels of imagination.” —Newsday
“The show is a quirky-sweet creampuff that breezily imports much of the movie’s off-kilter charm.” —Entertainment Weekly
“A triumph of adaptation, setting itself apart from the film to become its very own magical thing.” —The Guardian
 

Silly / Musical / Poetic / Multicultural/ All Ages / Sexual Content / 90 minutes
Deaf/low vision

Kevin, King of Egypt
Rob Gee
Leicester, UK
Playwright: Rob Gee
robgee.co.uk

On his way to Egypt, via the 7-Eleven, escaped psychiatric patient Kevin Haggerty bumps into the nemesis to all his plans: Millie: a lost six-year-old. Together they embark on a journey that will change both their lives forever. 

Best Solo Show: Victoria Fringe. Best Solo Comedy: Orlando Fringe. 
By creator of Forget Me Not: The Alzheimer’s Whodunnit.

***** “Uproarious.” —London Pub Theatres 
****½ “A moving, funny, deeply human show.” —Victoria Times Colonist 
**** “Just the right amount of gravitas, skepticism, gusto and wit.” —Edmonton Journal 
“A delightful romp.” —Orlando Sentinel
 
Funny / Warm and Fuzzy / Poetic / 14+ / Coarse Language / 55 minutes
Low vision

After the Beep
Pamela Bethel
Victoria, Canada
Playwright: Pamela Bethel
pamelabethel.ca

Despite risking death by embarrassment, Pamela presses play on recordings from the answering machine she had as a 1990s teen. Part confessional, part show-and-tell, the voices —from BFFs to wrong numbers —tell the story of an under-supervised over-achiever. A timeless time capsule for anyone who was ever a teenager or answering machine owner.

**** “Funny and sharply observed, it’s an intelligent and honest look at adolescence.” — Times Colonist 
“There’s much more going on behind the pop and bubble of youthful exuberance in After the Beep (though there’s plenty of that too).” —CFUV

Funny / Intimate / 14+ / Coarse Language / Sexual Content / 75 minutes
Low vision

God Machine
Play Together Productions
Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: Tyler Bielman

What if you could have all the answers? What questions would you ask? A politically incorrect, philosophical journey into an afterlife where two characters learn everything they ever wanted to know. And some things they only *thought* they wanted to know.

Funny / Weird / Intellectual / 18+ / Coarse Language / Sexual Content /30 minutes

low vision friendly

Bedwetter
Drawing Board Productions
Toronto, Canada
Playwrights: Tamlynn Bryson and Kyle Kimmerly
tamlynnbryson.com

You’ve heard the jokes about bedwetters, but have you ever listened to the stories? Tamlynn Bryson recounts her sometimes heart breaking, often hilarious, and completely true story of becoming a woman while still feeling like a child.

***** “Bedwetter is a must-see.” —Bob Klanac, Theatre in London 
***** “Wonderfully crafted, funny, and touching.” —Jay Ménard, Theatre in London 
***** “[Bryson] is such a talented comedic force.” —Melony Holt, Theatre in London

Funny / Silly / Warm and Fuzzy / 14+ / Coarse Language / Sexual Content / 60 minutes
Low vision

Diagnose This! Tales of a Medical Actor
Donna Kay Yarborough
Portland, USA 
Playwright: Donna Kay Yarborough
DonnaKaySpeaks.com

When an improv comedian plays patient for medical students, what results is a hilarious and moving view into the world of healthcare. It’ll make you laugh, it’ll make you cry, it’ll make you cringe, and it’ll make you say, “F*** THE SYSTEM!” 

Warning: contains strong opinions about the US and blunt talk about lady parts.

“Yarborough can whip up a sense of fun, keeping the crowd under her spell.” —Orlando Sentinel
“A serious tour-de-force performer.” —The Road to 1,000

Funny / Intense / 18+ / Coarse Language / Sexual Content / 60 minutes
Low vision

in several times
O Albatross
Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: Linnea Gwiazda
linneagwiazda.com

How does the body remember? How does space hold memory? An enchanting choreography of space, memory, and the body, in several times weaves movements, sounds and scents from the stories held within us. An ever-evolving concert, enveloped in wafts of fresh dill and lemon, takes us on a hypnotic journey through times both past and present.

Created by the Director of Awkward Hug: BC Touring Council Award winner at the Vancouver Fringe Festival, 2018. 

***** “Engaging from start to finish.” —Vue Weekly 
***** “Spectacular.” —GigCity 
“Beautiful.” —CBC Manitoba 
“Poignant.” —NOW Magazine Toronto

Poetic / Intimate / All Ages / 50 minutes
Deaf friendly

Career Day
Carol Macdonald
Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: Carol Macdonald

Welcome to Film Making 101. Veteran industry professional Selma Thomkins takes on the movie business with her unique combination of informational observations. She’ll tell you who’s who, what’s what, how to get in, how to stay in, and when to get out!

Funny / Weird / Intimate / 14+ / Coarse Language / 45 minutes
Low vision

Carey-OK!: Timeless Timely Tunes
Chip Pop Productions
Victoria, Canada
Playwright: Carey Wass
facebook.com/tomcruisader

Winner: Favourite Performer at Victoria Fringe.

A mix of Robin Williams and Reggie Watts, Fringe fave Wass (Ride the Cyclone, **** —Globe & Mail) unleashes a one-man a cappella musical that blends singing, beatboxing, rapping, and dance into a series of uplifting song-o-logues about anxiety, social media, and his journey living in Vietnam.

“Sweet mother of mercy … it’s been years since I laughed as hard as I did at Carey-OK!—John Threlfall, Check The Program 
***** “Carey-OK! is like if Bo Burnham was your cool high school teacher.” —Greg Kondrak, Theatre In London
Listed as a “Must-See Show” in Do250.com.

Funny / Musical / Poetic / All Ages / 60 minutes Low vision

Fool Muun Komming!
Sam Kruger
Minneapolis, USA
Playwright: Sam Kruger

Set inside a giant mass hallucination, an extra-terrestrial being appears before humankind to present a gift, millennia in the making. 

Part sci-fi clown, part acid fueled mime, part oddball love letter. 

Winner: Pick of the Fringe, Edmonton Fringe 2018 
Outstanding Solo, Ottawa Fringe 2018 
Outstanding Solo, London Fringe 2017

“A hilarious, beautiful, sensual, absurdist masterpiece of comedy, drama, and physical theatre.” —Capital Critics’ Circle, Ottawa 
“Like a coked-up Robin Williams at his most agile and frenetic, Sam Kruger is a special and weird Fringe jewel.” —CBC
 
Funny / Silly / Weird / 14+ / 60 minutes

The Love of Your Life: An Improvised True Romance
Not Your Show Pony Productions
Vancouver, Canada
Playwrights: Denise Jones & Ensemble

Have you ever wondered what your love-life might look like? This completely improvised performance will show you what “may or may not” happen with the current “love of your life.” What if you could see how things unfold years into the future. Marriage? Kids? Affairs? A new couple from the audience will be chosen each night... could it be you?

Funny / Naughty / Intimate / 18+ / Coarse Language / Sexual Content / 60 minutes

Destiny, USA
Convection Productions
Syracuse, USA
Playwright: Laura Anne Harris
lauraanneharris.com

When Laura moves from Toronto to Syracuse, New York, she wasn’t expecting to be residing in Trump’s America. Gaining her first job as a Relay operator for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing causes her to question whether she can discover the hidden humanity of the American people. 

Featuring performances by three Deaf actors via video projection.

Creator of hit shows Pitch Blonde, and The Homemaker. 

“Deeply touched by the vulnerability and authenticity … If you are searching for a relief from modern cynicism and despair, look no further than Destiny U.S.A.” —The Ubyssey 

Funny / Warm and Fuzzy / Intimate / 14+ / Coarse Language / 60 minutes
Deaf friendly

This show includes surtitle captions, making it d/Deaf Accessible. It also involves d/Deaf-artists.

Red
Blake Valletta
Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: John Logan

Under the gaze of his young assistant Ken, Mark Rothko takes on his greatest challenge yet: a series of murals for New York’s Four Seasons Restaurant. Winner of six Tony Awards, including Best Play, Red is a raw and provocative portrait of an artist’s ambition and vulnerability as he tries to create a definitive work for an extraordinary setting.

"Intense and exciting... a study in artist appreciation, a portrait of an angry and brilliant mind that asks you to feel the shape and texture of thoughts. ... Red captures the dynamic relationship between an artist and his creations.” —The New York Times

Intense / In Your Face / Intellectual / 14+ / Coarse Language / 90 minutes

The Immaculate Big Bang
Bill Santiago
New York, USA 
Playwright: Bill Santiago
billsantiago.com

Sparked by the death of his father and birth of his daughter, Comedy Central Comedian Bill Santiago goes in search of answers and laughs at the border of science and religion, exploring the comic nature of the cosmic quest for understanding existence, life, death, and the number 33 (not necessarily in that order).  

“Bill Santiago’s comic monologue is so much better than the rest of the stand-up I’ve seen at this year’s [Vancouver] Fringe that he makes the other guys look like they’re sitting down.” —Colin Thomas, Substantive Editor
 
Funny / Intellectual / Intimate / 18+ / 75 mintues
Low vision

ūtszan
North Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: Yvonne Wallace 
Director: Nyla Carpentier 

A one-woman show about first language reconnection. Auntie Celia is at the end of her days. She has suffered from a heart attack and realizes that she has very little time left in this World. She makes a decision to have others accommodate her by refusing to speak English. Margaret, her niece, is about to discover that a lifelong path is about to unfold. Margaret is put to task to learn and think in her Ancestral first-language, Ucwalmicwts. Love will give her the strength she needs to let go as she realizes that the language is easy and it’s the life that was hard.

Intellectual / Tear-Jerker / Intense / 14+

The Great Canadian Porno: The Musical    
Frenzied Millennial Collective    
Vancouver, Canada
Playwrights: Nick Preston & Sam Dabrusin        

This bold, new, and certainly hilarious musical sees best friends Caleb and Jess deal with a classic millennial crisis, navigating ethics in a world that so often rewards unethical behavior. In development since 2014, a complex Golden Era musical structure lifts this contemporary story, taking the audience on a fast-paced and unexpected ride. 

Preview at the Havana Theatre added, September 1st at 9:30pm

Funny / Naughty / Musical / 14+ / Coarse Language / Sexual Content / 90 minutes

Radical Collaborative Inclusive Theatre

Experience a theatre process utilizing respect, rigour, and risk to bring together artists of all abilities, cultures, genders, and ages. Susanna Uchatius, Theatre Terrific’s Artistic Director, collaboratively creates with artists of all abilities, cultures, genders, and ages believing “life lived” is vital to shared theatre creation. We will focus on how to “be with,” play, work, and create theatre with those whom you may never have had the opportunity to “be with” due to perceived assumptions of difference. Sharpen your skills of silence, listening, physical, vocal, and intuitive collaboration. Become a radical inclusive generous ensemble that pushes the boundaries on what, who, and how theatre is made and defined.   

Tuesday, September 10, 11:00am-1:00pm
The Nest
$20
Ages 16+

Sis Ne’ Bi -Yïz: Mother Bear Speaks
Instruments of Change 
Burnaby, Canada
Playwright: Taninli Wright
Director: Julie McIsaac

Inspired by the true story of this Wet’suwet’en artist, who walked 1,600km across British Columbia to empower First Nations children and other marginalized youth. Guided by the spirits of her Tsets (Grandfather) and Sis Ne’ (Mother Bear), this captivating emerging artist weaves personal and ancestral narratives that cut to the heart of racist systems and intergenerational traumas, as she triumphs to find her own voice  


Intense / Intimate / Shocking / 14+ / Violent Content / Sexual Content

The Woman Who Borrowed Memories
Roan Shankaruk
Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: Roan Shankaruk
girl-in-boots.com

Stella, an artist, left her city and traveled abroad to become famous. After a 15-year absence she returns to her old apartment, and her landlady informs her that her room is currently inhabited by an old acquaintance, Wanda. During her visit, Stella realizes that her old room is not enough for Wanda. She wants Stella’s very memories for her own.

The show includes English surtitle captions, making it d/Deaf Accessible.  It is also low vision friendly.

Intense / Musical / Poetic / 14+ / 55 minutes
Deaf and low vision

Try to Remember
Lightnin’ Productions
North Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: R David Stephens
rdavidstephens.com

We know how to bring life into this world, but we don’t have a graceful passage for ushering it into the next.

This is the story of a life in search of an end... told through film, dance, comic, and dramatic scenes.

Performed by David C. Jones, Jackie Minns, and R David Stephens.
Directed by R David Stephens & Linda Pollard (Choreographer).

Funny / Intense / Intimate / 14+ / 60 minutes

This show is created by an underrepresented Artist.

Written, Directed, and Performed by Senior members of Canadian Actors' Equity Association.

Powwow 101

Ever wanted to learn the basics of Powwow dancing? This interactive workshop by Powwow dancer and Fringe Artist Nyla Carpentier of the Tahltan and Kaska First Nation will teach participants the Indigenous history behind the dance steps, the various dance styles, and what protocols to expect when attending a Powwow. Open to Indigenous and Non-Indigenous participants. Wear clothes that you can sweat in and move in. Bring a water bottle!

Nyla began Powwow dancing at the age of two at the Odawa Powwow in Ottawa and has over 30 years of experience. She has traveled to many Powwows and has been teaching workshops for more than 10 years.

Wednesday, September 11, 11:00am – 1:00pm
The Nest
$13
Ages 10+

Occupational Hazards
A Dog’s Chance Productions
Nanaimo, Canada
Playwight: Roneen Marcoux
Director: Tamara McCarthy

Annie just started working as a cocktail waitress in a country western bar. She’s worried her boss is going to fire her, if she doesn’t pick up the pace. Luckily, Maggie, a 20-year veteran of the drink pushing business, takes Annie under her wing. However, what Annie learns about working in bar is more than she bargained for.

Funny / Shocking / Tear-Jerker / 14+ / Coarse Language / Sexual Content / Violent Content

Are We There Yet? 
Next Steps in Arts; Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

• Are you a non-artist, artist, organizer, administrator, creator, and/or audience member?
• Are you interested in what’s been done recently in service to new models of brave space, intercultural and transcultural creative practices (or just want to know what that even means)?
• Does your identity intersect with gender, culture, race, visible/invisible- physical/mental/neurodiverse ability?
• Does the word “diversity” sometimes feel like you’re chewing aluminum foil?
• Do these options capture you completely or fail to capture the “you-ness of you” but inspire you to want to ask questions, listen to others, share ideas/experiences, and get moving (i.e. some movement activities included)?

Well then this “lunch-chat” is for you. 

Join Siobhan Barker, the Vancouver Fringe Festival’s new EDI (Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) Director, as they facilitate a “Brave Spaces” circle-chat with: 

Davey S. Calderon: queer Filipino-Canadian, Theatre Artist, Director, Writer, rEvolver Festival Guest Curator, and Co-Founder New(to)Town Collective

Jillian Christmas: Grand Poetry-Slam Champion, Mentor, Activist, Past Artistic Director of Versəs Festival of Words, and Capturing Fire Queer Summit Award recipient

Marion Landers: Vancouver-born mixed-heritage Actor, Dancer, Choreographer, Teacher, SFU Speaker; EDI* series, Culture Ambassador- for Visceral Visions’ CultureBrew 

Renae Morrisseau: Award-winning Saulteaux and Cree Singer, Actor, Producer, Director, Culture Ambassador, and Lead Writer of Weaving Reconciliation: Our Way

Tom Pickett: Award-winning African-American veteran Actor, Singer, Mentor, and Fringe alumnus (The Fighting Season, winner of the Georgia Straight Critics' Choice and Cultchivating the Fringe Awards)

Lunch is included. Please RSVP by September 7 (and include any dietary restrictions). 

Thursday, September 12, Noon-3:00pm 
The Nest
Sliding scale $0-$20. No one is turned away for lack of funds.
Ages is 14+

we the same
Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: Sangeeta Wylie
Director: Rachel Ditor

This play is based on a true story about Vietnamese oceanic refugees. A multi-, inter-, and intra-cultural story over three countries, sharing art forms across borders. A story that mends the most precious of relationships: parent-child. A universal story of love and hope, and the strength we create when we stand together as one race to help one in need. See the other: king, prostitute, or one with a drug addiction. Now dissolve those words, and begin with "we" & "us". We the same. Please join us for the journey.

Intense / Tear-Jerker / Poetic / Multicultural / 18+ / Violent Content / Sexual Content

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.

How to Tell a Story: with Jon Bennett

Work alongside internationally acclaimed comedian-storyteller Jon Bennett to find out what makes a story good and what makes a storyteller interesting. In this workshop we’ll share stories, break them down, and cover the whole process of modern storytelling. Looking at ways to generate stories, find the appropriate structure, and what it takes to tell an entertaining story or even a create a whole storytelling show of your own. Bring a pen and paper and, if you have one, a short (under five-minute) story from your own life that you’d like to work on. This will be an open, supportive environment with no experience necessary and no obligation to perform.

Friday, September 13, 10:00am-1:00pm
The NEST
$20
Ages 14+

Fling
Vancouver, Canada
Playwright: Melody Anderson
Director: Sarah Rodgers

Lynnie and Barb, two sisters in their 60s, arrive at their childhood home to sort through the belongings of their recently deceased mother. As details about their family history are peeled away, increasingly startling discoveries are made, and cracks in their relationship with each other become apparent. Is there still time for their father, who suffers from dementia, to help them get to the truth?

Intimate / Funny / LGBTQ+ / 14+

Fringe Awards Night
Celebrating the Best of the Fest!

Sunday, September 15 at 9:30pm
Performance Works
1218 Cartwright Street

We’re once again happy to support Performing Arts Lodges! Your cash donation to PAL Vancouver gets you into the Fringe Awards Night.

The 2019 Public Market Pick of the Fringe Awards
The hottest selling shows return September 18-22 for holdovers at Performance Works!

The Georgia Straight Critics’ Choice Award
The Georgia Straight’s theatre critics will nominate five outstanding shows, and award one with this coveted prize!

Joanna Maratta Award
In honour of the Vancouver Fringe Festival’s founder, this award goes to an artist who best exhibits the original founding spirit of the Fringe.

BC Touring Council Award
The winner of this award receives the chance to showcase their work at Pacific Contact, BC Touring Council’s annual tradeshow and booking conference for the performing arts.

The Fringe New Play Prize
Won by Lili Robinson in 2019 for her show Mx, Playwrights Theatre Centre (PTC) is now accepting submissions for the 2020 Prize. PTC supplies dramaturgy and more for the winning scripts while the Fringe offers a guaranteed Mainstage spot in the 2020 Vancouver Fringe Festival. Visit playwrightstheatre.com/program/fringe-new-play-prize to submit your project!

Artistic Risk Award
Selected by jury and financially supported by the Fringe’s Board of Directors, this award is given to an artist or group of artists for risk-taking in Fringe theatre.

Volunteer Choice Award
Fringe volunteers will vote to determine their favourite show!

Spirit of the Fringe Award
This award goes to the artist, or artists, that the Fringe staff feel most exemplify the Fringe values of collaboration, community, and camaraderie with other artists, staff, volunteers, and patrons. The winner will be awarded something spirited... or a sofa.

TD Fringe Forward Award
In partnership with Neworld Theatre and generously sponsored by TD Financial, this award recognizes a production that centres the work of artists from historically marginalized communities and approaches the work from a place of authenticity. Selected by jury, this award includes a performance opportunity, rehearsal space, mentorship, and cash for future development. Special thanks to Neworld’s Interim Interim Artistic Director Christine Quintana and to the members of the Advisory Committee (Omari Newton, Landon Krentz, Tai Amy Grauman, Adam Grant Warren, Dominique Wakeland, and Davey Calderon) for their contribution to the creation of this award.

Vancouver Fringe and Indigenized Indigenous Theatre present:

Rocko and Nakota: Tales From the Land
September 18, 2019
Performance Works, 1218 Cartwright St, Vancouver, BC
Running time: 50 minutes

Meet Nakota. An anxious young boy who is trying to write the greatest story ever. One day, Grandpa Rocko comes to visit him in the hospital. Next thing Nakota knows, he is whisked away into a world of stories that are right below his feet. Within the land.

This show explores the interplay between stories of the present against the long forgotten stories of the past. After a cross-Canada Fringe tour and an Edmonton school tour, Anishinaabe playwright/storyteller Josh Languedoc is excited to bring Rocko and Nakota back to the Vancouver Fringe for one more performance.

Cast and Team:
Writer/Performer: Josh Languedoc
Director: Barry Bilinsky
Stage Manager: Jordan Campion
Technical Director: Randall Fraser
Designer: Ami Farrow
Producer: Mark Henderson

Ticket prices (including all taxes and fees):
Regular: $25

This show is a part of the Theatre Wire Package! Add tickets to three or more eligible shows to your cart and discounts will apply automatically. Save up to 40% when you bundle 6 shows or more!

Vancouver Fringe and Devon More Music present:

Flute Loops
September 19, 2019
Performance Works, 1218 Cartwright St, Vancouver, BC
Running time: 60 minutes

The Flute Loops—pop music's latest viral sensation—are about to the hit the stage! Meanwhile, the quantum physic PhD student working the "merch table" is trying to warp space-time, while under the influence—of Saint Stephen Hawking. With the muses of classical music and theoretical math at her side, can she calculate the suspension of the 4th dimension—or Thomas' attention?

A fish out of water making sound waves faces off with cosmic flute rock show-stopping solos. Quirks, quarks, strangeness, charm, and the substance of sound collide in a subatomic rock opera where anything that can happen does.

With Devon More "showcasing a polymath's proclivity for playing multiple instruments" and "dope-ass beats" (★★★★ —CBC, 2018), "this is truly a one-of-a-kind show" (★★★★ —Winnipeg Free Press, 2018).

Cast and Team:
Devon More – Creator/Performer

Ticket prices (including all taxes and fees):
Regular: $25

This show is a part of the Theatre Wire Package! Add tickets to three or more eligible shows to your cart and discounts will apply automatically. Save up to 40% when you bundle 6 shows or more!

Vancouver Fringe and Weeping Spoon Productions present:

The Ballad of Frank Allen
September 19, 2019
Performance Works, 1218 Cartwright St, Vancouver, BC
Running time: 55 minutes

After making its world debut at Fringe World 2016 and two years successfully touring Australia and Canada, the award-winning show finally makes its Vancouver return! A sci-fi buddy-comedy about a man who lives in another man’s beard from the bizarre mind of Festival-favourite Shane Adamczak (Trampoline, Zack Adams, Canadian Just for Laughs Award Winner, and producer of other 5-star Fringe hits This Is Not A Love Song and Vicious Circles). 

Cast:
Shane Adamczak and Al Lafrance

Ticket prices (including all taxes and fees):
Regular: $25

This show is a part of the Theatre Wire Package! Add tickets to three or more eligible shows to your cart and discounts will apply automatically. Save up to 40% when you bundle 6 shows or more!

Vancouver Fringe and Diwali in BC present:

Bombay Black
November 1-3, 2019
York Theatre, 639 Commercial Dr, Vancouver, BC
Running time: 115 minutes including a 15 minute intermission

Why would a blind man go to see an exotic dancer? Poetic, mythic, and brave, Indo-Canadian Anosh Irani’s multiple Dora Award-winning and Canadian Governor General nominated play Bombay Black is a searing play set in the bitter reality of India. Funny, violent, humane, and directed by Mumbai-born, Jessie Richardson Theatre Award and Vancouver Fringe Festival Award winning producer, Rohit Chokhani. Bombay Black took the Vancouver Fringe by storm in 2017 and had a sold out run. After strong critical reviews it was voted amongst the top 20 shows on Vancouver stages by the Georgia Straight and was also awarded the Public Market Pick of the Fringe Award.  It was remounted for a three-city wide four-week regional run in the province of BC in 2018.
 
The lives of an exotic dancer and her embittered mother are altered when a blind stranger visits them. Set in present-day India, Bombay Black is a powerful story of story of Apsara, who lives in Bombay with her mother, making a living by selling exotic dances to wealthy men. When a blind man named Kamal arrives for an appointment, the complex and brutal past of the three characters slowly rises to the surface. Featuring a remarkable poetic text, bold theatrical imagery, a combination of contemporary Bombay bar dancing, and exaggerated lighting complemented with an evocative score, Bombay Black is challenging work by one of Canada’s leading playwriting voices.

Warnings: Funny / Poetic / Multicultural /  14+ / Coarse Language / Sexual Content / Violent Content / Smoke Fog


Cast and Team:
Director and Producer: Rohit Chokhani
In partnership with Diwali in BC

Ticket prices (including all taxes and fees):
Regular: $25

This show is a part of the Theatre Wire Package! Add tickets to three or more eligible shows to your cart and discounts will apply automatically. Save up to 40% when you bundle 6 shows or more!

BOMBAY BLACK premiered in January 2006 at the Theatre Centre, Toronto. It was commissioned and developed by Nightswimming Theatre and produced by Cahoots Theatre Projects. It was workshopped and given a public reading at On the Verge, 2005 (National Arts Centre / Centre national des Arts, Ottawa). The playwright is extremely grateful to the Canada Council for the Arts | Conseil des Arts du Canada for generous support. BOMBAY BLACK is staged by arrangement with Pam Winter, Gary Goddard Agency.

BOMBAY BLACK is independently produced by Rohit Chokhani. The production team is grateful to the support from the BC Arts Council and the Canada Counctil for the Arts for the development of this project in 2018. We are also extremely grateful for the support we have received from our 2018 presenters, namely, Firehall Arts Centre, Evergreen Cultural Centre, TheatreOne and Diwali in BC.  We would also like to thank the Dramatic Works program at the Vancouver Fringe Festival in 2017 and Mentor Sherry Yoon and The Cultch for their support during the inception phase of development of this work initially in 2017 and the financial and emotional support  of the Chokhani family to make this happen. 

Image features Arshdeep Purba as Apsara from the 2018 Production. 2019 production will feature a new cast member. Photo by Raymond Kam.

Vancouver Fringe and TJ Dawe present:

Roller Coaster
November 13-15, 2019
Performance Works, 1218 Cartwright St, Vancouver, BC

Jessie Award winning Fringe vet and solo show meister TJ Dawe (Burn Job, Medicine, Marathon, The Slipknot) (he’s been touring since 1994) returns with a monologue about why we go to war, who our real gods are, the bizarre phenomenon of Donald Trump’s presidency, and the end of the world.

Cast and Team:
TJ Dawe

Ticket prices (including all taxes and fees):
Regular: $25

This show is a part of the Theatre Wire Package! Add tickets to three or more eligible shows to your cart and discounts will apply automatically. Save up to 40% when you bundle 6 shows or more!

Vancouver Fringe and Paul Strickland Presents present:

Ain't True & Uncle False
March 26-28, 2020
The Nest, 1398 Cartwright St, Vancouver, BC

Step Right Up! Mark Twain meets Tim Burton in this one-man tall-tale comedy (with songs!)

Best of Fest winner at the Calgary Fringe and Cincinnati Fringe.

“This one will tickle your imagination while it warms your heart.” —Kathleen Oliver, the Georgia Straight
“One of the finest and most original shows you’ll ever see.” —Colin Thomas, Green Room
***** —Winnipeg Free Press, 2015
***** —Vue Magazine, Edmonton 2014
“A new storytelling presence instantly worthy of a place on the top shelf.” —Edmonton Journal
“Through Strickland’s pitch perfect storytelling and verbal acrobatics … we’re transported to a magical place where common sense may be in short supply, but wisdom abounds.” —CBC


Cast and Team:
Directed by Erika Kate MacDonald
Written and Performed by Paul Strickland

Ticket prices (including all taxes and fees):
Regular: $25

This show is a part of the Theatre Wire Package! Add tickets to three or more eligible shows to your cart and discounts will apply automatically. Save up to 40% when you bundle 6 shows or more!

Vancouver Fringe and Monster Theatre present:

Theatre Under the Gun
April 21, 2020
Performance Works, 1218 Cartwright St, Vancouver, BC

It’s deadline driven, insomnia fuelled creation at its best.

Theatre Under the Gun, the 48-hour play creation competition is back! Six Vancouver theatre companies receive an inspiration package, and have only 48 hours to race against the clock and create an original piece of theatre! Hosted by Monster Theatre and co-presented by the Vancouver Fringe, Theatre Under the Gun is one of the most epic, exciting, surprising, and electric theatre events of the season.

Applications for theatre companies and collectives open September 2019!


Ticket prices (including all taxes and fees):
Regular: $25

This show is a part of the Theatre Wire Package! Add tickets to three or more eligible shows to your cart and discounts will apply automatically. Save up to 40% when you bundle 6 shows or more!