8/21/08

Times Colonist Preshow Blurb

Nothing Complex about Fringe
Get a button, decide on a show and buy tickets

Steve Carey, Times Colonist
Published: Thursday, August 21, 2008

The Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival is one of the largest and longest-running festivals in town, but still, some people don't know what it is or how it works. If that's the case, read on--you don't want to stay at home because all of your friends are Fringing.

HOW TO FRINGE:

1. You need a Fringe button to buy Fringe Tickets. They cost $5, and are valid throughout the festival.
2. Find a hard-copy Fringe program or check out victoriafringe.com for program and schedule information.
3. Get tickets--you can buy them at venues up to an hour before the start time (cash or Fringe munchcard only), or get them in advance at the Fringe Ticket Centre, open noon to 7 p.m. daily at 1420 Broad St., inside the A television building. You can also buy tickets, buttons or passes online until the night before the show.
4. Venues might only open 10 minutes before showtime. Be prepared to wait in line and be ready for the elements.
5. Do not arrive to shows late. Latecomers will not be admitted, even if they have tickets.
6. Many shows at the Fringe are adult-oriented--be sure to check the listings online at victoriafringe.com.
7. Find out what's hot by talking to people in line or online at timescolonist.com or victoriafringe.com. Daily reviews wil appear in the Times Colonist by Steve Carey, Sarah Petrescu, Grania Litwin and other reviewers throughout the festival.

MY SUGGESTIONS

1. The Sputniks. A play about a family of Soviet eggheads escaping the Iron Curtain. A one-woman show, it has received high praise for its rich story and excellent performances from lone actor Elison Zasko.
2. Lysistrata's War. A modern rock-opera take on the Greek play Lysistrata, in which women stop a war by withholding sex. The show has a cast of more than 20, and should be extravaganza at its finest.
3. Les Ms. Lisel Forst and Robyn Lamb perform an abbreviated version of the epic musical Les Miserables, complete with songs, wigs and shouting in place of gunshots. Suitable for ages 10 and older.
4. Swimming to Cambodia. This epic Spalding Gray monologue was at the Uno Festival a few months ago. It's a frantic performance that holds the audience rapt with its high energy. There is no nudity in this show--that was a mistake in the Fringe brochure.
5. The History of Everything (Billed in the program as The Misadventures of a Time Travelling Detective). Written by various members of local cabaret theatre group Atomic Vaudeville, this physical comedy focuses on a couple who are always breaking up, searching throughout history as to why. Should be funny.

scarey@tc.canwest.com

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