I wanted to get that out of the way because this play is not really about those events. Though the issues of gay rights and the morality of corporate sponsorship of activist causes (one that recently affected Edmonton when the Pride Parade this year was labeled, on Facebook, as the “TD Canada Trust Gay Pride Parade”) are important and topical, they could easily be exchanged with just about any cause and just about any well-meaning outsiders combined with trying-to-live-their-lives insiders to that cause.

These events are just used as a frame for a story about people who get caught up in something bigger than themselves. And that’s what really matters here. Every character in the play is faced with their innocent desires turning their lives upside down as they become the focus of a major controversy. The characters want to find peace with their past but get caught up in the blaring noise of activism.

In that respect, the play is excellent. It creates compelling characters who are well acted by the cast. The production design looks far more expensive than it probably is, and for the most part the expansive multimedia (four very expensive projectors are used to create the visual touches the play) is well used and effective.

If it were only that, I would give this play 5 stars. Unfortunately, the play manages to be more ambitious than it can deliver on a couple of points. The first, and easiest to explain, is that for a play about gay people there is very little actual gayness. It suffers from the same problem a lot of media about gay couples does, and I can sum it up thusly: Straight people have sex, gay people flirt. We see the two straight people in the play in their underwear at least twice, while the gay men stay fully clothed and rarely do more than reach in for a peck on the cheek. I feel like this is pandering to a straight audience, but also that it shouldn’t really be necessary at this point in this medium. I also feel that it undermines the authenticity of the story as well as the credibility of the relationship.

The next problem, for me, is the inner monologue of the main character. It seems strange that it should be represented by a drag queen. Someone else who saw this play told me they felt like it was an attempt to make the play ‘more gay,’ and I can’t help but agree. Her presence never really added anything to the plot but a highly stereotypical queen voice. Possibly it was intended as comic relief, but mostly the jokes were too over the top for the tone of the play.

And last, but not least, there is a metaphor that runs through the entire play and culminates in a large multimedia display towards the end. Unfortunately, the display itself looks underproduced and feels painfully unnecessary to the plot. It doesn’t tie in in any meaningful way, it’s just there and gives an excuse for a loud noise at the climax of the play. I can’t say much more about this without spoiling the play, but suffice to say that you will probably know it when you see it.

But overall, I really liked this play and definitely recommend it. There’s a 2-for-1 ($13 each) Tuesday next week, as well as a bunch of other normal showings until the end of next weekend ($25). You can buy tickets at the door or from their website. Go see it!

The highlight for me were the messages he received on Myspace after posting a previous stand-up bit he did to it. Also, his description of his first time having sex, complete with details from the Dummy’s-style book he ‘learned’ from prior to finally doing it. The diagrams were hilarious.

It was also fairly under-attended, so please go. And bring people with you.

This play, overall, really reminds me of old-school CD-ROM games. Particularly Phantasmagoria. This is definitely not a negative for me, though I suspect it would be for some. The video segments are produced quite well (for a shoestring budget) and are integrated pretty much seamlessly into the play itself. Overall, the play works really well and has a lot of great laughs.

Plus, it’s about zombies, and who can complain about that?

Though Brent Hirose shows promise as an actor, the play itself seems a broken and jumbled mess of characters who lack realistic motivation, plot turns that often don’t seem possible (even within the fantastic frame set up by the opening monologue) let alone practical, and poor set design that has Brent spending almost more time manipulating his props and doing sound effects for them than acting.

Occasionally a little piece of satire is thrown in to the play that seems either out of place or a part of a more biting play about media mismanagement and law enforcement incompetence. These little bits just serve to distract from the already weakly put together plot.

But like I said, Brent Hirose shows great promise as an actor (which may even have already been realized in other plays he’s been in). Both the opening and closing monologues are really well delivered, and almost manage to pull this play out from mediocrity.

Crammed into the corner of the tiny little Wunderbar BYOV space is what looks like a cross between an electric chair and a dentist’s chair. Mounted on and around the chair are lights of various intensity (some on dimmers) and direction. As Chris performs, he controls which lights are on through a Star Trek captain’s chair-like control panel on the arm.

As he switches from topic to topic, and from persona to persona (think split personalities) the lighting is used to incredible effect to portray him, literally and figuratively, in a different light.

The stories are funny, especially when he starts asking the audience if they’ve “ever felt that way” about something, always met with a perfect stony silence from the audience, and a resigned “oh” from Chris. Sometimes they’re a little sad, but he always keeps it from getting morose by switching the lights and saying something absurd to lighten the mood.

1. Buy your tickets online — It used to be the best (and often only) way to get tickets was to show up at the venue an hour before the show and get them there. You can technically still do this, but it’s not a good idea anymore. Even the less popular shows are now often sold out a good 6 hours before doors. When you buy tickets online, you pick them up at the Will Call desk at the Trans-Alta Arts Barn. You also get to laugh at the suckers waiting 20+ minutes in the main lineup to buy their tickets there.
2. Don’t pick your shows from reviews — Though this seems counter-intuitive, if you pick your shows from reviews (especially in the second weekend) you’ll have trouble getting tickets. The truth is, lots of really great shows get upper medium scores, and individual preference and personal boundaries play a huge part in what you’ll enjoy at the Fringe, and reviewers are often bogged down in seeing too many plays too quickly on opening weekend which can wreck their perspective.

   So what should you use instead? Personal recommendations are best. If you don’t have that, you might want to scan the twitter search results for #yegfringe (which you can and should do even if you don’t use twitter) for people saying good things about plays that resonate with you. Be careful of taking opinions of people promoting their own shows at face value, but so far it doesn’t seem like anyone’s trying to be sneaky this way.

   And if you really want to try the real Fringe experience, buy a guide and find ones that just sound interesting. If you’re planning to see more than 2 or 3 plays, I really feel this is the way to go. You want to be seeing more than 2 or 3 because you probably will get a stinker in there. It’s taken me years of practice to get my selections to the point where I don’t see any really bad plays unless I feel like it, but it was entirely worth it.

3. Definitely be at the venue 15-45 minutes in advance, and never arrive late — The range is wide because it depends on how many people you are. Individuals going to a play can snag really good seats being far back in line, but pairs and more will want to get there earlier. But absolutely never, ever get there late. The schedule is strict (it has to be for people like me to actually see all the things we want to see) and you will not ever be let in late. They really do make absolutely no exceptions.
4. Bring a fan (or something that can be used as one) — Many of the venues aren’t air conditioned. Some are air conditioned, but they turn it off during the show because the noise of it would interfere with the performance. Either way, some of these venues in the middle of August are virtually ovens. The Varscona (venue 5 this year) is particularly notorious for this.
5. Expect the unexpected — Go into the fringe with as few expectations as possible and you will have a lot more fun. You’re unlikely to see something they’d charge $50 for at the Citadel, but you’ll get something unique and special.

If that sounds complicated and you don’t get what I mean, that’s because it is and it’s hard to explain. This isn’t a negative, though. In premise, it’s very much a modern version of A Midsummer’s Night Dream where the Gods have been replaced by psychologists (which is itself an interesting notion). Trust me that how they get there is not really relevant to how funny it is once they do.

But at the same time, this is another play that’s almost 1.5 hours and I came out of it not really sure why. It had a fair amount of laughs and really fun plot twists, but it might have had too many characters and too much going on. It would have been improved with a bit more focus and more laughs per minute. At times I found my mind wandering as the non-funny parts of the zaniness went on to set up the next funny part.

Anne Wyman gets the mannerisms that would make for a perfect sexy librarian — think Fred from Angel. She mumbles and jabbers and says things both dirty and absolutely normal in a voice of such innocence and naivite that you can’t help but like her and laugh at nearly everything she says.

The B-plots, which tie in to the main plot towards the end, focus on a sex advice columnist who’s seen and done it all, and the main character’s sister who committed suicide at 14 and currently resides in hell. It is this latter b-plot that prevents this play from being perfect, as it seems to not really impact the main plot in any meaningful way. It also pulls the play away from being an unlikely tale to being an impossible one, and to no gain, as it doesn’t tie in until the very last scene.

It kind of feels like this plot is a remnant of an earlier draft where it was more important, but it’s impossible to say. Overall, this is an awesome play and definitely worth seeing.

At the same time, I can’t help but feel uncomfortable about making light of mental illness and the damage that can be inflicted by 9-5 drudgery on those who are mentally ill.

I had slightly higher hopes for this play given it’s written and directed by the team who did The Overnight last year, which was one of my absolute favorites of that year. I didn’t find this one nearly so creative or innovative.

Quite the opposite from The Overnight, where they maximized the use of 2 actors incredibly well, I felt this play really needed a fourth player to improve the interactions between the main three and the occasional fourth. The switching was never quite so obvious as it should have been, and always involved a main character leaving the stage when I wanted to have their take in it as well.