The Dancing Donairs in Alison Wunderland, Mermaid Entertainment at Edmonton Fringe 2024. Photo by Darla Woodley

Forest of Truth, Theatre Group GUMBO, Edmonton Fringe 2023. Photo supplied

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca

Tonight’s the night!  Edmonton’s biggest opening night. Do not be dismayed, or paralyzed, by the 216-show 38-venue dimensions of the 43rd annual incarnation of our big summer theatre bash.

Gordon’s Big Bald Head, the stunningly expert improv trio of Mark Meer, Ron Pederson and Jacob Banigan, aren’t. As always, they will undertake to improvise their own version of any show in the Fringe program. This year’s edition of their show (at the Varscona)? The Art of the Steal.

Take your cue on fringing from Gordon’s Big Bald Head. Go boldly forth. Experiment. Do not be smoked out by the choices (bring a mask, head indoors into a theatre, see a show).

Have you had a chance to cast an eye on 12thnight’s selection of intriguing prospects here, and further thoughts here. I haven’t seen them either, so we’ll be Finding Our Fringes together. In the lineup at Find Your Fringe there are shows I’ve seen and enjoyed, either at previous Fringes or even during the season. Here are four. They might well have been adjusted, reworked, amplified, edited, since last time out. That is, after all, what artists do, and it’s what the Fringe is for.

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Alison Wunderland. I saw this kooky musical comedy by Aimée Beaudoin and Jeff Halaby during the season at Spotlight Cabaret, where it sold out every show. Once you’ve seen the Dancing Donairs, you will never be able to unsee them. For the Fringe Alison, whose career goal is to be an influencer, follows the Whyte Rabbit over to a larger, more formal, venue the Garneau Theatre (“there’s room for all our stuff!” exults Beaudoin). There’ll have to be changes in stagecraft, of course, but expect a cast of four to dig, exuberantly, into a wide swath of pop music, Rolling Stones to Fleetwood Mac, Rihanna to Grace Slick. Here’s my review.

Rat Academy, Batrabbit Productions, Edmonton Fringe 2023

Rat Academy. The hit show, by and starring Dayna Lea Hoffmann and Katie Yoner, a captivating little gem of clown comedy, expertly imagines the world as seen through the eyes of the ultimate outsiders, rats in a rat-free province. The interplay between the pair, one worldly and one innocent, is precisely maintained, and hilarious. It was at last summer’s Fringe, and has been touring ever since. Here’s my review.

Forest of Truth. This show, from Osaka’s Theatre Group GUMBO, is a veritable barrage of theatrical weirdness. Nothing about this hallucinogenic woodland clown fairytale — all about love — thinks small. Or quiet. Or stationary. Bonkers. The fringiest of Fringe experiences. Here’s my review.    

Larry. Candy Roberts’s fearless solo clown show, at the 2019 Fringe and back in 2022, is back. A satire of macho dude-ism that turns out to be unexpectedly more, introduces us to the title bro, who’s dipping into a new thing, self-improvement — with hilarious, and touching, results. Here’s my review, now five years old (my, how time flies).

Stay tuned to 12thnight.ca for Fringe reviews, starting tonight. I’m really hoping you’ll be able to chip in a monthly sum, no matter how modest, to my Patreon campaign to support theatre coverage on this free (so far) independent site. It’s supported entirely by readers. Click here.