Fringe Shows We Saw!

Did you know there are nearly 90 shows at the Vancouver Fringe Festival? Our cast and crew has been taking advantage of our Artist Passes to see a plethora of the offerings. We thought we'd share with you some our experiences!

Ed and Natalie with Martha the
Whale from Lost in Place

"Lost in Place" is a site-specific show over at the old Crane on Granville Island. A BEACHED WHALE, A CRASH-LANDED SPACEMAN… AND YOU! How could it get any better than that? Well it does. An original work by Seth Soulstein (Alley Theatre), he calls it an interactive fantasy about love, loss, and the struggle between giving up hope and continuing to fight the fight. I highly recommend seeing this show. You do not want to miss it. ~ Ed Moran

"Every Story Ever Told" by Ryan Gladstone is playing at Carousel Theatre. This is another must see! I don't know how he manages to do it but we left the theatre actually thinking that he may actually have just told us every single story that was ever told all in one hour. Our experience featured "Tales of the Iguana"! Your's will undoubtedly be unique!You have to go and see it to believe it. ~ Natalie Burdeny & Ed Moran

"Since You Left Us" is an outrageous new comedy by Susinn McFarlen directed by Allan Morgan playing at the Firehall Arts Centre. A story of a dysfunctional family like no other! This show had me laughing and crying all at the same time. A dog in diapers??? "SINCE YOU LEFT US is about making peace with the family you have, not the one you wish you had". In my book it was a perfect 10! Bravi tutti! Put this one on your MUST SEE list! ~ Natalie Burdeny

"The Seminar" presented by Poiema Productions is a dark comedy about "ugly people". I saw the preview for this show at the Fringe For All and immediately added it to my must see list. "ATTENTION UGLY PEOPLE! Don't let your genetics define who you are are!" is one of the tag-lines for this show. I have to say this show made me feel extremely uncomfortable. So much so, I had the impulse to leave (but didn't 'cause that would be rude!). That said, I give kudos to this cast for stretching the boundaries of theatre and staying in their outrageous characters throughout the show. It may have not be for me, but it may be for you. Give it a try! They have 4 performances left at the Review Stage on Granville Island. ~ Natalie Burdeny

"This is Cancer!" has been getting RAVE reviews and I have to agree if you see anything at the Fringe (aside from Trouble In Tahiti of course) THIS is the show to experience. I guarantee you'll love and hate Cancer all at the same time. More info on their website! 3 more shows at Performance Works on Granville Island. And if you sit up front you may get a free martini! ~ Natalie Burdeny

Ed with Seth (the Arth-ling)
from Lost in Place

Even More Shows We Like!

SINCE YOU LEFT US
What if the greatest love
of your life is you dog?
by Susinn McFarlen

The entire process of producing a "Fringe" show has been exceptionally rewarding! Not only because we get the chance to produce a rarely performed work and bring a new genre to the "Fringe" in Vancouver, but because we have met so many really interesting people along the way. Susinn McFarlen is one of them!

The day we met Susinn it was an instant "LIKE". Susinn is just plain cool! An award winning actress, with a tonne of experience in the theatre world, and a great new play to boot! We love creative people and undoubtedly she'd have some words of wisdom to share with us.

But alas, we're not here to just tell you how amazing Susinn is... you'll have to be the judge of that! She has written a play called "Since You Left Us". It has been 3 years in the making and the final results will come to fruition at the Firehall Arts Centre on September 8th.

The inspiration for this play is quite interesting and admirable. We at VanCOCO get it because we are ultimately doing the same thing in our own genre! In Susinn's own words... "Three years ago I counted the number of men over the age of 50 on stages in Vancouver. This was AFTER Bard closed. There were over 20 of them. However, not a single woman over the age of 50 was working. Right then I was determined to write a play that had interesting characters for older women. I knew that if I wrote great parts for women, I could get the best women in Vancouver to play them - because none of us were working. And I was right!".

And thus, Susinn started on her three year journey as a first-time playwright. She has already had some noteworthy success! This year she was invited to the prestigious Banff Playwright Colony to workshop the play for 2 weeks with a dramaturge and a cast and as a result she won the Larry Lillo and John Moffat Prize at this years Jessie Richarson Awards which is helping to cover the costs of self producing.

So what is the play about? Well here's the skinny...

Fanny hasn’t been home to visit her family in 15 years. Not since she sobered up. From the moment she walks in the door and sees her sister’s old dog eating dinner in a high chair and the rest of the family arrive drunk from 2 for 1 night at the local Hooters she knows it’s gonna be a difficult weekend. But when her mother’s drunken boyfriend passes out on top of the dog the entire visit is derailed. This outrageous new comedy takes us on an adventure that is unexpected and heartbreaking. SINCE YOU LEFT US is about making peace with the family you have, not the one you wish you had.

If you want to read more about Susinn, go to her website!

If you want to WIN TICKETS to her show... go here! (Beware... your going to need a dog and a camera to make this happen!).

If you want to read about the AWARD WINNING Cast and Crew (which includes a 4 legged cast member)... go here!

Other than that... just go see it!