 
Criminally Entertaining
Enter the Freaky-Fun Frenzy of Fringedom This is downright historical: every one of the 20 shows that are coming from the Victoria Fringe Festival to Vancouver has something to recommend it. They are listed below in approximate order of excellence, but don't write off the entertainments that come nearer to the bottom; you may well find something to your liking down there. Do consider the first five reviews solid recommendations and book your tickets early; the Vancouver Fringe starts today (September 9) and runs until September 19, and the most popular offerings are bound to sell out.
Criminally entertaining. Russell Bennett draws us into the world of lawyer and pot enthusiast Charlie Kovacs, whose grow-op gets busted after years of supplying marijuana to everyone from fellow law professionals to the local compassion centre's clients. Bennett provides exquisitely differentiated characterizations of Kovacs and a host of others, including his parents and his hilarious dealer-partner, Max. The script is beautifully structured, whimsically funny, and full of details both poetic ("cotton-candy fingers reached down to lick our cheeks," recalls Charlie of getting high for the first time) and provocative (Charlie questioning the racism of Canada's early drug laws). Bennett's boyish exuberance carries the show, whether he's tenderly describing his "garden" or working himself into an orgasmic frenzy by reciting a list of varieties of marijuana. At Stage 5, Festival House, on September 11 (noon), 14 (6:30
p.m.), 15 (11:15 p.m.), 16 (9:30 p.m.), 18 (10:45 p.m.), and 19 (noon) |
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