Halifax Fringe Roundup #1

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The first of two Fringe Roundups for Halifax Fringe, with Andrew Gaunce, Laura Thornton, Emilie Alexandre, and Mariel Kathryn Hunter!

Andrew Gaunce
Instagram: @TempleGaunce
Aberrant Theatre
Instagram: @aberranttheatre
Something Wrong

Laura Thornton
Walesong Theatre
Twitter: @whalesongprod
Instagram: @whalesongtheatre
The Birthday

Emilie Alexandre
House XII Theatre
Instagram: @housetwelvetheatre
The Easy Lovin’ Blues

Mariel Kathryn Hunter
Instagram: @comehomeplay
I Want to Come Home

Transcript

Welcome to episode 145 of Stageworthy. I’m your host, Phil Rickaby, and I’m here in Halifax for a Fringe Roundup, and this is going to be the first of two Fringe Roundups. We’ll start on my left with introductions and talk a little bit about your show.

Cool, so my name is Andrew Gaunce. My show is Something Wrong from Aberrant Theatre. We’re based in Toronto.

It’s a spooky little storytelling show. Horror stories, mostly true. Some experiences that I’ve had that don’t necessarily have logical explanations, and a little bit of horror fan nerdery in there as well.

It’s a good time. And what venue are you at? Oh, we’re at the Waiting Room, and we’ve got a show every day for the rest of the festival at some point. Every day.

Every day. That’s a lot. It’s a lot.

I gotta say, you know, because when I’m looking at the schedule, you know, I found the Fundie Fringe, which is a five-day festival and you perform every day. I found that a bit of a sprint. Sure.

You know, performing every day, because I’ve done other fringes where most people don’t perform every day. Right. And you get to the point where you’re like, I have one day off.

I have one day off, and that is going to be the most amazing day off ever. So I can’t imagine doing every day. Yeah, it’s going to be a challenge, I think.

This is my first fringe. I’m a fringe performer virgin, so we’re learning that maybe a day off at some point might be a good idea. It’s too late now.

Too late now, exactly. So you’re going to have to take your day off after the fringe. Exactly.

All right. See what we can do. Yeah.

Hi, I’m Mariel Katherine Hunter. My show is called I Want to Come Home. We’re with Fort Hart Productions based out of Vancouver.

So we’ve got the whole country here today. That’s great. My show is about a young woman who is an actor or wants to be and lives on the east coast of Canada.

And she ends up moving across the country and leaving everything she knows and loves behind so she can chase her dreams. And then, of course, gets homesick and wants to find a way to be the artist she always wanted to be in the place that she misses and loves so much. It’s been going really, really well.

All of our houses have been friendly. We’re eager to see more fans and more butts in seats, and it’s going to be a lot of fun for the rest of the festival. And what venue are you? I am in the Old Pool Hall Theatre with you! With me! With me! Thank you, buddy.

And I’m Laura Thornton. My show is The Birthday. We’re with Whale Song Theatre, and I’m from Halifax.

So literally representing the entire country goes today. Our show is 15 minutes long, so it’s a nice little fringe bite. It takes place in an alternate reality where everybody knows the date and time they’re going to die.

So it’s just like, it escalates quickly, and it’s kind of funny. We were called witty, which I will consider a high compliment. This is actually my 12th Halifax Fringe in a row.

So I was like, hello, welcome, virgin. What’s new? Welcome to my hometown. Yeah, but this is the first time I’ve been a fringe performer in about seven years.

So that’s a whole new, not a whole new ballgame, but all right, acting. Were you mostly a producer of fringe before? Producer, director. Way back in the day, I ran the thing for two summers.

Yeah, that was a weird summer job. Being 19 years, we had a crossover of who was in charge about eight years ago now. But yeah, I spent the first two summers of my fringe experience as a summer student running the fringe for somebody who was kind of nuts, but the government, it was a job creation job.

So the government paid me like $22 an hour. I’m like, this is an arts job. I’m 19 years old, and I have infinite power.

Living the dream. Yeah. But yeah, producer, director, usually jury member on the occasion of this festival is juried.

So I’ve seen a lot of shows. And as I mentioned earlier, I’m Phil Rickaby. My show is The Commandment.

It’s also at the Old Pool Hall Theatre. Homebody Productions is the company. And yeah, had one show so far.

And it was great. I was there. Thank you.

Not bad for a first show in a place that I’ve never performed before. It’s hard to be from out of town in any fringe. Yes.

Yeah. And I will tell you, Halifax audiences take a minute to warm up. If you’re from away, they’re like, we’re going to wait until somebody else tests the waters first.

But then once people word of mouth happens, folks will come out in droves. The first weekend is always slow. Next weekend, you’re going to be like, oh, hello, everybody.

Where were you last weekend? I always feel like in all the fringes I’ve done, you’re always like, those people who come the first weekend, you’re always like, bless you. Bless you people who are willing to take a risk. Yeah.

Because they’re always like, most people are just waiting for those reviews. What’s good? Because I only want to see something that’s good. But the people who go before the reviews are out, those are the pioneers.

Exactly. Exactly. So how have your fringes been so far? Pretty good.

I’m having a great time. I’m having a great time. I’ve met a lot of awesome artists who I’m really excited to go see all their shows.

I know Andrew a little bit, so I’m very excited to see his show. Same to you. Thank you so much.

Yeah. No, everyone seems really friendly, so I’m excited to get out there. Yeah.

I love fringe. This is my favourite time of year in Halifax. Halifax Theatre, we look forward to this every year.

It really is Christmas. Our community is so small, and we’re always so busy that we never get to see each other. So fringe is the one time of year I’m like, all right, I’m seeing 17 shows in three days, but I’m also going to see 400 of my friends and meet new people.

I love it. I’m having a blast. We’ve had one show so far.

Good audience, but I’ve seen a couple of things already, and I’m just like, yes. Everyone brought their A game this year. Yeah.

I do find that the idea that we’re always so busy, we never see each other, but fringe is when we hang out, is relatively common in fringe festivals. Have you guys had a chance to see anything? I’ve seen a couple, only two so far. Okay.

But they’ve been great. Saw Hello City’s opening show, and they’re a lot of fun. Just a wild, improvised book club.

Really, really funny. It was a great energy in there. And then last night I saw, I’m going to mangle the title because it’s ridiculous, Wild Bill’s live stream YouTube Yeehaw.

I’ve been practicing this one. It’s Wild Bill’s Facebook feeding time YouTube Yeehaw. Wow.

There you go. Congratulations. Kendall was on the podcast last week, so I felt like I owed it to her to join in.

And joining us now is Emily. Welcome Emily. Hi, I’m Phil.

Nice to meet you. If you want to, can you take a second and talk about your show? Introduce the show. Yeah.

So I’m directing The Easy Love and Blues by Evan Gilbert Blake. It’s on my list. I want to see that one.

Yeah, you should come. It’s going to be really good. It’s a really complicated play, but also really beautiful.

I mean, I think so. It kind of deals with ecosystems of power and abusive relationships and how they’re co-created because usually one or both parties have a history of abuse. That said, it’s also a very funny play.

Against all my best intentions, I was going for something really heavy, but I have brilliant actors and the text is brilliant. So it actually is very funny and entertaining. And what venue are you at? The Old Company Theatre.

Okay. So you’re just right over here. Yeah.

We’re open today, actually. Oh, you haven’t performed yet. All right.

Well, what time is your… Three, I believe. Three o’clock? Yeah. Okay.

I’m going to try to get this up before then. Just so people can have a chance. Aside from what you’ve just said, is there anything that you can talk to us about that show? Where did it come from? What do you mean? Oh, you’re directing.

You didn’t write it? Yes. No, I just directed. You didn’t write it? You just directed? No, it’s written by Evan Gilbert.

Okay. I’m sorry. Okay.

And what made you want to do it? Did they come to you or did you select the play? No, I chose the play. I chose the play way back in September. I don’t know.

I was interested in abusive relationships. I was interested in them not being as one dimensional as they’re being one abusive party and one victim. And I was interested in… Because abusive relationship has this huge connotation as if it’s something really rare or that it necessarily means a big buff man and a wife beater and then like a timid, frail woman just taking it when… I think a lot of relationships are abusive and abuse can be a much smaller thing than we think or a much more passive thing than we think.

And I was just curious about the mechanisms of that. So I chose this play because there’s five characters. And so there’s at least three ecosystems going on.

And it’s really interesting how they mirror each other. And it’s interesting how they’re very different, but also very, very similar. There’s a mother daughter relationship and then there’s a romantic relationship.

And yeah, it’s crazy how those distributions of power really mirror each other despite one not being a sexual relationship. Interesting. That’s how I really want to say it.

And we were talking about shows that we’ve seen. So just to jump back into where we were. So you saw… Wild Bills.

Wild Bills, Facebook, live feed, Feeding Time, YouTube, Yeehaw. There you go. Which is wonderful.

It went up in the title. It was uncomfortable and brilliant. And I laughed so very hard.

And yeah, I loved it. It was a good, weird and wild show. The title tells you that it’s going to be a weird and wonderful show.

Yeah, very much so. It does, it does. You said you saw two shows.

Hello City. Mariel, you had the chance to see. I saw one brilliant show so far.

That’s all I’ve had time to see with our schedule. It is a great show. I’ve seen it a few times now and I’m very proud to say it’s your own show, Phil.

It’s so great. Yeah, I hope everybody makes it out to see it because it’s really worth seeing. A lot of heart and soul in there.

And it’s just beautiful. You came highly recommended before you arrived. I had a lot of people up in Fundy who were like, he’s coming to your town.

You need to go see that show. Just to plug you a little bit. Thank you.

Thank you so much to the people at the Fundy furniture. Have you had a chance to see it? So yesterday I checked a 25, another show that came highly recommended. That kind of show is absolutely my fringe aesthetic.

I want weirdly disjointed, takes you a minute to figure out the plot, but in a good way. And then I also, as a director, I’m like, I love a good transition. And oh my God, they’re a little, like they’re every transition between their little scenes is so smart.

I was like sitting there going, stealing that idea. That’s so good. I have to, I have to agree with you.

Cause I saw them in St. John. Like it’s so sharp. Just like, I love, I also have a thing for a good transition.

I think I had the same reactions. They were transitioning and you’d be like, there’s not a wasted second in this show. Cause transitions are one of those things when you see them done badly and everything’s like, oh, let’s sort of demonstrate that things take so long and it kills them.

And they never kill the momentum. That’s it. Like I come from the musical theatre world.

So like a transition, like we usually get like a musical break while it happens and you can make something fun of it. So plays make me nervous. I’m like, oh God, the lights are going down.

The lights are going down. How long is this going to take? But it was so sharp and so smart and so well acted. Like they have such great chemistry.

I was like, yes, thank you for like starting my friend’s experience with an oomph. And then I also saw Liminal Flight. It’s one of the circus shows.

For full disclosure, I actually used to work with the three people who were involved at Halifax Circus. But they are so talented and so strong, like literally and physically. It’s 25 minutes.

It’s slick as hell. Like it’s pumped up with like just the most insane aerial tricks you’re going to see. They’re just, they went for it.

It’s got a clear story. There’s fire. Like who doesn’t like fire? Exactly.

So it’s outdoors. Yes. A lot of buildings I’ve seen here where they probably would not be.

Oh yeah. No, I don’t think doing a fire performance inside the church would be a good idea. Just light the dust on fire.

But yeah, no, it’s great. They have 12 more performances. There’s really no excuses to miss that one.

Does that mean they do like a couple of like two show days? Oh yeah. They’re doing back to back. They’re doing back to back shows.

When I say fuck those guys, I mean like holy shit. But that’s also circus people, right? Because like circus is, I spent five years working for Halifax Circus and I learned a lot. They’re like this beautiful gray area between athletes and artists because physically they have to train like they’re going to the Olympics.

I didn’t know that abs came in 10 packs until I started working. But they also have to have incredible artistry and be dancers and like understand music and what a crowd, like a story. And so every time I’m around them, I’m like, technically considered a triple threat.

You guys are like 4,000 times, whatever 400 times threat is. I don’t understand. It’s incredible.

It’s a really great show. So I would recommend checking it out. Point of the story.

Have you had a chance to see anything yet? No, I got here yesterday. Oh shit. Well, yeah.

I feel the same way because I, before I open, I can’t. You know, I have it. I can’t.

Fair. And I, my, my imposter syndrome, so I was like, I want to see something, but I just can’t. So, but it did, I did manage to see Mariel’s show yesterday and I quite loved it.

It was, it was really beautiful and, and I didn’t expect that I would be shedding a tear at the end, but I did. So, um, it was, it was great. Oh, she got me.

She got me good. And, uh, Mariel, you have a show today at like, uh, 3.30. Yeah. Yeah.

3.30. Yes, I do. My show’s at 12.30, which is why we’re doing this at, uh, 10.30. So everybody will have like missed that opportunity to see the show by the time this goes online. But, um, there’s other opportunities.

My show’s at 9.30 tonight if you’re listening. Oh, 9.30. Which works out for the timing of my show, actually. There’s a thing in my show that’s very time specific and we didn’t realize we’re like, oh, well that’s going to be eerie as hell.

Thanks, Fringe. For shouting out times, I’ve got one at 2.15 today and another one shortly after 8, 8.30. I don’t know when the evening one is. I have a two show day though.

Two today? Yeah. What is wrong with you? I have no idea, man. I mean that with a lot of respect.

What is wrong with you? No, I’m learning. Mistakes have been made. You did say that you’re a Fringe virgin.

Exactly. Hey, if it’s going to be your first time, go hard. Go hard.

You’re not going to remember anything by the time it’s done. Exactly. 8.10 is your show today.

Because your show is right before my show. We are. Excellent.

Speaking of not Fringe virgins, what Fringe festivals have you all done? This is my only Fringe. I am in a very monogamous relationship with Halifax Fringe. That is not uncommon.

The majority of people who do a Fringe do their local Fringe. So I’m from Toronto and most people do the Toronto Fringe. Most people have a monogamous relationship with their local Fringe.

I just don’t do touring shows. We do musicals usually. I’m not taking 40 kids on the road.

Don’t do it. That’s a terrible idea. I’ve done the Fundie Fringe.

That’s my hometown. So that’s where this play actually debuted last year in St. John New Brunswick, which was a lot of fun. Yeah, hometown crowd was really great and out in droves and we sold out every night and we won a fan favourite award.

It was just the best experience. And then I went to Fundie this year just to watch because I unfortunately didn’t get in. Lottery.

Darn it. Anyway and that’s where I met the lovely Phil and everything. It was a great festival this year.

There were some really lovely shows there. Have you, I mean you’re living in Vancouver. Have you done the Vancouver Fringe? I have not.

It scares me. I have. I’ve gone to a lot of shows out there.

I’ve seen some great stuff out there. And I think like I moved to Vancouver to train as an actor, which is kind of what the show is about. And you know you get there and like when I got there it was during Fringe season.

So Fringe was this huge thing and like it’s very built up in my mind what it is to be in the Vancouver Fringe. And it’s funny. I did this show as a fundraiser to get here in Vancouver on my birthday and it was most nervous I’ve ever been about doing this show.

And I couldn’t figure out why. And finally I realized like it’s a show about my acting journey. And it was one thing to bring it home and present it to like friends and family and that was a whole fear thing of itself.

Like oh my god. But then this was like my acting journey in front of everyone who’s been a part of my acting journey and shaped the artist that I am. But it was great.

It was really wonderful. It was a really warm audience. I start the show kind of hidden in plain sight.

And as the lights went down for the show to start everyone erupted into applause. I was like we haven’t we didn’t do the thing yet. It was really great.

It was really really great. Yeah. And then when I appeared it happened again and we had to silence them so we could do the show.

Which was great. So yeah. It’s a good little show you should come.

If they like it in Vancouver. Have you done any other fringe festivals? Where are you from actually? I am from Montreal. Okay.

So I’ve been to the Montreal Fringe multiple times. I helped write a show that was then in the Montreal Fringe but I didn’t actually participate in it. So I’m very familiar with the Montreal Fringe.

But I haven’t. This is my first fringe as an artist. I know a lot of touring artists who love starting their tour at the Montreal Fringe.

Oh yeah. Oh yeah. I can I can name a bunch who just love it.

And you know everybody everybody always says all the touring artists they say this and they say this with love. You will not make any money at the Montreal Fringe. No.

But you will have one fucking hell of a time. Because it’s a party. Like no other fringe has the 13th hour.

Do you know the 13th hour? Okay. So at one o’clock in the morning there is a sort of a talk show variety show thing that happens. Oh cool.

So one o’clock in the morning till two o’clock and then when that finishes there’s a dance party till four. Oh my god. And then everybody goes out for you know drunk food until like five or six.

Maybe sits in a park until the sun comes up a little. And then they go to bed and they wake up and they do a show. That sounds like my 22 year old dream.

32 year old me is like no. But 22 is like yes. I’m too old for that.

I’m completely no. And like because when I was there I was like okay we’re presenting at the at the at the 13th hour so I at least have to go for that. And the whole time I’m like after one o’clock in the morning.

I never see one after one o’clock. But it is a it’s one of the warmest fringes I’ve ever been. Yeah.

I will say as a Halifax longtime person that’s one thing we don’t really have here is like a congregating spot. Like I saw on Facebook in the group so he’s like where’s everybody hanging out? I’m like we don’t. Like like the final party is always a is a is off the chain.

Like because one one thing we like to do out here is drink. So it’s like great. But I think because most of because it is a very local fringe like we have obviously we have artists from away but it is mostly at Halifax based.

We all have day jobs. Like we’re all working through the fringe. So it’s like I have my nine to five job like luckily it’s still a nine to five in a box office.

So if I roll in I’m like yeah I got tickets for you. It’s great. Let’s go.

Yeah. So we don’t like that’s the one thing I wish we had more of like they’re trying to build build more of a hub up and it’s something we get the feedback a lot of like hey why don’t you have something like a fringe tent. And so I know for me it’s something I really want to see more of because I hear these stories I’m like I want to party irresponsibly.

I mean the Montreal Fringe also has the French Park which is you know there’s bands there all day and things like you can grab a bite to eat. A lot of people just go to the French Park for music. They try to pitch a show and they’re like music.

Go away. Do that somewhere else. Vancouver has the fringe bar.

Yeah. That’s a big deal. A lot of fringes have like Edmonton has fringe tents all over the place but nobody goes to them.

None of the artists. The attendees go there. There is the diviest of dive bars you’ve ever seen in Edmonton.

Yeah. It’s called Steel Wheels. Oh my god.

I love it. And all the fringe artists go there. Okay.

It’s the place everybody goes. The beer tent is for attendees for the for the people. We go to this place over here where the food may be questionable but nobody got sick this year.

Right you guys? Yeah. It’s just like just like a place to go. It’s like their place.

Interesting. Cool. Yeah.

I’ve done Montreal, Toronto many times, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Hamilton and St. John. And now Halifax. Yeah.

I mean it’s tough because the Halifax fringe is off the circuit like because of timing wise. It diverges. The eastern fringes diverge because you go you it starts technically the circuit starts in Orlando.

Yeah. Yeah. So Montreal moves west and then some years you can do Edmonton and then go back here and some years this this is happening like coinciding with the Edmonton fringe.

Yeah. So it’s sort of like pick your battles. You have to pick your direction.

Yeah. Full east coast versus west coast. The battle is going on.

We get our biggie smalls on and make it happen. So what’s on your list to see because we’re really early in the fringe like all of us have had maybe one performance maybe not any performance yet. Your first performance is today.

Have you had a chance to look at the program yet? Do you know anything that you want to see? Yeah. I wanted to see Come Home Play. I want to see Illuminor Flight.

Yes. And I think that’s all like that registers at the top of my mind but to be honest I want to see all of them. Well that’s that’s the goal.

Sunday I don’t have a show so that’s my like my marathon going to see as many things as possible day. I recommend 25. I really recommend 25.

Also they’re only here at the front end of the fringe. Oh really? They’re not going to be here when fringe is over because they got to go you know they’re from Paris so they’re going back there. Oh I was wondering.

I have many questions. Is that 1999? Yes. Yeah I saw them on Instagram.

They’re cool. Yeah they’re like they’re they’re the ones with the awesome transitions and the multiple storylines. And I saw that show twice in St. John because I went with my father and then I went with some fringe friends who really wanted to catch it.

And I’ll say seeing it twice like was really an experience because it is so much to take in and so much to follow. And seeing it the second time I was like oh like so much I got a whole different show. So I mean if that’s if that’s something you somehow have time to do at this fringe then it is a cool experience to do.

I do highly recommend it just if anybody’s listening and they’re like you know I want to see something kind of weird with awesome transitions go see that. Super professional level weird as hell. Not like weird in a bad like because let’s all be real we’ve all seen fringe shows and we’re like oh this is really weird and interesting but I don’t think you meant it to be weird.

My dad who went to see it with me he he’s not an artist himself. He likes you know things that have a narrative through line and make sense. And so when the lights came up he was like what just happened.

But he also loved it like he left entranced you know. Yeah so I think that’s that’s when you talk about like weird fringe that’s the goal of weird fringe you know like something that leaves people like I’m sure he’s still at home going and then they you know like it’s a thinker. I did leave thinking I got to digest this.

Yeah well even just like the way it ends like we’re not talking about it but like the way it ends like I was sitting there going oh I see what you did here. Yeah no I the the show that I’m doing we’re not nearly as polished or interesting but it’s a similar kind of vibe where it’s like you we want people leaving going oh I have a lot of questions but yeah very much the idea is like we don’t answer them it’s like we want you to go away and go what the shit was that? There’s nothing wrong with that. You know what and in in a way that could be a great reaction because people are gonna fucking talk about it.

Exactly exactly. So I know the show that I’m gonna go see this afternoon two local comedy folks who wrote it Oh Crap My Scarf by Kevin Hartford. He wrote a show last year about one of our local actors who is he’s an actor writer director yeah so I the Dan Bray story so this is not a sequel to that but it’s it’s weird as hell it’s 25 minutes and a friend of mine who’s already seen it’s like it literally wants to be a musical and they keep trying to break out into song and like stopping themselves.

I’m like that alone I’m like I’ll see that that’s hysterical and then I am also looking forward this afternoon to seeing In Space which my buddies Nick Cock and Steve Heisler wrote that and it’s 100% if the Muppets in space like the pigs in space were people like it’s that combined with Star Trek and if I know these guys at all I did a show with them last winter and they’re hysterical so I’m like yes. With their title you do have to kind of say you can’t be like yeah I’m going to see In Space. If you don’t put the emphasis on it you’re doing it wrong.

What’s on your list? Oh my god so many things I also want to see everything uh everybody at this table was already on my list so that’s wonderful nice to see everybody I look forward to your show um but also clearly I am a huge horror nerd um and there’s a ton of that kind of content at this festival which is super exciting for me so I’m really really yeah so I’m really pumped for Evil I’m really pumped for Ghost Project I’m excited for Q Psychic Story of the Supernatural I feel like I’m forgetting something but like there’s a bunch that are all kind of opera Gina is dead with the ghosts

like I just want to I want to back up and talk about Evil for a second yeah the the bravery of okay do you guys know there’s a podcast like uh adults reading things they wrote as kids or teenagers but the bravery of like taking this book that she wrote when she was like nine and like unearthing it and forcing her friends to perform it in front of people there’s something about that that’s kind of it’s kind of I love it that’s the kind of chutzpah you love in Fringe when people play and I know that team and it’s all really talented actors the writer she’s a great writer now so I’m assuming she has like some seeds of talent as a child but um yeah they I was asking I was like so like I love you guys but is this worth my time to like oh oh yes it is it’s like this is the most ridiculous thing like yes like I love it like I totally agree with that idea of like okay let’s just lay ourselves bare and do it yeah

I’m totally looking forward to She-Wolf I’ve been following uh Jill for for ages and this is like I haven’t had a chance to see her before oh really and and this is the first time that she’s not playing herself which is which is another thing yeah so I’m totally looking forward to to that um and she because she’s been I mean she just she literally just came from the Edinburgh Fringe yes um to to do this one so number one I’m not sure how she’s still standing right um and she’s performing every night at the Fringe yeah she’s another one of those people and see that’s amazing she knows what she’s doing yeah I don’t know I don’t know how she’s doing yeah she’s doing two shows too she’s doing She-Wolf and she’s also recording a comedy album yeah there’s three three times when she’s like recording a comedy album awesome plus she’s doing a workshop on storytelling yeah

so she was here last year she’s been here a couple of times and last year she was here she did two shows in rep and two very different shows uh she did uh she brought back Drag Queen Stole My Dress which is if you ever if she’s doing it at a Fringe near you go see it it’s hysterical and heartbreaking um and then she did another one she premiered a new one I don’t remember what it’s called but saw both of them and I’m like how do you do what you do yeah like you’re a machine

well I was watching her and like like because she’s she’s been yeah she’s been living in in in Australia yeah and doing the Fringes there and I’ll be like like she’ll if she posts her schedule and like okay so doing She-Wolf and I’m doing Drag Queen Stole My Dress and I’m doing um this one and I’m doing this one I’m like where are you finding the time for this why are you a supernatural machine she’ll be here next week we can ask

um but uh yeah so I’m really looking forward to that one and of course like I want to see your guys shows um because now that I’ve opened my show I feel like I can yeah

um but yeah so uh aside from aside from from that like are there any workshops that you’ve seen that you’re interested in are there I mean those of us who are not from Halifax as well are there any like Halifax-y things that you’re interested in doing while you’re because you know during the week Fringe doesn’t start until like five o’clock yeah yeah that’s fair yeah um

I ended up out and about in town last night I will highly recommend we all go to the house one of those nights survived um they paid as the Halifax native I’m like you won’t catch me dead but please go I’ve been off the east coast for quite a while east coast um and I just I miss I miss Good Fiddle and I miss dancing in a bar and they played Heave Away Hallway yeah back to back with the night that Patty Murphy died and my soul went on fire like I was just beside myself

and my stage manager is from Toronto originally and she now lives in Vancouver and she has no idea what she’s in for so I I was across the dance floor from her when it came on and I just like emerged from the crowd and I was like it’s this one this is the song I was yeah it was great we had a good old time

Halifax opened its warm and welcoming arms to us because it’s also the week the students come back oh yeah we’re a university town we have five universities and colleges yeah yeah so we have all the like our population literally triples this weekend so it’s like Halifax is tourist city until Labor Day weekend so that’s why if you’re like nobody knows how to drive and there’s moving vans everywhere there were right behind our billet the entire street was moving yesterday and we were like what is happening that means so much that students are back so going out is an adventure which is why I’m like as the person who lives here I’m like god bless have fun here are the bars you should go to you won’t catch me dead

I also went to Peggy’s Cove yesterday which was really amazing and it’s the 20th anniversary of the Swiss Air thing happening so it was it was a really moving experience to be out there to be honest with you I had not because I’ve been so focused on Fringe I really had forgotten that like it’s September 1st and like it’s Labor Day weekend so of course the students are coming back I don’t know what I was thinking but it’s amazing what Fringe brings people to.

I’m looking forward to exploring although the fucking hills are killing me like I am like trying to get around and I’m like what kind of mountain goat people live in this city that these hills like are a thing yesterday I took my longboard from down in Halifax all the way into like deep Jarmuth and it took me an hour and a half of just like up and down hills and across the bridge I’m just like all right this is a workout.

Did you carry it back or did you like ride back? I took the bus back.

That’s really wise. Yeah I was like there’s no hills. Oh I suppose actually yeah.

I was complaining in St. John. Oh plus you’re hurt. I was in St. John I was like I’m uptown St. John what the fuck is with these hills when I get here and I’m like fuck St. John these like these hills are like insane.

See I’m from St. John and I’m not bothered there obviously we’re used to this. I am also from St. John. Andrew and I have experience with this type of thing and I live in Vancouver in like not in the mountains but all of my streets are mini mountains and so I think I’m just you I hadn’t noticed there were hills here.

Oh my god. Are there hills here? Oh my god. It’s just because of the harbour.

I don’t think about it it’s like I remember the first time I went to Ottawa and so it was and like you hear Parliament Hill and I’m from a place that has hills yeah and so I was like great I imagine Parliament Hill was like on this giant fucking hill I see a little hill and then I was like and then it’s like flat and I’m like no it’s on the other side I’m like that’s a cliff. That is you are correct. I was like this is a Parliament cliff not Parliament Hill go straight.

It doesn’t sound the same. No. It sounds more like an evil lair.

Yes you’re right Parliament Cliff sounds like an evil lair or a place where they push people off. That’s what happens when the opposition leader is like Joe Clark you’re too old bye-bye. Oh Joe.

Yeah I’m looking forward to the art gallery. You should try and convince them to let you see the Annie Leibovitz collection we’re not allowed to display. Why aren’t we allowed to display it? We have an Annie Leibovitz collection that we’ve they was donated a private donation but Annie Leibovitz’s people are like uh you didn’t pay for it so you can’t display it.

Oh my god. So there’s like two million dollars worth of portraiture in the basement of their gallery. Oh my god.

Probably won’t be able to display that until she dies plus 70 years. Yeah it’s a pretty old thing. But yeah the gallery is gorgeous.

They have a lot of Maude Lewis room. Yes I think they’ve got the replica of her house. Yeah.

Yeah that’s right. I’m looking forward to that. So any final thoughts any final words about the Halifax fringe so far? What do you like you just got here yesterday how are you like navigating all of this? Oh it’s been great.

I’m being hosted by a lovely family and so are my castmates. Everyone’s incredibly welcoming and people give me directions in a second. I feel very safe like no it’s been great.

Did you have your tech yesterday? Yeah we did. Mark helped us out. He was like wow you have so many cues.

I feel that. It was great. The space the old company theatre really caters to our show because our show is set in a bar.

Oh nice. So yeah I know it’s really good. One of the things that I have noticed out on the east is that there’s a lack of the BYOV except for the church and campfire.

Yes yeah because the circus spaces have to bring their Exactly but in other fringes there are iterations like Montreal has off-fringe and other places like BYOV Toronto has site-specific which allows people to participate in the fringe if they didn’t get in the lottery but to find a space of their own. For us it’s a little different because we don’t have a lottery. It’s first come first served and we also used to have a lot more venues.

So for here here in Halifax we don’t it’s not juried it’s not a lottery it’s whoever makes the deadline gets in which is a whole other vibe which does make it a little bit of a lottery to see shows you’re like nobody checked this let’s make sure but

we’re in Halifax we’re suffering from a real lack of performance space right now because the waiting room and old pool hall and campfire are all disappearing as soon as it’s over they’re being demolished but we like there have been years where we had like spaces like this like Plan B but down on Godgeon Street like in the Khyber so you like there’s a turret literally a turret on the on the Khyber and so you could perform inside a castle turret and like five people could fit in the room and you’re just like I’m in a goddamn castle but we don’t have that we don’t have those empty spaces right now and so it’s it’s frustrating because I love seeing shows where you’re like hi I can fit seven people in this room and we’re going to do a little show and you’re like here’s my three dollars and that was awesome and we don’t have that right now and it kills me.

I don’t know about in other places in Toronto there’s a sort of a resurgence of some storefront theatre like the Red Sand Castle and the Assembly Hall and hopefully one day our act the company called the storefront theatre will actually find a new storefront but those are like really intimate spaces and there’s something really kind of magical about

yeah I mean I see theatre space everywhere I go yes but I love when somebody takes like a space that was a storefront and turns it into something and I’d love to see that here and that could maybe give you you guys

yeah well even this like this is the back room of the craziest eclectic shop in the world and so like I’ve seen shows in here and when it worked like I saw a full musical in here last year wow in this space a four no five person kid show musical piano player props the whole thing in this room that’s like six feet by six feet and it was and it was fantastic and you’re like oh my god like yeah you can do you can make theatre anywhere yeah you just have to have people who are willing to sit in shitty chairs and that’s the thing yeah thing

but yeah in Montreal are there like I know there’s the mainline theatre and they host the fringe along Saint Laurent I know there’s a whole bunch of spaces that have that have opened up what is what is the state of of of theatre

oh there’s so much yeah and like there’s there’s like thousands of shows at the fringe I mean I could be making this up but there’s just so much theatre happening when the bridge goes around um and it’s interesting because there’s like two different ecosystems entirely because there’s the francophone and the anglophone and um again I haven’t really participated in the fringe that much so I don’t know the details but I don’t think they really compete for space or audiences like there’s a good yeah like I at the fringe opening um there were shows both in French and in English um and I don’t know I think there’s a good overlap of crowds yeah um and yeah it’s spread out across the whole city um it’s a yeah I think it’s a town that like really prides itself on its theatre yeah

when I was in Montreal it’s the first time that somebody had had said uh Cameron Moore actually she was doing a workshop on promoting fringe and she said there is audience enough for everyone not in competition and and there’s that vibe among the artists too um I feel like there’s a very friendly like oh go see this show go see oh yeah that’s another reason why I think Montreal is a great space to start your tour because you come out of Montreal and Montreal really sort of pioneered the password system which you find in a bunch of other fringes not every fringe has this handy artist pass that I’m holding up you can’t see because this is audio um uh in in a lot of fringes uh there will be passwords and so you give your password to the artists and the artists can they’ll go up and they’ll be like here’s the password spot and then they’re like and all right you get to go in and it’s a great way to to share your show with other people and

I’ve literally seen people on on the circuit because they’ve seen a show somewhere else they’re pitching a show to somebody and they say I can’t go at that time they go when can you go like when you have an okay I’ll tell you what’s playing then and I’ve seen this show so you should see it and that’s one of the most beautiful things oh yeah I love that absolutely yeah

I was wearing a Sex T-Rex t-shirt yesterday and uh if you’re not familiar with Sex T-Rex they’re a comedy troupe based in Toronto they’ve been here a couple of times because they have some family out here um and they’re not even in this year’s festival people are stopping like what is happening I’m like listen if you can find these people you need because and that’s what it’s about like I love the the cross-country community that comes with fringe yeah um yeah it’s like you know now that I’ve hung out with you guys I’ll be like oh my god Sex T-Rex interestingly enough is thrilled that they’re in the fringo yeah um I passed that I saw that they were there and I passed that over to them and they were like oh my god yeah um somebody was wearing a Sex T-Rex you were wearing a Sex T-Rex so they’re thrilled about that yeah

they also love launching their tour like going to Montreal yeah it’s a space where they feel like they can workshop their shows so it’s like this this great sort of thing I love it so everybody misses for Sex T-Rex here believe me I’ve seen the proof yeah um so maybe they’ll come back next year um

all right well thanks so much you guys this has been a lot of fun we will do this again next week when we are when we are also when certain members of our group are far more tired because they’re performing every day um be delirious it’ll be great next Saturday I have a tube show after this so it’s like it’ll be fine I’ll be right there with you actually the opening night of Shakespeare in Love at Neptune our main theatre happens on Friday so it’s like I’m gonna roll into this on Saturday morning be like I’ve fringed and I’ve binged

awesome awesome well we will see that thank you so much you guys thank you this has been a homebody productions production