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Good, bad and ugly theatre will be ridin' into River City<br /><br />Corny cowboy brawl kicks off Winnipeg's 19th fringe festival<br /><br />Tuesday, June 20th, 2006<br /><br />By Kevin Prokosh<br /><br /> <br />A posse of ornery cowpokes staged a dustup in Old Market Square to welcome the wildest fest in the West to Winnipeg. The faux fracas is nothing compared to the shootout locals will witness when 136 companies circle the wagons in the square to perform a line dance of good, bad and ugly theatre at the 19th annual Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival. <br /><br />Sheriff Nick Kowalchuk rode in on his one-stick pony to break up the brawl and lay down the law about the Western Fringe, set for July 19-30. Along with his brown, buckskin fringed jacket, matching chaps and straw cowboy hat, Kowalchuk wore pinned to his chest one star, which could be interpreted as his unspoken review of the corny stage antics on display yesterday. <br /><br />Heading our way are many of the circuit's top guns, Brits like Chris Gibbs, Jem Rolls and Screwed and Clued as well as California's Sound & Fury, Toronto's Alex Dallas and Edmonton's Guys in Disguise. Local content is strong, as always, with works from Joseph Aragon, Leith Clark, Ross McMillan and Jason Neufeld, last year's winner of best new Manitoban play. <br /><br />"It's going to be better than last year because it will be 12 days again," says Kowalchuk, during an interview following the official launch before about 60 people. "I'm hoping this year it will be 70,000, which would be a record." <br /><br />Two years ago, Winnipeg was the top-selling fringe festival in North America with paid attendance totaling 68,470, while the perennial leader in Edmonton saw ticket sales plummet to 60,442. With one less day of shows last summer, Winnipeg drew 66,315 paying customers while Edmonton rebounded to 70,205. <br /><br />A new feature that should bump up outdoor attendance is Improv Idol, a 6 p.m. nightly showdown of the quickest wits in the West or at least the ones who show up to compete in the square. Steven Sim of The Crumbs will host the ad-libbing Idol-ers who will vie for votes from the crowds and the favour of celebrity judges. <br /><br />"I wanted to have theatre on the outdoor stage," says Kowalchuk, overseeing his third festival. "We used to have SAK theatre (from Florida) doing improv out there. We're a theatre festival, so let's have some theatre up there." <br /><br />Keeping with the cowboy theme is the introduction of Western Movie Night on July 25 when some classic oater will be screened under the stars. The Kids Fringe is also featuring extended hours outdoors to 6 p.m. and offering more indoor shows for pint-sized patrons. <br /><br />The festival is expanding its Best of the Fest offering on the final Sunday. The top two companies, instead of just one as in the past, with the most ticket sales and popular momentum at each of the 11 regular venues will get an extra performance slot. Fringe-goers will get one last shot at the top draws in the fest. <br /><br />"It's all about getting the people to see the hits," says Kowalchuk. <br /><br />Nobody should saddle up to head West without snagging a festival program, which has been upgraded to 90 glossy pages. The event's bible is again selling for $5 and will soon be available at all Liquor Marts, Safeways and the Manitoba Theatre Centre. <br /><br />The price of tickets international acts can charge has increased to $9 from the $8 that all the Canadian groups can command. There will again be about 1,000 Frequent Fringer Cards (10 shows for $64) available and about 500 Buddy Passes (14 for $88). New this year is the Admit 2 Pass, a $16 gift certificate good for two admissions of the recipient's choice. <br /><br />All the fun begins at high noon July 19 with the Performer Free for All when fringers can get their first brief glance at this year's talent before the curtain goes up at all 21 venues between 7 and 8 p.m. Local ska-rock band The Barrymores will close the festival at 9 p.m. July 30th. <br /><br /> |
