Author Archives: Jay Menard

London Fringe — Your Princess is in Another Castle, but the Castle is Still Just a Facade

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By Jay Menard

Before the play starts, Wes Babcock explains to the crowd that Your Princess is in Another Castle is very much a work in progress. He and Nancy Kenny, known for Roller Derby Saved my Soul and Everybody Dies in December, are workshopping this production and that honesty is greatly appreciated, because the production is very, very rough.

Ostensibly, the play is about Princess Polly, who loses the vote for Miss Leader of the Free World — the elections are won and lost by reality television. She finds herself a barista in a coffee shop run by her mannequin boyfriend. And Polly feels she lost the election because she was unable to make the mannequin population care for her.

There are elements of an interesting story here. The first building blocks of a foundation upon which something entertaining may arise. But right now, the drywall’s been applied a little haphazardly, the windows are slapdash, and the decorations are a little gaudy. It needs work and refinement to be something a little more stage-worthy. Continue reading →

London Fringe — Bedwetter: Not-So-Dry Humour About Growing Up Leaky

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By Jay Menard

Out of tragedy comes comedy. And though a childhood — and well into the teen years — filled with bedwetting may not be the classic definition of tragedy, for any youth going through it, it would be a devastating, confidence-draining experience.

Fortunately, Tamlynn Bryson came out of her experience stronger, more confident, and able to look back with a laugh at her experience. And Fringe goers are all the richer for the experience. Continue reading →

London Fringe: My Planet and Me – Isolated on Earth, Connected in the Stars

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By Jay Menard

One man, essentially alone in his own world, finds a connection amongst the stars. And in Damon Muma’s My Planet and Me, we’re invited to follow a man who guides us down a path of his own introspection to an ultimate realization of what his true value is in the universe.

Muma’s character, despite having a girlfriend, a job, and friends, feels isolated from the world around him. He increasingly can’t relate to the lives his friends are leading, he feels stuck at work — the tedium of bus rides to and fro blending into an indistinguishable rut, and his home life begins to fray as the play progresses.

Instead, he finds a connection where he least expects it — in the stars through a sentient planet that is communicating with him. He recalls other moments in his life when the planet spoke to him — and while he doesn’t understand what “she” is saying, it moves him both physically and emotionally. Continue reading →

London Fringe: Orbituary — A Play About Change, Stuck in Stasis

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By Jay Menard

At the end of Valerie Cotic’s Orbituary, she states, in describing the end of the life cycle of a star, that the remaining gases, elements, and debris, “have the potential for some pretty amazing things.” It’s an apt description of this play, which though parallelling relationships and existential angst about death with the birth and death of a star, finds itself more like a moon — stuck in stasis between opposing gravitational forces.

Cotic opens and closes the play describing herself, using terms like “opinionated” and “emotionally intense,” but unfortunately that fails to shine through the production. The acting is pleasant, but for such weighty material remains superficial. Continue reading →

London Fringe — The Merkin Sisters: A Beautifully Absurd Example of What Fringe Can Be

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By Jay Menard

Absurd? Surreal? Avante Garde? Ingrid Hansen and Stephanie Morin-Robert’s The Merkin Sisters truly defies classification — other than to say it’s a perfect example of what Fringe theatre is at its best, and it’s a must-see on this year’s London Fringe circuit.

That said, make sure you bring two things with you when you see this show: an open mind and a sense of playfulness. The two women go to any and all lengths to deliver an uproariously funny and quirky show that’s part variety, part dance, part comedy, and all entertainment.

If a Salvador Dali painting came to life on a Fringe stage, it would be the Merkin sisters. Continue reading →