Fringe Festival unveils line-up for its 26th edition

The upcoming 26^th edition of the St. Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival – which runs from May 30 to June 19 – unveiled its line-up of more than 800 shows by more than 500 artists from around the world … complete with all the necessary bells, whistles, lights, flippers and bumpers.

Which is why it was only fitting that the Fringe Festival chose the North Star Pinball club on St. Laurent Boulevard near Bagg Avenue to hold its annual press conference to unveil that line-up last Tuesday night.

“In a way, the Fringe Festival is like a pinball machine,” said festival director Amy Blackmore, who addressed the gathering media surrounded by some classic pinball machines from the 60s and 70s. “It’s fun, easy, cheap, and when the game is over, you want to play it again.”

Montreal Fringe Festival Artistic & Executive Director Amy Blackmore

Throughout its three weeks, the Montreal Fringe Festival will offer Fringe-goers of all ages and backgrounds a wide selection of performance, music, dance, comedy and specialty shows that range from the conventional to the unusual to the quite offbeat. And through its selected venues across the Plateau, Mile End and downtown districts, the Fringe shows – as always – are not just people friendly, but also have ticket prices that are relatively inexpensive (averaging about $10), and offer audiences a very open and welcoming atmosphere that encourages them to see more shows thanks to plenty of free form word-of-mouth publicity.

And this year’s festival spokespeople are the members of Theatre Kata, who made their Fringe debut three years ago and have consistently presented shows at the festival that are filled with originality, creativity and boldness.

Here are some early highlights to look out for at this year’s Montreal Fringe Festival:

-The much-anticipated, highly energetic Fringe-For-All officially launches the festival at Café Campus, with practically every participating theatre company giving their own two-minute teaser about what their respective shows are all about, in what is truly the ultimate sneak preview (May 30).

-The Petit Campus on Prince Arthur will be the site of The 13^th Hour, the Fringe’s popular, unpredictable late night showcase complete with its not-to-be-missed features as the Money Wheel, 11 Second Dance Parties and Slow Motion Bar Fights. This year’s 13^th Hour shows will be hosted by Fringe regular Al LaFrance, who will also be presenting a new solo show at the Montreal Improv Theatre called “I Think I’m Dead” (June 9-16, 18).

-Sarah Segal-Lazar, another popular Fringe regular who is currently garnering rave reviews for her performance in “Bad Jews” at the Segal Centre, returns to her musical roots with a special solo music show at the Fringe Park hub, which is located on the corner of St. Laurent and Rachel (June 12).

-British performer Alastair Knowles (best known to Fringe goers as one half of the comedy duo James & Jamesy) and Montreal choreographer Stephanie Morin-Robert (who performed her latest solo show “Blindside” in Montreal earlier this spring), return with a new comedy show called “Bushel and Peck”, which explores the subject of love, but when it’s on the edge of humanity (June 11-14, 16,17).

-Fans of the classic TV cartoon series “The Flintstones” will be in for quite a surprise, as Fred, Wilma, Barney and Betty – and all the good people of Bedrock – will get a new twist to their prehistoric misadventures with “Bedrock Burlesque – A Flintstones Burlesque Parody” (June 3, 9, 10, 12, 16-19).

-One of the most anticipated shows at this early stage is “Captain Aurora II: A Superhero Musical Sequel”. A hit at last year’s Fringe Festival – as well as this year’s Wildside Festival – Captain Aurora returns with a vengeance, as he tries to stop a dangerous alliance between the President of the planet and a quite evil extraterrestrial empire. (June 9, 10, 12, 16, 18, 19).

-Longtime Fringe veteran Jem Rolls (who knows how to weave historical knowledge with entertaining storytelling), returns with a new solo show called “Get Lost Jem Rolls”, which is a sort-of travelogue of his collection of comic blunders as he hits the road to an assortment of destinations (June 10-12, 15, 17, 18).

-Montreal’s Chocolate Moose Company offers a unique piece of theatrical performance called “Plays by Kids”. The concept is simple; the adult members of the Chocolate Moose Company will perform a series of original plays … which were written by children! (June 9, 12, 13, 16, 18, 19).

For more information about these and other St. Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival shows, or how to purchase tickets or passes, go to www.montrealfringe.ca. #fringebuzz.

(This article originally appeared in the May 14, 2016 edition of the Montreal Times)