Winnipeg Fringe Festival: Lady Skits; Little Orange Man

Lady Skits (MUFF-Stache Collective)

This comedy incorporates a series of loosely connected sketches that poke fun at the ridiculous nature of being female in this day and age. The description claims that this piece is intended to bring in some vagina, the female counterbalance to dick jokes. While this is certainly accurate, I’m not sure it’s possible to understand how that works without seeing it in action. The group shamelessly delivers some truly LOL worthy jokes about vaginas, periods, porn and female friendships reveling in the gross and awkward parts. If what you expect on hearing the word ‘feminist’ is an attempt to deconstruct patriarchal systems (in 60 minutes or less) then this isn’t going to measure up. On the other hand, it’s a comedy about women’s bodies that is irreverent without being mean spirited, and that’s not something you see a lot of.

There was some solid comedic material here, but it didn’t always gel together. In general the stand alone scenes were a lot more interesting than the interactions of the Greek goddesses. The first scene in particular did a great job of setting intense energy levels for the rest of the show, and the raps were highly entertaining. For all that it was an enjoyable piece, I left feeling more excited to see what the cast will do in the future.

Little Orange Man (SNAFU Dance Theatre)

Photo credit: Al Smith

Kitt, the main character, explains that she used to perform Danish folk stories to the younger kids before her operation got shut down when the teachers got nervous about their, um, effects. That means she’s stuck putting on an extravaganza for us, an audience  who she can only hope will be as good at dreaming as the kinders. First of all, kids: you would be entirely justified in rioting.Little Orange Man is a phenomenal piece that conveys the macabre and wondrous inner landscape of a child’s imagination but presented with polish and verve.

I dare anyone not to fall in love with the character of Kitt -  she’s like the greatest weird kid on the playground who most of us weren’t mature enough to appreciate when we were her age. Actress Ingrid Hansen finds wonderfully creative usages for props as she switches masterfully between puppets, shadow lamps, the ukelele and lunch ingredients. Yet despite all these elements, the show is incredibly cohesive so the audience never loses track of the main narrative.

This is hands down the most innovative fringe show I’ve ever seen. It’s funny, moving and completely magical. Once is not enough.

-Daniela