Ottawa Fringe Festival

The road to the afterlife starts at… a bus stop?

Two men on stage, an actor (Martin Broaddus) and a playwright (Martin Dockery), are supposed to perform a play. One hasn’t memorized his lines, and, even worse, the playwright hasn’t even written the play! A play about the end of the world, with two men who have retreated into a bunker.

I went into this play expecting a lot of jokes about masturbation. That expectation was met many times over, and somehow there was still time for Stroke of Genius to deliver so much more. 

A solo show is by its nature an intimate experience, especially in a small venue, and Multiple Neurosis plays to the format’s strengths to deliver some of the finest storytelling I’ve seen at Fringe.

After Shakespeare answers the question, “What happened to this character after the play ended?”

If you haven’t yet heard about the local comedy duo Small Fish, you will soon, because Glenys Marshall and Maggie May Harder are the most exciting thing to happen to Ottawa since Confederation.

If you were to write a bucket list, what would be on it? Fly a plane, go to Japan, run a marathon? Maybe become a magician? That’s one of the items on Jimmy Cao’s list of 52 experiences to complete before he turns 30. 

Colum, a city pigeon, is on a mission to win back humans’ love for all pigeon-kind. This may sound like an ambitious goal, but by the end of the show, I think even the most stubborn pigeon hater will have been won over by Sarah Ivanco’s lovable character.

A multilingual journey through love, relationships and the divine. Divine Masculine: A Rhapsody tells the humorous yet tragic tale of what it means to navigate contentious power dynamics, gender-based violence, and ultimately what it means to be a man.

The Naked Mennonite: LIVE is the religious coming of age story of Stephen, who moves with his family to a small, conservative Mennonite community. We follow Stephen as he experiences the highs and lows of growing up, with the added complex layer of religious devotion and the expectations that come with that. This serious story is packaged in a humorous monologue style that captivates the audience.

This time 1 Small Lie is in the style of Raymond Chandler. (As an example, think Double Indemnity). In this case, Dockery has set the story in upstate New York during the pandemic.

An insane take on some classic tropes including Shakespeare and detective procedurals with a Shutter Island-esque twist that leaves blood, guts, and the remnants of puppet limbs across La Nouvelle Scène’s stage. If you thought you knew what to expect from Dead Unicorn Ink’s latest show, ECPD: Rhetoric, Blood, and CRIME, think again.

Anyone who harbours any resentment against technology will chuckle at this original play. This show follows a married couple who ends up in quirky and unfortunate situations involving technology such as a home assistant, a GPS, and cellphones.

The digital meets reality in this short but sweet performance by Sonder’s Darian Kaulahao.

10,000 Digits of Pi is exactly how it sounds. Vinay Sagar gets on stage to recite as many digits of pi as he can before the show is over. The catch? The audience is intentionally attempting to stop him, so that Sagar can reveal his deepest secrets.