It is finally here! August 10th - 19th brings the second Calgary Fringe Fest to Calgary. Here is just a sample of the many shows that will be taking place in assorted venues throughout Calgary for those nine days! Make sure you check out the website for full schedules and additional event listings.
First up are three films that will be part of the Calgary Fringe Film Festival, held at the #1 downtown Legion.
Semper Fi
Jeff Key is a Marine - body and soul. You can tell the instant you look at him - six feet four, square-jawed with a quiet authority that is tempered by an easy Southern drawl.
Born in rural Alabama - schooled in the Church Of Christ, Jeff is a true believer in God and in Country. Jeff Key is also Gay, and this film is Jeff’s story; how a spiritual kid, who passionately loved his church and struggled desperately with the secret he carried in his heart - a secret his pastor refers to as an “abomination.” It shows how this kid from Alabama set out for Hollywood where he found freedom, acceptance and deep friendships. This acceptance gives him the courage - at thirty-four - to join the Marine Corps.
After the terrible events of 9/11, knowing he could get out by telling his superiors who he really was, Jeff Key decides to go to war for the country he loved. Once in Iraq, his patriotic heart is broken by what he sees. Back home, Jeff uses his war journals to create a one-man show with which he travels the country revealing the dignity and power of his experience in a play that never flinches from what it meant to be Gay and at war.
AIDS
What if everything we’ve been told about AIDS is wrong? What if HIV is not the virus that causes AIDS, and that the HIV antibody tests were completely flawed? What if the drugs given for it cause symptoms indistinguishable from AIDS, and many of the people working in the field of AIDS are self serving opportunists? This film explores a scenario where AIDS is the most popular, profitable disease ever, where tens of thousands of scientists and foundations are lining up to feed at this endless trough. There has been complete and total suppression of the dissident voices - even gay activists who have spoken out against the flawed war on AIDS have been ostracized.
This documentary by Gary Null shakes the AIDS tree to its foundation. This is the in-depth, uncensored, unexpurgated documentary that lets dozens of quality voices go on the record to share their views on AIDS.
Oh Michael Oh Jesus
Oh Michael/Oh Jesus is an experimental narrative focusing on a man wrestling with his inner demons and deities. Two monologues, delivered by the same character and actor, follow the man’s journey of self-acceptance of his innate homosexuality - from his initial fantasy with a male stranger crossing a street to his sexualization of the crucified Christ.
The actor is shot in front of a green screen and directly addresses the camera, with newly-shot, found, and archival footage flashing behind him. The story deals with issues of fantasy, reality, obsession, lust, sex and murder, prayer, sex with Christ and, finally, redemption. Sometimes graphic, sometimes poignant, always engaging, the main character tells us about his slide into self-loathing and the climb back to stability. Beautifully written and powerfully acted.
Theatre Shows:
Lay Down and Love Me Again
James Howell wrote and stars in this critically acclaimed show, which has been seen worldwide including the UK, France, Czech Republic and the United States. Kevin wants to stage a solo show but cannot get organized to get out of his bedroom. Pajama-clad he practices monologues satirizing academia, religion, gay culture, theatre, psychobabble, hospitals, cynicism and sentimentality. It is a dark, Robert Crumb-like story of family.
Buildings and Bridges
Written and performed by Chala Hunter and Sarah Warren, Buildings and Bridges was created after reading an article about a woman who jumped from a bridge into oncoming traffic with her two year old child earlier this year in Toronto. Hunter and Warren explore how women are portrayed in the media and when a gentle action can turn to a harmful one. Buildings and Bridges is a comic and heart-filled story about girls and women, about Paris Hilton and changing the world...or trying to. The play follows three stories in alternation; the journey of the woman on the bridge, a blind date, and the intimate life of a young couple. The play is woven together through the narration of two little girls who speak in the form of haiku.
Also a big part of any Fringe Festival is dance, as is the case with “private-i!” from Winnipeg’s Jolene Bailie, and Calgary’s local theatre legend Denise Clarke. Private-i integrates the worlds of dance and theatre to reveal a charming discovery of human emotions, set to music composed by Paul Aucoin of indie group The Hylozoists. Having received rave reviews from coast to coast, this all-ages show is a must see.
A show that will surely be popular is Miss April Day’s school for burgeoning young strippers. This one-woman musical comedy is loosely based on the real life experiences of its creator June Morrow. Morrow told us that she has received a great reaction from the LGBT community in Ottawa, Toronto and Winnipeg where she has already performed the show.
“I think this is because of two things: one, there is a fair bit of campy humour in the piece (it’s part cabaret, part stand-up, part parody, part musical, part puppet show, etc.); and two, the message of the piece is that stripping, in my experience, wasn’t so much about taking things off as it was about putting things on. We put on layers that started with makeup and stage names and fake tans and fake attitudes and morphed into the fantasies of strangers; fantasies that we didn’t often share but that we took on until eventually the layers ran so deep we forget where they ended and we began. I think a lot of LGBT people relate to this idea of feeling like you have to pretend to be someone you’re not to be accepted. And so, at the end of my play, I ask people to strip away the fake masks that they put on to expose love and enjoy who they truly are. It’s a kind of universal message but one that maybe resonates louder with queer audiences than others. Of course, that said, although there are poignant moments it is also a very funny show. At one point I drag someone out of the audience and give them a lap dance and it isn’t always a guy.”
We also asked Morrow about the cute guys that strip down for drunken girls and gay boys at ladies night.
“I do have two friends who strip at Remingtons, a gay male strip club in Toronto. From our discussions, my understanding of their experiences [at the club] is that it was very similar to the [experience] I had dancing for straight males in the same city. In Ontario, regardless of the club’s orientation, strippers make most of their money hustling for lap dances. So finding a regular who will pay you regularly to be his/her pretend-boyfriend/girlfriend is the best way to secure an income. Of course to find those people you have to wade through a lot of other customers who will test your boundaries and often want more from you than you can legally give them.
“Like in the clubs where there are women dancing, some male dancers cross this line and others don’t. I think male strippers also face the challenge of having to look hot all the time (which can be some work especially as you get older) and certainly the challenge of what to do when you want or need to get out of the business. Strip clubs are a kind of surreal worlds where the money and ego stroking can be intoxicating but, on the flip side, it’s much too easy to start judging your self-worth on how many people find you attractive (i.e. buy private dances). It’s kind of like a distorted mirror reflecting all the superficialities of society. Exiting this world and coming out into the daylight can be a real challenge. I know guys who dance for straight women say they get more hooting and hollering from the audiences and probably make more money, but they too have to hustle. I think the main difference is there probably isn’t the same amount of ‘possesiveness’ of customers that you see in the female strip clubs. Female strippers can be quite catty and vicious to each other when competing for cash and attention, which is a point I make in my show, where one dancer is constantly spreading dirty rumours – some true, some not - about another dancer. I think male strippers probably take it more in stride as an aspect of the business and may actually have more camaraderie among themselves.”
In Fringe fashion, we recently received a humorous warning in our mailboxes:
“WARNING! A couple of F Heads have chosen to target our fair city on a universal quest for art. Armed with a questionable sense of humor, a flare for the dramatic, and a thirst for adventure, the F Heads are here. Scoping our bustling city for the answer to the question everyone has been asking; “Where’s the art at anyway?” Is our city ready for this invasion of thespian proportions? Who are these F Heads? Where did they come from? Where will they show up next? Are they dangerous? These are just a few of the questions people have been asking as these strange aliens make tracks through our friendly city. One thing is certain. The F Heads are here, and they seem as though they will be here for a while.”
The Calgary Fringe Festival
August 10th – 19th, 2007
Various venues.
www.calgaryfringe.ca
