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This article was published 18/07/2012 (4422 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

KEVIN Prokosh reviews these shows seen at fringe festivals in Montreal and Ottawa:

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH

Keystone Theatre

Hirsch Mainstage (Venue 1), to July 28

ALTHOUGH it’s a live-action silent movie, The Last Man on Earth will make a lot of noise at this year’s festival.

There are no words to describe the vintage charm and skill on display in this throwback family drama accompanied by pianist David Atkinson, who puts on a pretty impressive show himself at his onstage upright.

Toronto’s Keystone Theatre stages an epic battle between good, an innocent named Gormless Joe (Phil Rickaby), and evil, represented by the devil (Stephen LaFrenie) and his not-so-bad bat-like minion (Sarah Joy Bennett). The prize is the comely Penelope (Miranda Calderon), who sells pies.

While the entire cast is strong, Bennett steals the show as the sidekick with the oversized ears and under-appreciated job. When the devil swipes her piece of cake, she forlornly takes the pointy end of her birthday hat and pushes it against her broken heart. Four stars

FISHBOWL

Mark Shyzer

Playhouse Studio (Venue 3), to July 29

IN Fishbowl, Toronto writer/performer Mark Shyzer introduces a quartet of small fish in the big pond of life.

In his hour-long character comedy, Shyzer alternately portrays Esther, a precocious, gawky schoolgirl with a thing for her physics teacher; another teenage loner named Frances who would rather be called Ravyn; an old man close to death, looking for some meaningful last words; and a divorced barfly.

Shyzer easily delineates the foursome — Esther has a lisp, the geriatric a raspy voice. His writing is also razor-sharp, and he several times drops comic nuggets, as when Rayvn gripes about having to go to “a birthday party-slash-barbecue-slash-family-reunion-slash my wrists.”

Esther is easily the most compelling character; one wishes she got more stage time. Fishbowl is involving, although the way Shyzer brings the four together is not entirely satisfying. Somehow it is not as good as the sum of its parts. Three and a half stars

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE STUPID

Pi: The Physical Comedy Troupe

Alloway Hall (Venue 4), to July 29

THE Good, the Bad and the Stupid is a western-themed clown show that skimps on the “good.”

The San Francisco troupe’s three males and one red-cheeked female clown perform a series of circus acts, including a lame horse race, group juggling and acrobatics, but none of it stands out or particularly entertains. There should be a program warning that the hairy, paunchy strongman will bellydance.

Beware of the audience-participation segment in which a couple of unfortunate souls are dragged onstage, where they are made to carry balls by butt-clenching them as they waddle across the stage.

The welcome for The Good, the Bad and the Stupid dies long before the extended death closes this trying performance. Two stars

GAMETES AND GONADS

Active Salad Productions

Son of Warehouse (Venue 5), to July 28

GAMETES and Gonads comically dramatizes the unseen war being staged in the human reproductive system. The ambitious, 45-minute one-man show remembers the sperm-launch scene from Woody Allen’s 1972 movie Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex and spices it with Star Wars and Star Trek references.

The somewhat juvenile plot imagines the sperm armies of the left testes along with the sperm pilots under the command of Capt. Spunk preparing to launch a massive attack on their enemies, the eggs, one of which is sacrificed every month.

What raises Gametes and Gonads above an engaging, live-action high school sex-ed class is the stunning Winnipeg debut of Victoria’s Jeff Leard, who literally does it all without props or music. He plays all the characters at warp speed, as well as providing all the sound effects. It’s a balls-out performance you kind of wish was put to better use. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö1/2

POWER / PLAY (CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE)

Cameryn Moore

Red River College (Venue 11), to July 29

IN Cameryn’s Moore’s R-rated one-woman Power / Play, the power is turned over to the audience to steer the direction of a fictional new romance sparked by an exchange of glances between two strangers. Where that takes Moore, an unabashed sexual adventurer, can leave her, if not speechless, then clothing-less.

Moore, who has graphically bared her sexual predilections and past in previous fringe offerings Phone Whore and Slut (R)evolution, was naked for the better part of her hour-long performances. With or without clothing, Moore, a self-described “active slut,” is completely at ease with her raunchy material that would make many blush at its detailed frankness. She is matter-of-fact about how broken up she was when her goodie bag of sexual toys were stolen from her car at the Victoria Fringe Festival.

While most fringe acts use sex as a come-on in their titles, Moore has seen it, done it and wants to tell you about it in her personal crusade to spread sexual empowerment. Three and a half stars

THE MYSTERY OF THE HUNGRY HEART MOTEL

Peter ‘n Chris

Rachel Browne Theatre (Venue 8), to July 28

THERE is no mystery surrounding the Hungry Heart Hotel, as Peter Carlone of the Vancouver comedy duo reveals in the play’s opening moments that the hotel manager was responsible for the killing spree there.

The spoiler does nothing to ruin the surprise and pleasure of The Mystery of the Hungry Heart Hotel, and as far as whodunit, it’s Carlone and his sidekick Chris Wilson who kill with every hilarious line. With contemporary glee, they send up those Hardy Boys mysteries (the Peter ‘n Chris publicity photo is a brilliant lampoon of their book cover images). It’s a fun way to spend an hour.

If you haven’t seen Peter ‘n Chris, check into the Hungry Heart Hotel. You may not want to leave. Four and a half stars

SHE HAS A NAME

Burnt Thicket Theatre

Shaw Performing Arts Centre ( Venue 9), to July 26

IN She Has a Name, the “she” is a young Bangkok prostitute known only as No. 18.

She is raped in the opening scene by a ruthless pimp who makes her one his sex slaves. A Canadian lawyer named Jason, in Thailand aiming to break up a human-trafficking ring, pays to see her in the hopes of gaining information and her willingness to testify. No. 18 risks her life to help Jason in this heavy drama about a serious global problem.

She Has a Name ends much as it started, with Calgary playwright Andrew Kooman revealing the ugly reality of modern-day slavery. He earns kudos for bringing attention to this troubling stain on humanity but his earnest, black-and-white storytelling is unable to modulate the audience’s feelings. The disgust for the issue at the start of the 90-minute She Has a Name is the same at the end.

The cast is very able, led by Evelyn Chew, whose portrayal of No. 18 is quite convincing; she’s a pawn in the cat-and-mouse game between sex traffickers and international do-gooders. Carl Kennedy exhibits both menace as the pimp and compassion as Jason in his dual roles.

The ambitious production by Calgary’s Burnt Thicket Theatre is still a cut above the quality of most fringe offerings, but the impact of She Has a Name is sadly blunted. Three and a half stars

TEN STARTS AND AN END

Big Word Performance Poetry

The King’s Head Pub (Venue 14), to July 28

TEN Starts and an End marks the 10th consecutive Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival appearance for Jem Rolls, one of the most dependable acts on the circuit.

As is his style, the articulate Scottish power poet, seen in Montreal, dispenses his lines with trademark speed and verve. That rapid delivery had the just-turned-50 performer short of breath occasionally, perhaps because the sweltering venue had him dripping sweat all around his spot onstage.

One of his 10 starts took aim at world leaders whose action were inhumane and warned, “Those who started being brutal started with being brutal about the truth.” He turns up his motor mouth for the longest tongue twister in Canadian history. Long live the poet laureate of the fringe. Four stars

MORE POWER TO YOUR KNITTING, NELL!

Sisterscene

Aqua Books (Venue 20), to July 27

THE musical canon is full of peculiar subjects celebrated in song, but knitting seems one of the least likely.

Who knew there was an American tradition spurring on women left at home during the Second World War to “knit your bit” and turn out socks and scarves to warm soldiers at the front.

Edmonton soprano Melanie Gall has gathered all these long-forgotten vintage tunes to perform while telling the story of Sadie, an aspiring singer who becomes a radio knitting-show star named Nell. Nostalgia runs comfortably through the hour-long More Power, aided by period radio broadcasts and Gall’s lovely rendition of wartime classics like Vera Lynn’s We’ll Meet Again.

Gall even invites an audience member to take up the needles to help with her latest knitting project during the musical monologue. The knitters in the crowd, as well as the rest of the audience, should enjoy her yarn. Four stars

A COMPLETE HISTORY OF ZACK ADAMS

Weeping Spoon Productions

Folk Exchange (Venue 26), to July 29

AUSSIE Zack Adams seems too young to be telling his life story, which he calls a long road to mediocrity.

And you have to agree with him by the time the hour-long storytelling is over. It was no surprise that no one took him up on his offer of autographs for 50 cents.

As a performer, Adam exhibits a nerdish charm to go with his lovable-loser past. He gains our empathy by relating how, as a seven-year-old, he froze onstage at his grade school’s nativity play and peed his pants. When the audience laughed he took it as a sign that performing was his destiny. He would go on to graduate from Christmas Play Wee Boy to Lunchtime Cuss Boy to dance student in pursuit of a young woman who turned out to be a lesbian.

Adams is pleasant company but we can’t agree with his claim of “super Zack, super act.” Three stars Three stars