But Wait! There’s Even More Fringe!
Wrapping Up a Great Festival
Did you use the wheel to help you select some Theatrically Delicious shows this year? Photo by Al Ricard.
Good Night, Fringers! With that, the 2019 Vancouver Fringe Festival is done. We hope you enjoyed taking a bite out of the Theatrically Delicious shows the Fringe had to offer. Thanks for hanging out with us at the Phillips Fringe Bar, where we shared refreshing drinks and lots of dancing courtesy of the musicians and DJs who gave us the perfect music every night!
A huge thanks to all the sponsors for their generous support of the Festival: our Presenting Partners CMHC Granville Island, the Georgia Straight, and TD Bank Group; our Signature Partners Phillips Brewing and Malting Co., Wards Cider, Global TV, and 980 CKNW; our Leading Partner, The Status Bureau; our Supporting Partners Road 13 Vineyards, Blenz Coffee, The Keg Steakhouse and Bar, Thunderbolt Sign, Finisterra Travel; our Sustaining Partners Georgian Bay Spirit Co., PrintPrint, Habibi’s, Dockside Restaurant, BeatRoute Magazine; our Boosting Partners Sober Guys and Clif Bar & Company; and our Hub Sponsor, Storage for Your Life!
And of course, much of the Festival would not be possible without our amazing volunteers. Thank you for all your hard work and generosity which makes the Festival the success it is! We hope you had fun, and we’re looking forward to seeing you again next year.
Check out some highlights on our Facebook page, which features some of our favourite photos from this year’s Festival. Till then—see you at the 2020 Fringe!
Announcing the Public Market Pick of the Fringe!
Think the Fringe is over? Well, think again. From September 18 through 22, the Public Market Pick of the Fringe will be hosting some of the hottest shows at this year’s Festival, gleaned from lineup chatter, raves at the Phillips Fringe Bar, online posts, and stellar reviews. The Fringe is all about giving the people what they want, so we’re giving you one more performance!
And now, presenting the 2019 Public Market Pick of the Fringe Winners:
 | Old-ish Friday, September 20 at 7:00pm Traveling the hilarious, rocky road from denial to grudging acceptance of getting older, Old-ish is about aging and death only way funnier! “She refuses to be grim while waiting for the grim reaper … The show is full of laugh-out-loud moments.” —JoLedingham.ca |
 | Pretty Beast Friday, September 20 at 8:45pm Growing up in a dysfunctional family in Japan, Kazu Kusano found humour as a survival tool, but a girl being funny is a problem. “Kusano’s comedy is as biting as it is refreshing … Pretty Beast signals a bold and important new voice in comedy and theatre.” —the Georgia Straight |
 | My Name is SUMIKO Saturday, September 21 at 7:00pm By day June Fukumura is a polite, well-mannered theatre artist, but at night, she’s her dark humoured, hyper kawaii, raunchy clown alter-ego, Sumiko, dicing and slicing up Japanese stereotypes. “Fukumura brings so much charm, energy, and over the top silliness to her performance.” —ILiveInEastVan.com |
 | Larry Saturday, September 21 at 8:45pm Meet Larry. He'll be the first to tell you that he's handier than a pocket on the back of a shirt. Larry wants to prove he's worthy of a good woman, that he can quit drinking, and even take up meditation. Larry’s journey into his own psyche uncovers more than he expected. “This is a daring, weird, hilarious show with headbanging, so basically everything you could want from the Fringe.” —the Georgia Straight |
 | Tomatoes Tried to Kill Me But Banjos Saved My Life Sunday, September 22 at 6:00pm Triple award winner at the New York Frigid Fringe Festival, Tomatoes is a true story of life, challenges, battles, and triumph. “Funny, beautiful, and deeply affecting. This is an important story to remind us that life is short and pursuing your passion(s) can save your life.” —Vancouver Presents |
 | Guards at the Taj Sunday, September 22 at 7:45pm Adele Noronha and Andeep Kalirai star in Rajiv Joseph’s story of Imperial Guards at the Taj Mahal during one of the cruelest acts in (perhaps fabricated) history. “Bet you haven’t see a show quite like this before … Adele Noronha shines.” —Colin Thomas’s Fresh Sheet |
Fringe + Fringe = Pick Plus
Want more Fringe with your Fringe? We’ve got the solution for you: Pick Plus, a series of Fringe hits handpicked for your enjoyment! All Pick Plus Shows are $25; however, you can save money when you buy your tickets as part of a Theatre Wire Package.
 | Rocko and Nakota: Tales From the Land Indigenized Indigenous Theatre By Josh Languedoc Wednesday, September 18 at 7:00pm Meet Nakota. An anxious young boy who is trying to write the greatest story ever. One day, Grandpa Rocko comes to visit him in the hospital. Next thing Nakota knows, he is whisked away into a world of stories that are right below his feet. Within the land. This show explores the interplay between stories of the present against the long forgotten stories of the past. After a cross-Canada Fringe tour and an Edmonton school tour, Anishinaabe playwright/storyteller Josh Languedoc is excited to bring Rocko and Nakota back to the Vancouver Fringe for one more performance.  |
 | Flute Loops Devon More Music Written, Created & Performed by Devon More Thursday, September 19 at 7:00pm The Flute Loops—pop music’s latest viral sensation—are about to the hit the stage! Meanwhile, the quantum physic PhD student working the merch table is trying to warp space-time while under the influence—of Saint Stephen Hawking. With the muses of classical music and theoretical math at her side, can she calculate the suspension of the 4th dimension—or Thomas’ attention? A fish out of water making sound waves faces off with cosmic flute rock show-stopping solos. Quirks, quarks, strangeness, charm, and the substance of sound collide in a subatomic rock opera where anything that can happen does. With Devon More “showcasing a polymath’s proclivity for playing multiple instruments” and “dope-ass beats” (★★★★ —CBC, 2018), “this is truly a one-of-a-kind show” (★★★★ —Winnipeg Free Press, 2018). |
 | The Ballad of Frank Allen Weeping Spoon Productions Written & Directed by Shane Adamczak Thursday, September 19 at 8:45pm After making its world debut at Fringe World 2016 and two years successfully touring Australia and Canada, the award-winning show finally makes its Vancouver return! A sci-fi buddy-comedy about a man who lives in another man’s beard from the bizarre mind of Festival-favourite Shane Adamczak (Trampoline, Zack Adams, Canadian Just for Laughs Award Winner, and producer of other 5-star Fringe hits This Is Not A Love Song and Vicious Circles). When a scientific accident causes a mild-mannered janitor to shrink and get stuck in another man’s beard, their unlikely friendship might be exactly what the two directionless men need to set them on the path toward being better men, proving that even the smallest people can do big things. |
Everyone’s a Winner at the Fringe Awards Night
Just a few winners from the 2019 Fringe Awards Night! Clockwise from top left: Eddy van Wyk from tadpole: the last episode, winner the TD Fringe Forward Award; Beau Han Bridge, Kenneth Tynan, and Maria Yanagisawa from Two Modern Noh Plays by Yukio Mishima, winners of the Joanna Maratta Award; Tymisha Harris from Josephine, winner of the Volunteer Choice Award and the Georgia Straight Critic’s Choice Award; artists from the Public Market Pick of the Fringe Award winning shows, Guards at the Taj, Larry, Tomatoes Tried to Kill Me But Banjos Saved My Life, Old-ish, and Pretty Beast.
To celebrate the end of the Festival, Fringers gather at Awards Night to honour the Fringey-est of the Fringe! Held on September 15 at Performance Works, Abdul Aziz (Fake Ghost Tours 2: Journey to the Other Side (of Granville Island)) and Emma Cooper (Rape is Real and Everywhere) co-hosted the night with ticket proceeds going to support PAL Vancouver. In case you missed our live-tweeting, here are the winners from Awards Night:
Volunteer Choice Award: Josephine
BC Touring Council Award: Dandelion
Joanna Maratta Award: Midtwenties Theatre Society (Two Modern Noh Plays By Yukio Mishima)
The Georgia Straight Critics’ Pick Award: Josephine
SOFA (Spirit of the Fringe Award): Emma Cooper from Rape is Real and Everywhere
Artistic Risk Award:
Winner: Larry
Runner Up: Rape is Real and Everywhere
Honourable Mentions: Didn’t Hurt, Where the Quiet Queers Are, and How to Confront a Rhinoceros
Cultchivating the Fringe Award: Mx
The brand new TD Fringe Forward Award:
Winner: tadpole.: the last episode
Runners-Up: Monica vs. The Internet: Tales of a Social Justice Warrior and Where the Quiet Queers Are
Public Market Pick of the Fringe: Tomatoes Tried to Kill Me but Banjos Saved My Life, Guards at the Taj, Larry, Old-ish, My Name is SUMIKO, and Pretty Beast
The Fringe Raffle winners were also announced! Congratulations to Susan Rudolph (ticket number 30586) for winning the an Instant Camera Prize Pack courtesy of Quay Pacific Property Management LTD and a Kick Ass Pass to the 2020 Fringe; Karen Chan (ticket number 30973) for winning the weekend getaway to The View Winery and Vineyard in Kelowna; and Andrea (who did not write down her last name) (ticket number 30581) for winning the week-long Cuban adventure for two courtesy of Finisterra Travel!
Congratulations to all the winners! And to everyone, for a great Fringe yet again!
Put on a Fringe Show with the Fringe New Play Prize
Lili Robinson (centre) won the 2019 Fringe New Play Prize from PTC and produced Mx for the Festival. Will it be you next year? Photo by Christache Ross.
Are you inspired to create a Fringe show after watching all the Theatrically Delicious shows at this year’s Festival? You can do just that by applying to Playwrights Theatre Centre’s (PTC) Fringe New Play Prize!
This Award gives a leg up to BC Artists by providing them with material support as they create and produce a show. The winner of the Fringe New Play Prize receives eight months of dramaturgy with PTC Project Dramaturg Joanna Garfinkel, free creation and rehearsal space, a free spot in PTC’s how-to-produce-theatre seminar series called Block P, and a guaranteed spot in the Fringe Mainstage for the 2020 Fringe Festival! Now that’s a prize you don’t want to pass up on.
The 2019 Fringe New Play Prize winner, Lili Robinson, produced Mx for the 2019 Festival. Learn more about this award-winning work in this chat between Dramaturg Joanna Garfinkel and Playwright Lili Robinson.
Don’t forget to submit your application by no later than October 4, 2019, with the winner to be announced at the Fringe Festival Lottery Party this winter. Learn more about the Fringe New Play Prize on PTC’s website!