Fringe Reviews: Mmm… Lard & Absinthe

Requisite Fringe haiku:
It’s raining at Fringe.
The weekend was sunnier.
But we still have fun!

Yes, the rain’s still coming, to the point that Beer Tent Manager Shaun today chided me for even saying the word. Whoops. Not my fault! But rain or no rain, this is Fringe, part of festival season in Montreal, and there’s no way we’re going to be washed out of the Plateau any time soon.

On the plus side, I discovered a secret antidote to a rainy day: the sunny songs and dance of Lard. I couldn’t help but be excited for the show after the super friendly and generous ladies behind the production provided weary Fringe-ers with delectable pancakes on Sunday! But for argument’s sake, let’s pretend I’m allergic to pancakes. Would I have been enticed, say, by the secret piggy-pin sisterhood announced back at the beer tent? Or perhaps by the preview the ladies gave us all for free that immediately promised a bright, funny comedy aping Grease complete with food porn? Yes, yes I would have.

Big Moves put together a fantastic show. I know this is Fringe and sets are often minimal — though Lard’s came with french fries, pancakes, and punch bowls! — but as I watched and laughed through the show, my eyes took on a life of their own and created fancy locations (really as if it was a film editor to a green screen set). If nothing else, Lard woke up my own cheery imagination and let it play. As it went its own way, the rest of me experienced Lard as a witty comedy, a light love story, a dance club, a social commentary, and an appetizer all in one. Phew! This group of women love what they do and it shows. Even though some performers really did have a-maze-ing voices, it’s really refreshing to see a group use the full range of its members’ talents, share unfailing chemistry, and just go for it.

Lard had me and the entire audience in stitches. Who wasn’t dancing in their seat or clapping along? Who didn’t run out after the show and get mega-fruit and chocolate sauce crepes? (Or was that just me?) So, if it rains tomorrow, the day after, etc… Know that a sure cure lies in Lard!

Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink? After a brief trip up and down the waterlogged Main Madness and a new dress, I kept the high rollers coming by seeing A Leave of Absinthe. Is it just me, or is the Fringe astoundingly overall brilliant this year? Here are four talented actors (and a doll) tasked with imparting the wisdom (or woes, if you prefer) of the green fairy to each other and to us lucky audience members. A Leave of Absinthe currentyl holds the title (from me, at least) of “Best group movement choreography and most obviously well-rehearsed.” This show is a trip that you don’t want to end, a dark comedy set in 1888 where audience members truly join the players, straight from start to finish, on their fairy tale-esque journey down the watering hole.

Gifted actors. Beautiful lighting. Simple but most effective stage design. Oscar Wilde. Songs. Gleaming green drinks. Absinthe is in a world of its own, and telling you more before you see the show would be criminal.