Rating:
Company: The Roguespeare Players, Calgary, AB
Genre: Comedy
Venue: Venue #10 - Planetarium Auditorium
What happens when the self-proclaimed Bad Girls of the Fringe are also fierce and fearless performers with spot-on comedic timing, impressive physical comedy skills (including some playful burlesque), and armed with a series of savvy, in-your-face and killer-smart short scripts? One hell of a good show happens.
The show includes a monologue by Satan's mistress (and you'll be surprised at who holds the power - and just how it's wielded); a Shel Silverstein-inspired ad for services on offer by a duo of sexually and linguistically confident working women; and a Tupperware/babysitting negotiation between two housewives that would leave all four Dragons' Den moguls softly weeping.
These characters are bad in all sorts of ways - trashy, provocative, foul-mouthed, and shameless. And in the hands of these extraordinary actors from Calgary, they're also powerful, unapologetic, hilarious, and totally authentic. Despite some uneven performances, the show holds together. The physicality and intelligence of Kearstin Plemel's performances are especially standout.
Some of the audience seemed a little uncomfortable (perhaps they'd never heard a woman speak casually of anal-fisting before - in which case, it was probably high time they did). But the rest of us were cheering and laughing out loud through this fast-paced and ridiculously fun hour.
