Fringe Festival stays true to its name with closing awards
Some Frankie winners defied the odds
When the 2014 Montreal Fringe Festival ended Sunday night with the Frankie Awards ceremony at Cabaret du Mile End, some of the results landed straight out of the blue.
In one case, prairie-sky blue. The highly coveted Centaur Theatre best English production award went to a low-profile company called Theatre Howl from Saskatoon, which presented Aiden Flynn Lost His Brother So He Makes Another, a touching, silent piece with a Frankenstein twist.
It earned a slot in Centaur Theatre’s Wildside Festival, which takes place in January.
Paul Van Dyck’s popular mock western Blood Wild (presented by Rabbit in a Hat Productions), which many thought was a shoo-in for the Centaur prize, took only one award: the Prix Fred-Barry for best production design, which bestows an $800 costume rental credit for the company’s next show.
In another highly competitive category, Just for Laughs best English comedy, the jury bypassed standup pros like James Mullinger and Mike Delamont, opting for a tie between seasoned puppeteer Frank Meschkuleit (My Big Fat German Puppet Show) and local comedian Al Lafrance (The Quitter). The $500 prize was split between them.
Paleoncology, by B.C. performer Kira Hall, won the Solos Festival best solo production award, securing a place in the next Solos Festival at MainLine Theatre in November. Insane Dance Double Feature won the MainLine Creativity Award, taking home $500. The winner of the award for best francophone production, Le monstre, gets a week’s run at the Mini-Main at MainLine Theatre. Outstanding choreography winner Heather Lynn Macdonald (Running for Home) received $250.
Toronto’s Sex T-Rex, which presented the hilarious Watch Out Wildkat! (nominated for the Just for Laughs award), walked away empty-handed. Other excellent shows, like the catchy musical Crook of My Dreams, the provocative Project Gingervitis and the entertaining Extravagante Extravaganza, weren’t even nominated.
Festival director Amy Blackmore said that while attendance numbers were still being crunched, it looked like they would be pretty much on par with last year, with the overall count (including outdoor events) at about 60,000, the indoor show count at about 25,000 and the amount of money earned by artists ringing in at about $160,000, from 700 performances of the festival’s 110 shows.
“It means the community is healthy,” she said.
She added that the annual Drag Race, hosted by Mado Lamotte on Saturday afternoon, drew a huge crowd. Six professional drag queens competed against six Fringe artists on the obstacle course. Storyteller Jon Bennett (Story Whore) proved the fastest on spike heels.
Although Blackmore allowed herself one day off after the Fringe, she said she’s already planning for next year. The scheduled dates for the 2015 Fringe are June 1 to 21.