Ottawa Fringe Announces Line-up
by JESSICA SMITH
METRO OTTAWA
Published: June 01, 2011 5:31 a.m.
The lineup of the 15th Ottawa Fringe Festival features plays as eclectic as ever, from traditional Shakespeare to off-beat, off-colour, truly “fringe” performances.
Just introducing a selection of plays on Tuesday, organizer Kelly Rigole got a little risqué. “This is just a teaser, enough to get your nipples hard. Can I say that? I’m going to be swearing like a trucker anyways saying some of these titles.”
One of the plays will be Toronto journalist Rob Salerno’s F**king Stephen Harper: How I Sexually Assaulted the 22nd Prime Minister of Canada and Saved Democracy, she said. (Asterisks added by Metro.)
It is an autobiographical account of Salerno reporting the 2008 election campaign and was reviewed by Maclean’s as “A hilarious take on Canada politics, the media and what Stephen Harper’s balls feel like,” said Rigole.
About half the plays are locally produced, including Nancy Kenny’s Roller Derby Saved My Soul.
“It is a one-woman, roller-derby, vampire-slaying epic, where roller derby players are in actuality vampire slayers who fight the forces of evil,” she said. “It’s a serious drama. No, actually, it’s not.”
For Kenny, the social aspect as Fringe is almost important as the theatre.
“I love Fringe so much, it’s become such a part of my life,” she said. “It’s like summer camp, you get to see all your friends, you get to have fun and you get to just play and have a laugh.”
The festival runs from June 16 to 26 at venues on and near the University of Ottawa campus.
Tickets for Ottawa Fringe go on sale Wednesday at www.otttawafringe.com.
