My Fab Fringe Festival Experience - Part II
If you didn't get enough of Edmonton's summer festival experiences in Part One, here's more for you to check out!
Caroline Lucas – Edmonton, AB:
My most memorable Edmonton Fringe moment was...
The first time that I went to the Fringe, I was about 14 years old. I was working on a show and in the downtime, I tried to get in as many plays as possible. I saw a massive lineup one afternoon for a play (and as everyone knows, when the lineup is around the corner, it must be a good show) so I decided to check it out. Sure enough, it was a production of a classic that I had never seen before- Hamlet. This was not only a play that I had never seen before, but I hadn't seen any Shakespearean plays before. I grabbed my seat in the front row and sat in awe for the next couple of hours. Everything was so simplistic in the design- seven barrels, a piece of fabric, two swords, and a goblet- and the acting was by far the best I had ever seen in my life. This production of Hamlet moved me so much that it is difficult to remember life before it. After seeing this, I became a huge fan of Shakespeare and I now even teach it.

Terry Jago – Moose Jaw, SK:
I want to come to Edmonton because...
A part of Edmonton remains in me. The city and its charms I long to see. Though not my home for many years. Memories there bring joy and tears. For at 18 years old, young and free I ventured to Edmonton a nurse to be. The Royal Alex was my choice. Many good times I often voice. Friends, parties and finally a degree. And meeting my love, my husband to be I left in ’71 to a place far away. But returned twice again, the last time to stay In Edmonton we saw the birth of our son. He returned there for school , calling it home. My In-laws are in heaven, I am sad to say. But memories of them will always stay. Many family and friends live there still. Now many of us are over the hill. To my adopted city I long to return. And love the Fringe and the things I learn. Apocalypse Kow is another reason. We come to town at Fringe season. What a joy to come with a package we won. So we can enjoy much more of this fun. Theatre productions always so good.
T. Dave Van Vliet – St. Albert, AB:
If my life was made into a Fringe play, the title of the play would be...
One-Way, so You Can't Get In. This is because whenever my friends from other Canadian cities come to visit me in Edmonton they always complain about the complexities involved in navigating the one-way streets and traffic circles. I have to repeatedly explain to them that these exist only to keep the multiple tourists out of the secret heart of the city. It would be an amazing Fringe play for two reasons: First, it would be possible to illuminate many of these 'secret' areas of the city to non-Edmontonians, without actually allowing them into them and second, I could then invite my friends to the play instead of explaining the one-way streets to them.

