Phoebe's Fractured Fairy Tales
Joff Schmidt | CBC News | Posted: July 17, 2016 2:52 AM | Last Updated: July 17, 2016
TWO STARS | A good effort, but it may be just a bit too fractured to captivate little Fringers
Rating: ★★
Company: Real Live Entertainment, Winnipeg
Genre: Improv
Venue: 30 — Kids Venue
This well-intentioned kids show is about as messy as a five-year-old's bedroom.
It eventually gets around to Phoebe (Sherri Pierce) and her dad (Daniel Piché) acting out a goofy rendition of a well-known tale — Cinderella at the performance I saw.
But to get there, we go through a lesson on parts of speech that's too rushed to be educational, too didactic to be entertaining.
This well-intentioned kids show is about as messy as a five-year-old's bedroom. - Joff Schmidt
There's lots of calling on volunteers from the audience — with the story grinding to a halt as they're brought on and off stage — but they're rarely given opportunity to do more than act as story props.
On the plus side, the performances are likeable, and this show doesn't take itself too seriously. Kids in the audience at the show I saw had mixed levels of attention — some anxious to get up onstage, some clearly bored with the show's slow, stuttering pace.
A good effort, but it may be just a bit too fractured to captivate little Fringers.