saskatoon fringe reviews: we rate all 2025 shows and performances
20 minute read
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starphoenix reporter julia peterson reviews every show at the 2025 saskatoon fringe festival, which runs july 31 through august 9.
this year, the festival features 23 indoor theatre shows across four venues: the cosmopolitan senior citizens’ centre, refinery arts & spirit centre, broadway theatre and the shakespeare on the saskatchewan festival site.
the festival program can be found here.
1 small lie
4/5 stars
is martin dockery telling a true story about something that actually happened?
“don’t worry about it,” is his advice to audiences this fringe. but is it an absolutely captivating wild ride through impromptu wildlife rescue, small-town police intrigue and pandemic-induced terrible decision-making? oh yes, 1 small lie is all of that, and more.
dockery’s performance is a masterclass in precision. rather than punctuating his stories with sound cues, he uses a single track that plays (and that he very much plays with) throughout the show. once the music starts, there’s no stopping or slowing down, and his jam-packed narration has to keep pace down to the second.
as dockery stacks up details in his retelling of events that may or may not have happened in coastal new york state a few years ago, the story as a whole becomes evermore improbable — and yet, the jump from each moment to the next almost seems inevitable.
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the show’s eponymous one small lie snowballs into an avalanche of petty impulses, good intentions and brain-fart decisions that together make just enough sense to sell the possibility that any or all of this might have a grain of truth.
if you’re heading into 1 small lie with the mindset of a private investigator, intent on picking apart fact and fiction, you’ll quickly find yourself tangled up in its web.
my suggestion? take dockery’s advice and “don’t worry about it.” leave your disbelief at the door, and let yourself be swept away by an excellent story well told.
jem rolls’ performance is a tribute to the canadian fringe tour itself.
submitted/photo by laura paolant
adventures in canadian parking lots
4/5 stars
jem rolls is an icon of the international fringe circuit. with more fringe festivals under his belt than any other performer alive today, he has more than earned the accolade of “master storyteller.”
so, what could be more fitting than rolls turning his latest show into a tribute to the fringe itself? and not just any fringe tribute. rolls celebrates what he describes as the “uniquely canadian phenomenon” of a coast-to-coast fringe tour where performers spend their summers criss-crossing the country, entertaining audiences and making their mark at festivals that were deliberately scheduled to allow and encourage this artistic cross-pollination.
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within his hour on the stage, rolls brings a bit of everything: true stories, original fiction, poetry, comedy, tragedy and insights from his decades spent travelling from fringe to fringe.
it’s a true smorgasbord of a stage performance, and nobody else in the world could do it like jem rolls.
paul strickland’s musical storytelling captivates children (and former children) at the fringe.
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age old tales for all ages
5/5 stars
whether he’s strumming a song or spinning a yarn, paul strickland never talks down to children. he knows that kids are small humans, yes. but they are people with viewpoints and interests and perspectives all their own who deserve stories that are just as wide-eyed, curious, thoughtful and inventive as they are.
as it turns out, those kinds of stories are great fun for all the “former kids” in the audience too.
strickland’s lively guitar playing and call-and-response melodies are catchy, beautifully written and always engaging. his stories range from pinnacles of punnery to witty reimaginings of classic tales with a fresh new shine.
strickland’s performance belongs right up there with the greatest hits of the vinyl cafe or tom lehrer in his electric company era. this show is sure to echo across generations of audience members throughout the fringe.
bobby wesley would like audiences to know that he is not in cosplay as ted cruz – this is just his normal face – as he performs (a)political at the saskatoon fringe festival.
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(a)political
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3.5/5 stars
haven’t we heard enough about american politics this year? even as events south of the 49th parallel dominate the news cycle, bobby wesley’s story is still worth a listen.
on this first stop of what the american storyteller is tongue-in-cheek calling his ‘mea culpa’ tour of canada, he’s out to prove there are still reasons to be optimistic about getting involved in local politics, and hope to be found beyond the headlines.
in this true story about an “unwinnable campaign” in florida in 2006, wesley — fresh out of grad school at the time and hoping to be “the first person in history to do something useful with a political science degree” — was managing the campaign for his friend. between the cows, long car rides, line dancing and golf cart parades through retirement communities, there are valuable lessons and reminders sprinkled in about how we can unite and take care of our communities, no matter where we are.
as a comedic political narrative/campaign postmortem, the show is far more “sarcastic” than “sorkin” (in fact, it’s often sarcastic about sorkin). but wesley still does have a little bit of starry-eyed belief that things can be better than they are — and his outlook is inescapably contagious.
lisa krol performs magic tricks for a group of children.
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a spoonful of magic
2.5/5 stars
who doesn’t remember that breathtaking moment of watching mary poppins for the first time? of seeing the magical nanny fly down from her cloud towards cherry tree lane, landing gently on the street with her iconic black umbrella and carpet bag?
all of a sudden, the world sparkled with possibility.
in a spoonful of magic, stage magicians jordan rooks and lisa krol set out to recreate that sense of awe and wonder for audiences of all ages as poppins returns to find the youngest banks child all grown up and struggling through the ordinary pitfalls of modern life. maybe, she decides, he needs a little reminder that the world has always been full of magic — if you know where to look.
where krol and rooks shine brightest is in their clever one-liner quips and moments of improv — they are very good at thinking on their feet, especially when there is audience interaction — and a genuinely touching conclusion.
if this is the first magic show you’ve ever been to, it’s a cute introduction to the genre. but the magic itself is all very classic — familiar tricks overshadowed by the amount of time the performers spend hyping each other up about the amazement of it all, and by their choice to set the show in the context of such an iconic story.
(l-r) jillian burke and marissa sauve bring a full range of emotions to the stage as left brain and right brain at the saskatoon fringe festival.
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brain
5/5 stars
some shows are inherently difficult to review in detail without spoiling exactly what makes them so great. brain is one of those shows.
beyond its bubbly, interactive, highly-caffeinated charm, the depth of story and emotion in brain reaches far below the technicolour surface.
it often feels like inside out for grown-ups, glittering with musical theatre parodies and pinpoint references to the great british bake off. it takes a lot of skill to pull off something this silly, and still cover the full range of emotions in an hour on stage.
if you have a knee-jerk reaction to the narrative-framing premise of “right brain” and “left brain” being totally separate and distinct (that theory is, at best, a massive overstatement of established neuroscience), you can check your irritation at the door. the show does address that, and beautifully.
brain is a weird, wonderful, touching, revelatory, only-at-fringe piece of theatre. don’t miss it.
the young company of live fully productions performs can’t help falling in love…with shakespeare? at the 2025 saskatoon fringe festival
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can’t help falling in love … with shakespeare?
3.5/5 stars
the company of live fully productions brings their exuberantly joyful acting and decadent harmonies to answer the question: how is shakespeare’s work relevant to audiences today?
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a pair of university students, accompanied by dramatic visions of shakespearean archetypes through the ages, tackle a homework assignment by finding modern songs that mirror themes expressed in the bard’s most famous plays.
the performance of tears for fears’ mad world as an insight into hamlet was an absolutely jaw-dropping standout moment, and the track list spans chart-topping hits from taylor swift to elvis. however, some parts of the plot do feel like a thin excuse to move from one song to the next.
this is a fun little jukebox musical with an excellent cast, some memorable insights and a delightful conclusion.
rachel walliser’s character ruby is surprised to find a colourful cat in her black-and-white world while in rehearsal for colourless ruby and the fantastical missing shades.
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colourless ruby and the fantastical missing shades
3.5/5 stars
for many theatre lovers, one of the best parts of going to see a show is the feeling of being swept into the story on stage.
in colourless ruby, performers emma eaton and rachel walliser bring their world to life in living colour for this all-ages show.
it hinges on a cute premise: ruby the clown, who lives in a world of black and white, stumbles upon a secret passageway to a world filled with vibrant colour. it’s where bright blue cats become cherished companions, helpful storytellers share quests and memories, and ruby might find new reasons to appreciate her black-and-white self while discovering the colours she’s had inside of her all along.
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for the kids in the audience, this show promises to be a romp, like a playground game of make-believe taking over the stage. eaton and walliser have built in plenty of moments to flex their improv skills, and this is very much an “active participation encouraged” event.
for the grown-ups in the audience, this is the sort of story that will knock on the door of your heart, inviting your inner child to come out and play.
david lynch meets live theatre and anarchist pigeons in the day the beanstalk market crashed.
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the day the beanstalk market crashed
4/5 stars
shadow puppets and biting satire are on full display in the day the beanstalk market crashed. performers from mind of a snail puppet co. use a camcorder and an overhead projector to make an arthouse movie live on stage.
it’s an off-the-wall premise, but the artistry and gorgeous design elevates this show to something far greater than a silly parody.
the original music and hand-crafted visual elements are memorable, distinct and so theatrical. the co-ordination between the two performers, who have to stay in sync with one another as well as with their technical effects, is truly impressive.
the day the beanstalk market crashed is a brand-new show premiering at the saskatoon fringe — it will only become more polished with time.
but if you like puppetry, david lynch or anarchist pigeons, you will love this show.
aida cupcake shares stories, songs and elegant drag performance at the 2025 saskatoon fringe festival.
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drag me to the opera
5/5 stars
whether you already love the drama and dazzle of drag performance and opera, or you’re looking for an accessible introduction to either — or both! — of these art forms, drag me to the opera is a fresh, fun, can’t-miss show.
with high-flying arias and colourful costume changes woven throughout the performance, drag queen aida cupcake takes audiences on a behind-the-scenes tour of a career in the opera world and beyond.
from calgary to germany and mozart to purcell, drag me to the opera is a one-of-a-kind story about what it means to find your voice — and learn to love it.
adam francis proulx (human) and horatio p. corvus (crow) perform the family crow.
photo by dahlia katz
the family crow
5/5 stars
what do you call a group of crows? a murder.
and what do you call a suspicious death? also a murder.
so, then, what should we call the family crow, a puppet show about a group of crows dying under mysterious and suspicious circumstances?
a hilarious and brilliant piece of theatre, that’s what. (or: a murder-murder mystery).
with a pointed head-waggle and a ruffle of feathers, adam francis proulx brings to life horatio p. corvus (sorter outer of murders; a real “hercule poi-crow” type, if you will) to tell the gristly tale of crow murder as he struts and preens his hour across the stage.
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every element from lighting to costumes to puppetry is gorgeously designed, matched by proulx’s mile-a-minute wordplay and character work. he starts off stellar and dramatic, lands an astonishing streak of back-to-back puns in a true feat of linguistic gymnastics, and the show only gets wilder, funnier and better from there.
some of the humour does run blue — mind the age recommendation, this show is for 13+ — but every joke lands with a perfect payoff, and each plot twist slowly builds to a truly high-flying finale.
once you’ve seen it for yourself, you’ll be crowing about it to all your friends.
nadia sedaghat in rehearsal for ‘find me, please’ before performances begin at the 2025 saskatoon fringe festival.
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find me, please
4.5/5 stars
this beautiful new play by sima sheibani is an extraordinarily timely piece of theatre. it features conversations about canadian, middle eastern and diaspora politics pulled not just from headlines but from phone calls and whatsapp chats with loved ones from afar — and ultra-specific references to tariffs and conflict and culture and intersections of national identities in the summer of 2025.
but the show isn’t just for the here and now: this is going to stand the test of time.
on stage, it shifts seamlessly between soaring dramatic monologues and precisely-rendered domestic normalcy — with lovely moments of poetry, music and stage magic interspersed throughout.
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most of all, it carves out a space between the real-world shouts and screams and often-overwhelming sense that no one person can fix every terribly broken thing, and breathes life into a different sort of question: even if we can’t fix everything, how can we help? how can we take better care of the people we love? and how can we seek to understand and be understood beyond the borders of our own language and context?
beware the ‘honkening’ at the saskatoon fringe festival, as this fowl horror-comedy takes the stage at the cosmo seniors centre.
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goose!
5/5 stars
this honk-ful horror-comedy tells a terrifying tale of canada geese with a hunger for blood stalking the streets of saskatoon. in fairness, it’s only a slightly more terrifying concept than the regular geese who terrorize the city’s riverbanks every nesting season, only now presented in true b-movie glory.
the show never misses an opportunity to riff off beloved horror classics (yes, including a goose-based reimagining of that iconic scene from alien) or make an ultra-specific reference to everyday life on the canadian prairies. it has the audience involved in the action and laughing out loud right from the pre-show announcements to the final extended chase/dance scene.
goose! takes a very silly premise to new heights with an earnest and uncommonly well-constructed execution. it is not only proof that great parody is an act of love, but also an ever-timely reminder to stay far
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away from the cobra chickens.
jimmy hogg serves up slice-of-life stories with unflagging enthusiasm at the saskatoon fringe festival.
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jimmy hogg: the potato king
5/5 stars
anthony bourdain meets an exuberant, kinetic fringe performance in jimmy hogg. he lights up the stage with his curiosity for granular details and an unmistakable delight at simply being alive in this world with so many different varieties of potatoes and ways of falling in love and routes of driving through southern ontario.
hogg describes himself as “an excitable labrador puppy.” he shows that enthusiasm in every moment spent on stage, whether he’s recounting his parents’ love story or his own dating misadventures at concerts, sex parties or making cheesy potatoes out of a box at his girlfriend’s grandparents’ house.
woven throughout his stories, hogg’s love of good food prepared with care, skill and affection for everyone around the table always shines through. his descriptions are mouth-wateringly vivid, often very funny, and somehow always add a little sauce or garnish to the tales.
in the potato king, hogg serves up slices of life like a master baker would serve slices of cake. his offerings are fresh, rich, decadent, flavourful, and satisfying, with just the right amount of clever details in the icing to leave you on a sugar high and a surprising note of something fresh and light at the end.
john reaney (left) and lauren griffin will perform the mooneaters at the 2025 saskatoon fringe festival.
photo by cody brayshow
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the mooneaters
4/5 stars
the best apocalyptic stories don’t treat “the end of the world” as an abstract concept — no matter how vast or terrible the swaths of destruction might be.
they work because they’re grounded in the small, shared, intimate moments that make the horror mean something. and the mooneaters is an excellent apocalyptic horror story.
lauren griffin’s script is poetic, imaginative and unflinching, always in orbit around the same question: if today was the last day you could ever speak — or communicate, in any way — how would you spend it? what would you say? what must never be allowed to go unsaid?
the show is full of humour and beauty, taking full advantage of griffin and fellow cast member john reaney’s breadth of talents and skills, and a simple but incredibly haunting set design.
in contrast, some of the audiovisual effects don’t quite fit the tone. for a narrative where so much of the structure relies on shared imagination and glorious flights of fancy between the characters, using so much audio and video collapses many tantalizing “what if?” moments into one single concrete “this.”
the mooneaters is an oddball, haunting, lovely exploration of grief and loss and saying goodbye — the kind of story where every moment is a miracle and no amount of time could ever be enough.
jordan rooks leads audiences down the yellow brick road to the broadway theatre in this parody magic show.
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oz
3/5 stars
if you’re bringing your little munchkins to the fringe to introduce them to the magic of live theatre, jordan rooks is offering some wonderful wizardry for ozians of all ages.
as a performer, rooks has a talent for crowdwork, always finding ways to make the show approachable and interactive. the kids in the audience, and many of their grown-ups, get to be right at the heart of the action.
the show is short and sweet, with enough variety in rooks’ magician’s patter and slight-of-hand performances to offer something for everybody.
whether rooks is making eggs disappear or untangling hopelessly knotted-up scarves, his best trick is making smiles appear on so many young faces in the crowd.
on stage at the broadway theatre, rooks — who is also performing alongside lisa krol in a spoonful of magic this fringe — approaches this show with heart, brain and nerve.
graeme hopkins brings a passion for prehistory to the 2025 saskatoon fringe festival.
the prehistoric wildlife rescue centre
2.5/5 stars
at the prehistoric wildlife rescue centre, young audiences are invited to pay a visit to their favourite dinosaurs and other ancient wildlife.
it’s a sweet concept, backed up by writer and performer graeme hopkins’ total commitment to the bit. there’s puppetry, interactive animal-feeding activities and lots of fantastic dinosaur facts.
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this is a very short show — sunday’s performance was only 15 minutes — and it does feel more like an educational tour of a paleontology exhibit than a theatrical performance. but it is a really good short tour of a paleontology exhibit, like an episode of the magic school bus come to life.
if a young fringe-goer dreams of playing with a pterodactyl, roaring with a t. rex or telling all their friends they got to touch a trilobite, the prehistoric wildlife rescue centre is worth a visit.
(l-r) zach counsil and ashley victoria robinson in rehearsal for red dirt/red storm.
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red dirt/red storm
4.5/5 stars
playwright ashley victoria robinson has crafted a harmony of space-opera narrative and grounded detail in red dirt/red storm. the story follows two lovers as they search for hope and a future — trying not to lose each other along the way — in a life amongst the stars.
even when the story stretches far beyond our familiar blue dot in the solar system, reaching mars and jupiter with one eye still on the sky, the conversations between spacefarers ess and clark feel entirely familiar. complaints about weather conditions for terraforming planets during the growing season, for example, could have been ripped straight from coffee row in any farming town, which is as funny as it is poignant in this new context.
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as the story jumps through time and place, there are a few choppy moments. some expository scenes do drag, for all that they highlight the breadth of creativity that went into the world-building.
but the excellent performances on stage are enough to keep the ship on course, and the breadth of emotion and life laid bare on stage is sure to leave audiences on the edge of their seats.
above all, red dirt/red storm is a beautiful showcase of curiosity and perseverance — and how lucky we are as saskatoon audiences to have the opportunity to see it live.
(l-r) danny knight and shawn cuthand parody themselves as failing amateur comedians searching for an ancient indigenous artifact in this standout send-up of standup.
shawn and danny’s deadly adventure
4.5/5 stars
if you’ve ever dipped a toe into the saskatoon comedy scene, you’ve probably seen — and laughed at — shawn cuthand and danny knight.
this year, the comedians aren’t bringing a standup show to fringe. instead, along with fellow performer cory dallas-standing, they’re bringing audiences along on shawn and danny’s deadly adventure, a hilarious time-travelling send-up of standup comedy, indigenous in-jokes and fantastically specific roasts of life in saskatoon.
cuthand and knight parody themselves as failing amateur comedians searching for the funny bone, an ancient indigenous artifact that they hope can help them revive their floundering careers. the jokes in this show never miss (not to mention, it’s a rare case where the laugh track at a comedy show actually adds to the humour — it’s a great recurring bit).
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the occasional moment of earnest reflection and genuinely good advice gives a stylish punctuation to this beautiful execution of a ridiculous premise, brought to life by some of saskatoon’s funniest.
the singing psychic promises new insight into the songs in your heart.
the singing psychic game show
3.5/5 stars
if you’ve got a song in your heart, the singing psychic promises readings to match your tune.
but whether you’re a total psychic skeptic or coming in curious about what she might reveal, you will be leaving the theatre with a spring in your step.
this game show is full of unabashedly ’70s decor, glitzy games and prizes, quick-thinking crowd work and hilarious quips — with the added treat of some excellent singing as the show goes on.
the “four-tune telling” (readings based off of four tunes that audience members drew out of a pack of cards) speaks more to the universal themes expressed in pop music than anything else. but the skill involved in doing a cold reading with the added challenge of fitting all the advice within a randomly-chosen short playlist is impressive.
kudos are also very much due to the soundboard and lighting techs working on this show, as they are being put through their paces with some technical gymnastics.
the singing psychic game show is a sweet, audience-participatory, radiantly silly frolic through chart-topping tunes across the decades.
the company of spell it out! performs an original musical at the 2025 saskatoon fringe festival.
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spell it out!
1.5/5 stars
it’s a classic contemporary fairy-tale premise — a group of friends and strangers on the cusp of a big life change are all trapped in place by a magic spell … and the only way to escape is by opening up about their feelings.
this new local musical does have some standout moments. there are memorable one-liners, a very funny bit of physical comedy, some interesting and distinctive characters, and a number of narrative threads with poignant and relatable themes.
overall, though, the show doesn’t feel quite polished or finished at this stage. many of the songs came across as under-practiced in terms of both rhythm and melody and were quite difficult to hear in the theatre. the lyrics could have also used a lot more original flair. for example, “this is the start of the rest of your life” — repeated quite a few times to describe going on a college tour — is almost guaranteed to come across more trite than earnest.
spell it out has the seeds of a good idea. it’s just not ready yet.
(l-r) eusebius scribante, piper nordell and julia kowalski in rehearsal for that’s life.
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that’s life
4/5 stars
failing — especially at something important — can feel isolating. it’s like no one else has ever screwed up this badly, and it would be for the best if we never acknowledged it out loud, ever again.
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but as the creative team of beautifulminds theatre is here to show saskatoon audiences this fringe, our failures don’t have to be so lonely or overwhelming.
that’s life, after all.
in a very clever bit of creative construction, all of the dialogue spoken onstage is based on real interviews collected from people in saskatchewan — from preteens to octogenarians. participants describe how they would define failure for themselves, how they feel when they’ve failed, and how they’ve learned from those moments.
building the story out of plain-spoken honesty and weaving all these strands of dialogue together shows how so many people’s stories are rooted in common ground, even (and, perhaps, especially) in moments where we feel most alone.
the strength of the actors’ performances elevates this from “documentary” to a living, breathing story. it’s scrappy, not slick, but it always sticks the landing.
that’s life might be all about failure, but this show is a real success — a profoundly kind, candid, empathetic piece of theatre.
brent hirose and lili beaudoin (l-r) are members of the spontaneous shakespeare company, performing breaking bard at the 2023 saskatoon fringe festival.
chelsey stuyt photo by chelsea
tragedy or triumph: an improvised shakespearean epic
4.5/5 stars
the spontaneous shakespeare company is back in saskatoon, weaving on-the-spot tales of grand adventure and ignominious defeat as they improvise a brand-new show in the style of shakespeare at every performance.
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for this year’s show, tragedy or triumph, the players ask audience members to volunteer a true story of a small-scale triumph or tragedy that happened in their life. then, they take that molehill of narrative inspiration and spin it up into a drama of mountainous proportions. there are star-crossed lovers and political intrigue and incredibly funny rhyming couplets to end each scene, and the occasional deployment of a very funny-in-context prop.
it takes an extraordinarily nimble improv crew to build a genuinely captivating plot and characters out of this ever-escalating onstage nonsense, and the spontaneous shakespeare company does it with aplomb.
behind the ratings
this has been my third year attending and reviewing every saskatoon fringe show for the starphoenix, assigning each a rating from one to five stars.
here’s how i hope these ratings will help you find your favourite shows.
a three-star show would be one that i’d consider “a solid example of its type” — as in, if you know you like this sort of thing, you will probably like this show too.
but if you’re, say, not a huge fan of live magic, or tend to be quite picky about comedy, a three-star magic or comedy show might not be your cup of tea.
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i give higher rankings for shows that i think will reach beyond that core, committed audience: shows that are so well-constructed, designed and performed that you might just fall in love and be astonished regardless of whether you’d consider yourself a fan.
a full five-star rating is for a show that absolutely took my breath away from beginning to end — something so uniquely, theatrically, gloriously inventive and well-executed that it exemplifies the best of what theatre can be, regardless of genre.
lower rankings, on the other hand, would be for shows that don’t seem quite ready yet, or perhaps have some structural flaws that need working out, in a way that would make even the most diehard fans raise an eyebrow or two.
this does mean that i tend to give more high ratings than low ones. i’m not ranking the shows against one another (and i certainly don’t envy the fringe jury members who have to do that job). my goal is to help the shows find their audience, and to help the audience find their shows.
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