CLICK HERE FOR A RECENT REVIEWS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER

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CLICK ON PLAY FOR AUDIENCE REVIEWS FOR THAT PLAY

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<52
American Appetite: Tales of Dirty Young Boys & Spry Old Men, The
An Evening At Home
Anablep and Other Oddities
Back to Kroenig
Beckett's Last Dance
Beneath Sita's Belly
Black Box Confessions
Blue Sofa
Candistan
Caught Sleeping
Cleopatra!-And Antony
ClockBusters
Death Blow - The Show
Devouring Time
Engineer and The Artist, The
Enronicles
Exit Laughing!
F--king Handicapped Guy
Fred Anderson -Professional Goofball!
Full Spectrum Improvisation
George Bush's Nuts
Getting It Wrong
Guano dell' Amore - ("Birdshit of Love")
Gulag Ha Ha
Interactive Solo Performer Daniel Packard
Ken and Andy Show, The
Lillie, A Musical
Looking, Then Pointing
Mad Adventures of Chaos For Hire, The
Me Laugh You Long Time
Menopause and Desire: Or Why Must I Be Middle Aged and In Love?
Microclimates: A Crime Against Gravity or The Burrito From Sausalito
My Son, the Mummy: Episode Pi
nEO-sURREALIST sYSTEMS pRESENTS: HOE- DOWN!!!!!
Objects In Mirror (May Be Closer Than They Appear)
OUTTAKES: Monologues, Stories, and Social Commentary
Rise And Fall of The US/them Empire, The
Smashing Icons
Something You Might Want
Song in Your Blood, The
Spray
Stranger In Woodstock
Surfing Toasters
Survival of the Fit Enough/ Fern
Talking To Myself
Tangled
Uncle Jacques' Symphony
Underground Movement Theatre
Upper Canada Cougar Movement, The
Valentine's Play Time
Way Light Strikes Filled Mason Jars, The
Winterkill
Woods For The Trees
Zucchini: The Forbidden Dance!

Play: Gulag Ha Ha
Reviewer: Sara
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 2 Stars
wha? huh? Sigh. I hate experimental theater. How did this make it to the Best of Fringe? Ok, obviously the actors have talent, but all that energy was wasted on such a self-indulgent, silly play. I felt everybody tried too hard to have their "deep moments", that is when you could understand all their garble underneath all THAT CONSTANT YELLING. I understand the music/sound effects was supposed to be disturbing, but it was so irritatingly loud. I found myself dying for it to be over after the first 10 minutes, becuase I could already tell the rest of the play would be just more of the same, and it was. One woman walked out in the middle of the noisy chaos, and I longed to be brave enough to follow her. This play was painful for me to watch, my eyes glazed over. Why were the characters there? Why were they wearing diapers? This was the longest hour of my life. This show felt really pretensious to me, but that's why I don't like experimental theater. Obviously many people liked i!
t because most of the reviews are good, and again I do have to give the actors a break because I could never have been able to go up there and do what they did, but this just wasn't my cup of tea at all.

Play: Gulag Ha Ha
Reviewer: darryl henry
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 2 Stars
Gulag huh? huh? may be more appropriate. Be prepared for a journey of shifting moods. Dark segments ending with a laugh(?). One of the more edgy productions. Don't end your evening with this one.

Play: Gulag Ha Ha
Reviewer: jes'fine
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 5 Stars
Falls into my highest group of Best Of Fringe nominations. Intense drama , expertly created and acted. Do not go expecting "ha , ha" or as been pointed out, just before going to bed.

Play: Gulag HaHa
Reviewer: Susan
Reviewer Email: sallen@vsite.com
Rating: 5 Stars
Many audience members came to the production I saw with an intention to laugh, and there was a bit of an us them feeling to the experience of being in the audience last night. That said, once I managed to get the little old lady in me to settle down and not mind, I enjoyed these performers and their collage of sound (brilliant), lights (extremely effective), movement (monkeys on qualudes dancing in the style of Twyla Tharp), costume(hilarious) and words (cruelly captivating). It's amazing what one can whittle out of a piece of wood, in this case the claustrophobic space that we know and love as the Exit Left. I am sure each observer must have had some personal remembrance of entrapment, however mundane, flow through the mind as these very physical actors used voice, body, and mind to express the terrible reality of gulag, and the spirit that keeps a prisoner going, or the HAHA.

Thanks everyone, and I really appreciated the banana.

Play: Gulag Ha Ha
Reviewer: Jay Martin
Reviewer Email: scenography@hotmail.com
Rating: 5 Stars
Melodious language spiked with sick jokes and homey details. The front two rows of the theater are the best to see the action. I think the piece is about sad loss, but make your own guess. I can tell you that EXIT Stage Left makes a good prison, when you're interred with Walt Whitman and a live musician.

Play: Gulag Ha Ha
Reviewer: Jon
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 4 Stars
I'm a little torn about this one. Clearly, this is an incredibly talented group of individuals. I felt in many ways that this is what theatre should be. The live sound effects and the innovative (yet, oh so simple) lighting made me feel like I was watching a movie rather than a play. The actors are generally excellent and convey a very disturbing picture of what life is like inside a prisonous hell. On the other hand, I found it wanting in some respects. The delivery of the text was often lost - it was presented at such high volume and intensity the whole time that it was hard to hear what was being said and for me, it often became just another sound effect, so I felt more like I was watching a performance art piece than a play. In addition, the play communicates very well the disturbing nature of the piece but there is very little other emotion in there. The actors are very talented (especially Jason) but their characters are caricatures.

Play: Gulag Ha-Ha
Reviewer: Cha Cha
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 2 Stars
Despite its title, this play isn't actually very funny. Everyone who worked on this piece is talented, but I felt like I was trapped in an intense acting class for an hour. I prefer plays with storylines--this one is just a collection of moments, without real character development. Also, it's far too loud for the small Exit Stage Left. I can't recommend it.

Play: Gulag Ha Ha
Reviewer: Greg Browman
Reviewer Email: greg@bestperspective.com
Rating: 5 Stars
This show is why I come to the Fringe Festival, to see exciting new work but exciting artists/human beings. I enjoyed everything about this play! It was obvious that each actor shared a deep dark part of themselves, from the dark and violent to the quiet and graceful need for love. This is a must see if you like to see the inside of who we all are.

Play: Gulag Ha Ha
Reviewer: Noah Kelly
Reviewer Email: ripetreats@hotmail.com
Rating: 5 Stars
Not to be missed! This is fringe at it's best- absurd, dark, humorous, intelligent, poetic, shrill & serene. Stellar use of light and sound in relationship to the space. Honest & compelling performances- I couldn't keep my eyes off their faces and bodies (the costumes helped). What iced the cake for me was leaving with a bit of mystery and a tiny hint of wanting just a bit more..

Play: Gulag Ha Ha
Reviewer: Tori
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 5 Stars
Great, but wouldn't recommend seeing this piece just before bed. Stellar sound effects created on stage push this piece into the 5-Star range.

Play: Gulag Ha Ha
Reviewer: Gabrielle
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 5 Stars
These guys took me on one intense journey during this one! Very creative use of lighting and sound. The acting is quite strong and the message is poignant.

Play: Gulag Ha Ha
Reviewer: Vince Vitale
Reviewer Email: WorldGazer@aol.com
Rating: 5 Stars
The ensemble company Banana, Bag & Bodice creates a prison space of confinement and investigates, from an absurdist perspective, the mindset of the victim and the predator. Inappropriate references in harsh circumstances are at once amusing and provocative. The introduction of the father of one of the prisoners to suggest that the son had "chosen" his place there and could return home at any time he liked, sent my mind reeling with implication. This is high absurdism. In this darkened space, a musical "score" is provided with the use of a fishbowl, spring, tube and other found objects to create an eirie setting. At the end, something completely unexpected happens which immediately grounds the confinement scenario and turns the performance magical. How one likes or dislikes Gulag will depend on how one feels about theater of the absurd. I liked it.

Play: Gulag ha ha
Reviewer: Brandon Welch
Reviewer Email: Brandon@daredevilpre.org
Rating: 5 Stars
Powerful, brutal, physically violent, hilarious. Why aren't these artists house hold names? Great live sound creation, great writing, top notch performances, fully enthralling. I would cite this group in any serious modern theatre class. The future is right here, right now. Do not miss them.

Play: Gulag Ha Ha
Reviewer: Vince Vitale
Reviewer Email: WorldGazer@aol.com
Rating: 5 Stars
The ensemble company Banana, Bag & Bodice creates a prison space of confinement and investigates, from an absurdist perspective, the mindset of the victim and the predator. Inappropriate references in harsh circumstances are at once amusing and provocative. The introduction of the father of one of the prisoners to suggest that the son had "chosen" his place there and could return home at any time he liked, sent my mind reeling with implication. This is high absurdism. In this darkened space, a musical "score" is provided with the use of a fishbowl, spring, tube and other found objects to create an eirie setting. At the end, something completely unexpected happens which immediately grounds the confinement scenario and turns the performance magical. How one likes or dislikes Gulag will depend on how one feels about theater of the absurd. I liked it.