Extreme Justice: Performer SuperFriends Save The Night!
// July 20th, 2007 // Blog, Kris's Soapbox
Originally written for my CBC Performer Blog:
It was almost 11 PM. The dry heat of the afternoon had drifted into a calm, insect-free evening. The patio at the King’s Head pub was packed with artists and Fringe-goers celebrating the day’s accomplishments: some of our heroes had sell-out shows. Some had braved a brazen barrage of two-star reviews. Beer was flowing freely as we regaled one another with epic tales of the massive line-ups we had encountered in the afternoon. I had just finished telling a panhandler that I couldn’t give him spare change because I’m an actor when one of my compatriots interrupted with news. “Zounds! It’s an emergency!” he said, complete with campy Batman-and-Robin ‘zounds’-type hand gestures. ” Be Prepared is starting in four minutes and he’s only got three people in his house! We have to DO SOMETHING!” He had just received a text message on his Performer Alert Phone from a fellow actor who, it turned out, just happened to be one of the three lucky people in the audience.
Yep, this is the Winnipeg Fringe; theatregoers are out en masse, taking in all kinds of theatre. And while some shows never manage to find an audience during the festival, many very good shows occasionally have performances that fall through the cracks. Due to some dastardly masterwork (undoubtedly plotted by a villainous rival festival), it was happening to a fine storyteller from Leeds, England. Perhaps it was the 11 PM Thursday time slot, or the lack of air conditioning in the venue. It could simply have been that the show hadn’t had a review yet. It doesn’t matter. The point is that a fellow performer was in need, and he needed our help.
With only minutes to spare until the doors to the performance were closed, barred forever by the No Latecomers policy, the Performer Superfriends Team sprung into action. Artists who didn’t have full pints in front of them ran into the pub, instantly changing into their cape-and-tights Show Saving Ensembles ™. Like a team of rag-tag superheroes in a little-known indie comic book, we raced at top speed down to Venue 13, arriving just in time to triple the size of the house and give a performer some supremely friendly and snazzily-dressed audience members to work with. We were treated to a fine performance, and were even able to get back to the pub before the kitchen closed.
Friends, the power of text messaging and the moisture-wicking features of Lycra are what made this all possible. The Winnipeg Fringe Performer Superfriends are at the ready, eager to help any artist in need, because no performer at the best Fringe in the country should have to play to a house of less than ten audience members. This is how artists support one another; this is how we provide encouragement. This is what we will be doing two weeks from now, for every performance of every show at the Saskatoon Fringe. Hopefully we’ll be able to get a good bulk deal on cape and unitard dry cleaning.
