It’s hard to believe, but we’re coming to the home stretch of the 36th annual Montreal Fringe Festival, leading up to Frankies award ceremonies on Sunday night that officially caps things off for another year.
But that doesn’t mean I am showing signs of slowing down. In fact, I have a full weekend schedule of more shows to see, so I can at least match my 2025 total of 26 Fringe shows.
So here are some reviews of shows you can check out during this home stretch closing weekend: The Ninth Wave, an interpretive dance tribute to British vocalist Kate Bush; Middle Child, a serio-comic look at the curse of being born the second of three children; Minotaur, a rather offbeat solo show; and Gareth Paisley: Love Is In the Air, the story of a third-rate, British-born Elvis impersonator.
The Ninth Wave – A Tribute To Kate Bush
I discovered the legendary British singer/songwriter, Kate Bush in the fall of 1978. My brother was the entertainment editor and music critic for the since-defunct Montreal weekly, The Sunday Express. He always came home with stacks of new releases from the major record labels, and one of them was The Kick Inside, Kate’s debut album. Her hauntingly shrill voice was not eardrum-shattering, but rather hypnotic, as she sang her lovely poetic songs. That mystique was furthered when she performed the song “The Man With the Child in His Eyes”— sporting a leopard print pantsuit — on Saturday Night Live the following year.
Kate Bush has had quite an impressive career for nearly 50 years and recently experienced a revival among a new generation of fans when a selection of her songs were featured on the hit Netflix series Stranger Things. Little Star Productions continues that appreciation with their Fringe Festival show The Ninth Wave.
Their 30-minute show is a tribute to Bush, in particular her seminal 1985 album Hounds of Love. The troupe offers interpretations of all seven songs on Side B of the album (seamlessly and in the order of their appearance) using dance, lip-syncing, movement, and video-screen projections of the performers. The end result is a captivating coming-to-life of the story of a woman who is lost at sea, from its nightmarish to its renewal phases. It’s a wonderful way to experience the musical genius of Kate Bush and her longtime appeal as a singer and recording artist.
Middle Child
I can totally relate to SNAFU Productions’ Fringe offering Middle Child for two reasons: I am a middle child myself, and like the title character, I am sandwiched between an older brother and a younger sister.
This battling sibling trio is in the midst of making a video project about how their dysfunctional upbringing led to their dysfunctional relationship with each other. The title character also has an ulterior motive with this project: to finally put to rest the stigma attached to the middle child in a cathartic manner.
Whether it be traumatic past events, dramatic parental encounters, or even lengthy family road trips that turn out to be more positive than dreadful, this show is a dramedy in its purest form. You will laugh, you will have your heart tugged, and you will see yourself no matter what your birth order was in your sibling dynamic.
So hail to the middle child, no matter where you are. Thanks to Middle Child, you can emerge from your shell and break the bonds of shame!
Minotaur
Right off the bat, I have to say that the solo show is a curiosity. An entertaining, oddball show, but a curiosity nonetheless.
The first thing that comes to mind is that the show will involve the half-man, half-bull creature from Greek mythology of the same name. However, the reality is much different. What you will see is a creature that is a mix between a bouffon clown and Quasimodo (aka the Hunchback of Notre Dame). Throughout this strange 45 minutes, the audience got to familiarize themselves with the Minotaur’s rather bizarre comic observations about masculinity and the male world, especially his many unique rules to follow in order to live a better life (including personal favorite Rule #2: “Never let your wife start the barbecue”).
The end result was that the audience took to this curiosity rather quickly. This head-scratching, unusual character was more like a man-child, and what he had to say made a lot of sense to a gathering who could empathize with what he had to say, and get some good laughs out of the deal.
Gareth Paisley: Love Is In the Air
If you ever watched an episode of the popular VH1 series Behind the Music, the somewhat autobiographical show Gareth Paisley: Love Is In the Air will kind of remind you of this no-holds-barred documentary series about some of the biggest names in rock music.
The title character is a British-born aspiring Elvis impersonator who recounts his off-the-rails career in show business. From his beginnings as a womanizing seniors’ residence entertainer (and minibus driver), to his accidental career in the adult film industry, to his Austin Powers-type time warp experience, Gareth’s story is a painstakingly funny journey of a career that went uphill and nowhere at the same time.
Marcel Cole really shines with his portrayal of Gareth Paisley in all of its shades of delightful mediocrity, and he is quite impressive with his Elvis impersonation and guitar playing as well. As well, there are a number of audience participation moments that could be cringeworthy on the surface, but the audience members at the show I attended were real troopers about it and made it work (including this critic, who portrayed the seniors’ residence receptionist).
So before you have the urge to shout out “Gareth has left the building!”, get your fill of this quasi-career in entertainment with Gareth Paisley: Love Is In the Air.
Up Next: a recap of the Fringe Festival’s Frankies Awards ceremonies, and a list of my top 10 2026 Montreal Fringe Festival shows.
To purchase tickets to the above-mentioned shows, or any other Fringe shows, go to fringemontreal.ca.
