Dickens of the Mounted – Brad

Wednesday the 18th we drive downtown and take part in the Winnipeg Fringe for All. We hand out book marks in our red shirts and hats. Kris goes on stage and does a 2 minute scene from the show – it goes over well, we’re one of the few acts that tell a story and people seem to get into it. Kris gets selfconscious about having to do all this promotional stuff on his own – which I can appreciate. Unfortunately it would be silly to have another guy up there when its a one man show. But it goes really well – we have two more of them to do yet, and they help keep our show in the minds of the people present.

Afterwards Kris takes some downtime to eat, and I go poster some of the other venues before our show. We load in at 6:30, and go up at 7pm. The show is pretty full – only a few empty chairs which is encouraging. It might be just because we are the opening show for the venue, but the audience seems to enjoy it. However there are 3 giggling teenagers in the front row corner who just have no focus or interest in being there. Its distracting for Kris and the audience around them… it takes a full 10 minutes or so for the energy to be brought back to the story. Unfortunate reality of Fringing… gotta roll with the punches. The other interesting thing was as soon as the show started both Kris and I had this sudden fear of the material – how will this audience react to it? Suddenly every time the word “Indian or Native” is mentioned we’re nervous. What context is it in? Is it critical? Will people react to it negatively? Our depiction of Riel is a complex one, is that a slap in their face? I think ultimately the message of the play is that history is more complex than black and white – that all sides did horrible things during conflicts – but I know that sometimes people are so close to the material that its hard to hear otherwise. We talk about it on the way home and decide that we need to trust our material. We do. And ultimately the story is about this very real and interesting character – but its hard to ignore the politics.

But over all a good show. We do some more postering, some flyering, and head home.

Thursday we took off. We went and did a CBC radio interview with Marilyn Maki at noon, which was a lot of fun. Its our first radio interview – its great how supportive the radio and tv are of the Fringe – in a way that Toronto and Montreal just aren’t… no one cares. It goes well we think – except she refers to me as the writer and adapter… which I’m not. I’m the director, and I try to fit in there that Kris and I adapted it together in what turned out to be quite a lengthy process. But it seems to go good. Afterwards we cross the bridge into the French quarter. We check out St. Boniface cathedral – the fascade is gorgeous to look at – the bare bells hanging from the steeple. And of course Riel’s gravesite.  Then while we’re driving around looking for lunch we see a sign for Ft. Gibraltar, and decide to go check it out. Its a fascinating reconstruction of the North West Trading Co. fort that was here in this region before the Hudson Bay company. The historical interpreters are fantastic and answer all our questions with passion and a personal connection. I think it was nice for them too have adults who were interested in the history and in learning. But very friendly and well worth the $4. We’re hopingto go check out Ft. Gary next week sometime.

We go back downtown and walk around the Forks and Bonnycastle Park which was named after one of Kris’s relatives, which is very cool. We’re tired, and find some grass to sit and read for a while. A lot of gay men walking around – we have a feeling that maybe the two of us suggest something other than the lounging tourist.

Home again, to a nice BBQ’d meal of steak, corn and roasted veggies. A meal fit for a Canadian King. All we’re missing is a cold beer – but Kris has sworn off beer for 6 months because of a fatty liver, and I don’t want him to be sober alone. Temptation being probably difficult for him. I’d rather keep him around a while longer. Besides, then I can keep exploiting his acting talents…haha.