The Vancouver Fringe Festival kicked off tonight and I had the chance to see the Vancouver premiere of Bolloxed, a play by Darren Barefoot. As promised, here is a short review (expect a longer review in the days to come).


The one-hour show is held at the Playwrights Theatre at Granville Island. In a nutshell (no pun intended), the play is about balls. More specifically, it’s about the trials and tribulations that revolve around Jack and his unexplained testicular pain. In the meantime, he comes across (and falls in love with) Aoife, an “Irish lass who fancies the Canadian foreigner.”

Granted, the story may not be all there, and you get bombarded with toilet humour and sight gags… but it’s well-written toilet humour and well-acted sight gags. Who ever thought that a pair of talking gonads could be so funny?

The venue is very intimate, seating maybe 100 people or so. Don’t expect any elaborate stage effects or creative wardrobes; it’s all in the writing and I have to applaud Darren Barefoot and Theatre Tart on this production.

Tickets are $12 in advance, $10 at the door, and you must purchase (or have) a $5 Vancouver Fringe Festival membership to attend. The play’s official website is thisplayisbolloxed.com.

Be sure to have a look at the official Vancouver Fringe Festival website for other creative plays. The Fringe is being held between September 7 and September 17, on and around Granville Island.