12th Annual Nanaimo Fringe Festival

All in-theatre seats: $12 (plus $1.50 ticket fee)
Double Your Applause:  $24 In recognition of the struggles faced by performing artists in recent years, opt for this ticket to double your support! All funds go directly to the artist.
Festival Pass: $50 (plus $1.50 ticket fee) for any 5 Fringe shows

ALL PATRONS ARE REQUIRED TO PURCHASE A ONE-TIME $5.00 FRINGE FESTIVAL BUTTON TO SEE ANY SHOWS (available at the Fringe Hub and at the door). Proceeds support the operating costs of the festival.

Artists receive 100% of their box office revenues; to protect artist income, all ticket sales are final.

2022 Nanaimo Fringe Brochure

Festival Pass: any 5 Fringe shows for just $50. Pass can be used for yourself, or bring along a friend!

AT THE PORT THEATRE:

Nanaimo Fringe Festival Free Preview Night
Thursday, Aug 11th 7pm The Port Theatre

Let’s kick off the festivities with this FREE event, compiling 5 minute teasers from each Festival show! Free admission but you must reserve your ticket.

The Last Frontier
Roaring Heart Theatre, Nanaimo
Port Theatre Mainstage | 60 mins | 15+ Strong language & adult situations

The Last Frontier is a new original musical with book by Michael Armstrong and music and lyrics by Beth DeVolder. A new doctor and his young wife arrive in a remote logging camp in northern Minnesota in 1910 where the last great stand of white pine is being cut. Their adventures in the frontier among the towering trees, the rowdy lumberjacks, and the local suffragettes couldn’t be more different. This will be a showcase presentation of the first act.

Fri. Aug 12 – 3:45pm
Sat. Aug 13 – 8:30pm
Wed. Aug 17 – 8:30pm
Fri. Aug 19 – 5:45pm
Sat. Aug 20 – 5:45pm
Sun. Aug 21 – 3:00pm

Randii Andii – Going Deep
Randii Andii, Nanaimo
Port Theatre Mainstage | 60 mins | 18+ nudity, sexuality, LGBTQ+, language

The show consists of comedy, burlesque, a wide variety of musical numbers and fabulous show-stopping costumes. Randii will take you on a musical journey of her life.

Sat. Aug 13 – 5:45pm
Tue. Aug 16 – 5:45pm
Wed. Aug 17 – 3:45pm
Thu. Aug 18 – 8:30pm
Fri. Aug 19 – 3:45pm
Sun. Aug 21 – 5:45pm

Seven for a Secret
Child of a Hoodlum Productions, Nanaimo
Port Theatre Mainstage | 60 mins | 12+ some loud Sci-fi sound FX

Seven for a Secret, an original work by Bill Miner, is a 1940s style sci-fi thriller, and will be performed as a live radio drama, complete with period costumes and eerie sound effects, transporting the audience back to the golden age of radio.

Sat. Aug 13– 3:45pm
Sun. Aug 14 – 5:45pm
Wed. Aug 17 – 5:45pm
Thu. Aug 18 – 3:45pm
Fri. Aug 19 – 8:30pm
Sat. Aug 20 – 3:45pm

My First Miracle – adventures in bipolar disorder
Bennet Caffee, San Fransisco
Port Theatre Mainstage | 60 mins | 14+ mild profanity

My First Miracle celebrates Bennet Caffee’s bipolar experience from his first manic episode when he was twenty-one to his final episode when he finally accepted treatment. His show highlights the “fun part” of his outrageous manic experiences, but also touches on the depressive side of BPD.

Fri. Aug 12 – 5:45pm & 8:30pm
Sun. Aug 14 – 3:00pm
Tue. Aug 16 – 8:30pm
Thu. Aug 18 – 5:45pm
Sat. Aug 20 – 8:30pm

Sadec 1965: A Love Story
Flora Le, Washington DC, USA
Port Theatre Lobby | 65 mins | PG13+

How can we find true, sustained love when we failed to receive it? This is the question Sadec 1965 attempts to answer. After finding out that her estranged father has cancer, Flora goes on a 6-week solo motorcycle trip through Vietnam, her father’s homeland, to make sense of her difficult relationship with him. Her search for answers will take her on an incredible journey through time and space, allowing her memories to take on a new meaning.

Fri. Aug 12 – 7pm
Sat. Aug 13 – 7pm
Sun. Aug 14 – 4:15pm & 7pm
Tue. Aug 16 – 4:15pm & 7pm

When We Gather: a loopy musical
Sing for No Reason Productions, Victoria
Port Theatre Lobby | 55 mins | 10+

Susan is up in the attic all alone, singing harmonies with herself on a vocal looper. Aching for a time when we’ll be able to gather together again, she dreams of singing with friends around a picnic table, by a campfire, and in some happening little bistro. Imagination blurs into reality as the audience begins to realize they’re truly welcome to join in the deliciousness of voices intertwining. When We Gather is a dream collage of original songs, spoken word, movement and memoir.
“Susan Ellenton is the songwriting Queen of the Universe!” – Chris Mann

Wed. Aug 17 – 7pm
Thu. Aug 18 – 7pm
Fri. Aug 19 – 7pm
Sat. Aug 20 – 7pm
Sun. Aug 21 – 4:15pm & 7:00pm

AT THE OV ARTS CENTRE:

Strange Danger
Herbert Henries – Comedy Dangerist, Winnipeg
OV Arts Centre Mainstage | 45 mins | 16+

A comedy show like no other. Herbert Henries has come all the way from Canada’s Got Talent to your hearts, and he is on a quest to find work one show at a time. A 45-minute roller coaster of comedy, stunts, and a few extra surprises. Every stunt/act he performs is strangely unique and exciting. He loves involving the audience in his show as he can’t afford to hire an assistant. People don’t just watch Herbert Henries; they experience him.

Fri. Aug 12 – 7pm
Sat. Aug 13 – 7pm
Tue. Aug 16 – 5pm
Thu. Aug 18 – 7pm
Fri. Aug 19 – 5pm
Sun. Aug 21 – 7pm

A Staged Reading: an Intentional Comedy
Live Works, Nanaimo
OV Arts Centre Mainstage | 60 mins | All ages

The first staged reading of the murder mystery, “Macabre Park.” It all goes fantastically wrong as the writer shows up at the last moment with the scripts and their changes…

Sat. Aug 13 – 5pm
Sun. Aug 14 – 5pm
Tue. Aug 16 – 7pm
Wed. Aug 17 – 7pm
Fri. Aug 19 – 7pm
Sat. Aug 20 – 5pm

Out Of The Flock
Nabil Sayes, Nanaimo
OV Arts Centre Mainstage | 60 mins

An original work by local theatre artist, Nabil Sayes. Recipient of the Pacific Coast Stage Co. cultural artist bursary.

Fri. Aug 12 – 5pm
Sun. Aug 14 – 7pm
Wed. Aug 17 – 5pm
Thu. Aug 18 – 5pm
Sat. Aug 20 – 7pm
Sun. Aug 21 – 5pm

Outdoor Shows at Gallery Row in the Old City Quarter

The Reason I Perish
Alina Blackett, Vancouver
60 mins | 16+ (please be advised that any minor patrons must be seated outside of the licensed Beverage Garden, as directed by Festival ushers.)

A meditation on how life experiences can affect one’s health, the potentially devastating impact of trauma, and the isolating and distorting nature of certain diagnoses, this one-person show follows a character who is trapped in an unknown, liminal space. In an attempt to discover where they are, why they are there, and who they’re with, they search through a journal that has been left behind. Selections from the journal come to life through the character, providing a poetic roadmap to the possible meaning of their tragic situation.

Fri. Aug 12 – 4:30pm
Sat. Aug 13 – 6:30pm
Sun. Aug 14 – 4:30pm
Fri. Aug 19 – 6:30pm
Sat. Aug 20 – 4:30pm
Sun. Aug 21 – 6:30pm

LESBIHONEST
Laura Piccinin, Toronto
55 mins | 13+ Mature language and themes regarding Queer identities. (Please be advised that any minor patrons must be seated outside of the licensed Beverage Garden, as directed by Festival ushers.)

A hilarious autobiography of some gay girl in Toronto.

Fri. Aug 12 – 6:30pm
Sat. Aug 13 – 4:30pm
Sun. Aug 14 – 6:30pm
Fri. Aug 19 – 4:30pm
Sat. Aug 20 – 6:30pm
Sun. Aug 21 – 4:30pm

All in-theatre seats $12 (plus $1.50 ticket fee)
Double Your Applause = $24 In recognition of the struggles faced by performing artists in recent years, opt for this ticket to double your support! All funds go directly to the artist.

TICKET CENTRE 250-754-8550

Artists receive 100% of their box office revenues; to protect artist income, all ticket sales are final.

Festival Pass: any 5 Fringe shows for just $50 (plus $1.50 ticket fee). The pass can be used for yourself, or bring along a friend!