Sept. 10-20: nggrfg

Andrea Loewen writes...

Our upcoming Simon the Zealot and Pilate in THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT, Denis Simpson, is a busy man. You may remember him as an original founding member of acapella group The Nylons, as co-host of TV's THE POLKA DOT DOOR (my personal favorite childhood show), of from his previous work on the Pacific Theatre stage in DRIVING MISS DAISY. Well, now he's directing, and his show is coming to the Vancouver International Fringe Festival:

Small Brown Package Productions

& Guy Un-Disguised

(With the kind assistance of Origins Theatre Projects)

proudly present:

nggrfg

Written and performed by Berend McKenzie

Directed by Denis Simpson

Vancouver’s Small Brown Package Productions is pleased to team up with Edmonton’s

Guy Un-Disguised to present a new play by award-winning actor/writer Berend McKenzie

(creator of the smash Fringe hit "Get Off The Cross Mary”).

Directed by Canadian theatre legend Denis Simpson, nggrfg is a riotous and poignant one-man

tour-de-force about being black and gay in a world that doesn't always have room for either. Inspired

by words that are used to oppress, nggrfg explores the impact of those words in intimate terms.

Berend McKenzie performs four revealing and hilarious vignettes that tell the story of a queer black

kid finding his way through the minefield of straight white Canada: from navigating the schoolyard, to

the perils of dating, to the “glamour” of showbiz and the quest for identity.

nggrfg received its world premiere at the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival –

and the reviews are in!

***** 5 STARS – Vue Weekly

***** 5 STARS – CJSR Radio

“Who knew? The show with the most confrontational title at the Fringe — just fill in the vowels — turns out to

be a sweet, funny, poignant little multi-scene memoire of what it’s like to grow up out of synch, in a couple of

major ways, with the other kids… finely chiseled, touching… This is entertaining stuff.”

Liz Nicholls, Edmonton Journal

“…an examination…of the pain, humour, bewilderment, exhilaration, alienation, terror and love of growing up in

Alberta as a gay African-Canadian boy in the 1970s and 80s. It also happens to be a superb play…excellent.”

Minister Faust, CJSR

Vancouver-based writer/performer Berend McKenzie was awarded the Vancouver Hero Award for the

Vancouver Fringe run of his first play, “Get Off the Cross, Mary”, and was voted Best Actor in the Vancouver

Sun’s Fringe Reader’s Poll for his performance in “Beyond Therapy”. Film and TV credits include “Catwoman”,

“Andromeda”, and “Cold Squad”.

nggrfg Plays at the Warehouse Theatre at the Vancouver Fringe:

Thur. Sept. 10 @ 10:25 PM Wed. Sept. 16 @ 8:30 PM

Sat. Sept. 12 @ 6:45 PM Fri. Sept. 18 @ 10:35 PM

Mon. Sept. 14 @ 7:40 PM Sun. Sept. 20 @ 8:45 PM

Visit: SmallBrownPackage.com