Fringe Review: Shade Apparel

Dates: Aug 21, 2025 – Aug 30, 2025

Location: VCM Wood Hall (Fringe Venue 2)

Artist / Company: Imbroglio Theatre — created and written by Alan Segal (Victoria, BC)

Duration: 45 mins

Rating: Ages 12+

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Shade Apparel opens with physical theater. Three performers twist and slide mirrors across the stage. It hints at something inventive. Then Danver, a writer, wakes at his desk. He confides in his reflection, brags about his fashion, his talent. A character deleted from his play appears... and she's angry. A cop arrives, investigating a fictional murder. Danver debates God—his reflection—who may have swapped places with him. The narrative loops back on itself in a philosophical puzzle that never quite lands.

Highlights

• Opening physical staging showed promise.

• Lighting cues added atmosphere.

• The actor playing God offered genuine moments of presence.

  
  

Workshop notes

• The acting outside that one role felt one-dimensional.

• Dialogue was clunky and overwrought.

• The script veered philosophical without clear focus. It felt like something written by a high school student: with more self focus than a true awareness of the audience's experience.

• Nearly every element—writing, staging, performance—could benefit from revision.

Rating

★ ★ (two stars)

At least it wasn’t offensive.