“Each night, under the benevolent leadership of these two brave pioneers, the audience-cum-Parliament will pass laws, establish a system of justice and create a national culture from scratch, resulting in a brand new country to call their own!”

Excerpt from press release:

“Let’s Start A Country!” is a live, experimental comedy show opening July 2nd at the Tarragon TheatreMainspace, created and performed by Brit-ish semiprofessional nation-builder Gerard Harris and his trusty French-Canadian Lieutenant Al Lafrance. Each night, under the benevolent leadership of these two brave pioneers, the audience-cum-Parliament will pass laws, establish a system of justice and create a national culture from scratch, resulting in a brand new country to call their own. The real question is, what does this mean for Canada? The framework for these nations was constructed by Gerard, with significant contributions both to the foundations and the filigree by Al and Asaf Gerchak, the previous Deputy Leader, a resident GTAlien recently returned from serving life without parole for crimes against huge manatees on a large floating prison 1000 miles west of New Zealand.

[…] Government
Modelled on the British Parliamentary system, the State decision-making machinery functions as a unique system of direct, instantaneous democracy, unencumbered by partisan politics, red tape or quaint notions of accountability. The noble citizens of these brave new nations will get whatever society they wish for and will, accordingly, have only themselves to blame.

Economy Revenues come mainly from Immigration fees for the Standard Entry Visa and any loose change found under the seats from previous shows. Culture Every country needs a national holiday, defence strategy & pizza topping. Ours will be no different.

History During the Montreal Fringe Festival of 2012, 6 sell-out nations were created to great critical acclaim and received nominative recognition and support from wellknown Canadian NGO’s Just For Laughs, Cirque du Soleil and the Centaur Theatre for Best Comedy, Best Original Production and Best Script respectively. Most impressively of all, it broke even. 4 more nations were created at the Mainline Theatre, Montreal in the Spring of 2013 & 5 more at the Theatre LaChappelle for Just For Laughs’ Zoofest 2013.

Venue: 
Tarragon Theatre Mainspace

Tickets for all Fringe productions are $10, $12 in advance. Tickets can be purchased online, by phone (416-966-1062, business hours only), in-person from the festival box office located in the parking lot behind Honest Ed’s, (481 Bloor West), or — if any remain — from the venue box office (cash-only), starting one hour before showtime.

The festival offers a range of money-saving passes for committed Fringers; see website for details.

Be advised that Fringe shows always start exactly on time, and latecomers are never admitted.

Photo by Louis Longpré.