CALL ME KIRK -- THE STAR TREK ADVENTURE

Chicken for Supper Productions
PTE Mainstage (Venue 16), to July 29

Trekkies won't want to miss Michael Schaldemose's fantastic, fast-paced ride through the Star Trek galaxy.

In this one-man, hourlong show the Victoria-based actor-writer-director seamlessly blends favourite moments from Star Trek episodes and movies into a single storyline -- all centred on the over-the-top personality of Capt. James T. Kirk.

Schaldemose is a brilliant actor, effortlessly making rapid-fire shifts from Klingon to Vulcan to Andorian, or the Captain himself, with dead-on accuracy, capturing the character's essence without benefit of a single prop or costume change. He is so amazing to watch that while the show is billed a comedy, Schaldemose doesn't get a lot of laughs -- the audience is too spellbound to do much other than stare at the actor's ever-changing face.

One word of warning, however. If you aren't a Star Trek fan, do yourself a favour and stay home.
-- Cheryl Binning - The Winnipeg Free Press - 4 Stars

Reviews from The Winnipeg Fringe Festival 2002

The Winnipeg Free Press - Sunday July 21, 2002

The Conspiracy
X-Files meet Bond…James Bond.

Independent Egyptologist Chris Cypher unearths shocking evidence that an advanced society existed in pre-historic times. Undaunted by the scorn and jealousy of his professional colleagues, who have nicknamed him “Pyramidiot,” Cypher pushes forward with his investigation. The mystery he probes could point to global devastation.

A one man powerhouse, performer-writer Michael Schaldemose adroitly juggles an assortment of colorful characters, playing them in turn, sometimes practically simultaneously. The gripping plot is fast-paced, veering as suddenly as a Cairo taxi. To boot, the actor commands a breath-taking body of scientific knowledge, easily transforming theatre-goers into his rapt audience at an international Egyptologists’ conference.

Add the human touch of a romantic intrigue and a father-son story to the complex historical and geological theories. Mix vigourously and you get…a conspiracy? Maybe. The truth is out there, after all. One thing’s certain: We get an excellent show told by a master story-weaver.
- Gilles Marchildon 5 stars

The Winnipeg Sun - Thursday July 25, 2002
The Conspiracy
Venue 10, Chinese Cultural Centre
Shadowy forces are trying to prevent anthropologist Chris Cypher from spreading his theory that an advanced civilization existed 12,000 years ago. Cypher is viewed as a quack by most in his field who have nicknamed him Pyramidiot. At a conference in Cairo he must seek out further evidence of his hypothesis while avoiding the government agents who want to silence him. Michael Schaldemose is a marvel to watch as he plays several characters at once and he does such a great job explaining the theory that some of the audience members probably left the show wondering who really built the pyramids. A must-see for conspiracy buffs and fans of The X-Files.
- Rob Williams 4 stars

CBC Radio
Winnipeg - July 24, 2002
The Conspiracy
PFK Productions

I found the theories advanced in The Conspiracy to be utterly fascinating. I wish I had found the drama as intriguing. For me, the imminent arrival of the men in black suits and black glasses didn't quite send a chill down my spine or make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. The show fell just short of a higher rating.
Still, there's so much to admire about The Conspiracy. The writing is taut. The performance more than adequate. Multimedia effects are well-integrated, and in fact, indispensable to the show.
At the performance I caught, much of the audience gave a standing ovation. It was well-earned.
- Dean Jekinson - 4 stars

Winnipeg - July 26, 2002
The Conspiracy
PKF Productions

( Venue 10 - Chinese Cultural Centre)

Michael Schaldemose stars in this one man play about Chris Seifer, an Egyptologist dubbed a "pyramidiot" because of his controversial theories. Chris takes us to Egypt, where the story unfolds of what may be the biggest conspiracy of all time. This is a truly absorbing production and you will find yourself hanging on every word as Mr. Schaldemose acts out the dozen or so characters in the production. Superbly acted and a must for anyone looking for the "truth".
- Ken Gordon - 4 1/2 stars

Reviews from The Saskatoon Fringe Festival

The StarPhoenix - Tuesday, August 06, 2002
THE CONSPIRACY
PKF Productions
Venue 5, The Refinery

One of the most reliable actors on the fringe circuit for the past decade has been Michael Schaldemose. He favors highly dramatic one-handers loaded with tech -- mood music, slides, precision-timed lighting, you name it. The Conspiracy is a very Schaldemosian play. Part Leaning Channel, part Oliver Stone, it's the story of independent Egyptologist Chris Cypher and a theory he uncovers which will turn conventional thinking about ancient people and evolution on its ear.

Schaldemose set the bar high writing the script. It encompasses archaeology, astronomy, geography, geology and every other elective you'll need to get your B.A. The theories, we're assured in the program, are real. It's how they fit together and what they might mean that gives the play its dramatic kick.

The Conspiracy is a compelling play, passionately acted. Indeed, there are times when you forget you're watching only one actor. The tension builds nicely and there are no noticeable holes in the script's logic. Schaldemose's work on Sunday was even more impressive when you consider that he had to keep his concentration while a child fussed and a cell phone rang. Talk about conspiracies.
-Cam Fuller - 4 stars

Reviews from The Edmonton Fringe Festival

The truth is out there
By COLIN MACLEAN, EDMONTON SUN FREELANCE
THE CONSPIRACY - STAGE 8
Friday August 16, 2002

We've all heard the stories: a highly developed civilization that vanished 12,000 years ago.

If we look hard enough (and watch enough TV) we can find traces of an advanced people who mapped the world and solved many of its mysteries long before recorded history. What else can explain the pyramids - the most accurately constructed edifices ever built, yet erected before the invention of the wheel?

What about the Mayan temples where the great stones fit so tightly there is no need of mortar? Why is the head of the Sphinx out of scale with the body? Was it recarved by a later civilization? What of the evidence of a temperate climate in what is now Antarctica? Is Atlantis real?

With The Conspiracy, writer/performer Michael Schaldemose has taken these quasi-scientific stories, mixed in an unsettling dose of conspiracy theory and added a slam-bang Indiana Jones pulp-fiction-type of tale about an adventurous archeologist, to create an absorbing one-man show.

Schaldemose's yarn has more twists and turns than a Cairo back alley.
Egyptologist Chris Cipher is in the Egyptian capital to debate Dr. Barton, the leading archeologist of the day, on his theory of a lost civilization. The mystery begins when Cipher's best friend is mysteriously killed - hit by a taxi. Before Cipher is done he will meet the beautiful Egyptian Maya and run across Amman, her antagonistic yet enigmatic father.

There are chase scenes, man-eating bugs and lots of glorious B-movie dialogue: "I lose myself in the City of the Dead and proceed to the edge of town - where the city meets the sand.''

Who is destroying the evidence and keeping us from the truth? There are veiled references to the Freemasons, a "brotherhood'' that controls the world. At one point, the small hairs on the back of my neck began to stand up.

Schaldemose is a riveting storyteller as he prowls about the stage spinning his yarn. At one moment he whispers, drawing us in - the next he bellows as he is chased through twisting back alleys by a mysterious black automobile.
And it all sounds just true enough to make you wonder.
- 4 Stars