If you were a former Brownie, Cub Scout, Girl Guide or Boy Scout in this country, chances are you’ll never forget mottos and laws such as “Be prepared” and “I promise to do my best.”
Organizers of this year’s Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival cleverly capitalized on those fond memories last Monday during a hot-weather teaser for the 10-day festival that ends Sept. 4.
“I’ve been a member of the Girl Guides of Canada now for 13 years, the same amount of time I’ve been involved in the festival,” said Katt Campbell, the guest producer behind the Fringe Jamboree.
Market Square was transformed into Camp Fringe for the event, featuring faux campfires, singalongs, games, crafts and even a station where participants could design and decorate their own neckerchiefs.
“I thought: ‘What is something really nostalgic we could do for our 30th anniversary?’ and I was impassioned about the summer-camp theme.”
Indeed, the Victoria performer and stage manager whose next project is Victoria Operatic Society’s Spamalot revival, could be a poster girl for the Girl Guides movement.
“I think this just strikes a chord with a ton of people, because most of us have grown up in North America where Scouts and Girl Guides is so associated with summer,” Campbell said.
“She’s the Girl Guide queen,” laughed mascot Monica Ogden, who wandered the square wearing a Girl Guide uniform, complete with the requisite neckerchief, badges, shorts and knee-high socks.
Ogden was a real trouper, as she braved sweltering temperatures in her warm clothing to play with children and participate in fun activities while spreading the Fringe spirit.
Diversions included a ring-toss game with pink flamingoes, a do-it-yourself photo booth where a youngster was spotted posing in a lifejacket and a rubber zebra mask, and a button-making station.
“I did Sparks and Brownies as a child,” recalled Ogden, 23. “I almost went into Girl Guides but I wasn’t cut out for it, so this is my redemption.”
The local actor is so outgoing it’s almost hard to believe she was ever a shy child, but she insists that she once was.
“I remember my troop didn’t show up once and I had to do this opening ceremony song by myself,” she recalled, wincing. “I was so, so shy, and I was crying while I was going around my little toadstool.”
Her Fringe acting gig couldn’t be more different than her Girl Guide appearance, added Ogden, who is in Paper Street Theatre’s An Improvised Quentin Tarantino 2 — The Playful 8, which spoofs the director’s bloody westerns.
It wasn’t hard to get into the summertime spirit on Monday, with Phillips beer on tap for older participants, and the sounds of Paul Simon singing Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard blaring in the sun-dappled square.
An eye-catching Canadian moose piñata appeared on the side of the courtyard stage during sound checks for performances, including Cam Culham leading a singalong, and local bands Dug Nugget and the Mand.
One of the most popular attractions, not surprisingly, was a booth where “campers” could make their own s’mores using graham crackers, free marshmallows and chocolate chunks waiting to be skewered and toasted.
“We just moved here and thought this would a fun thing to do,” said Julia Brown, the former house manager for the Manitoba Theatre Centre who manned the booth with her daughter Mira, a young dancer.
The festival continues at venues including Victoria Event Centre, Metro Studio, Langham Court Theatre, Victoria Conservatory of Music’s Wood Hall, Fairfield Hall and the Roxy Theatre.
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