Luna Allison wins Fringe prize

Local wordster lauded for outstanding original work

Ottawa’s Fringe binge is over, and while some people are counting the days until the next festival, others, such as Luna Allison, are taking a well-earned break.

Allison, one of Ottawa’s best-known spoken-word artists (and frequent contributor to Xtra), won the award for Outstanding Original Work for her one-woman show, Falling Open.

Falling Open is a blend of fictional and non-fictional stories of sexual abuse told from both the abuser’s and survivor’s points of view. In the performance, Allison plays a doll in a pink-and-white dress who shares stories with the audience from the confines of a small, comfortable bedroom.

The doll “has access to the full story, to a level of perspective and understanding unlike any of the other members of the family that this story centres around. Through her, I wanted to explore the idea of being an object, a witness and an oracle all at the same time,” Allison says.

Allison’s performance was powerful, her narrative engaging and her uncomfortable story well deserving of a Fringe award.

For more about Allison’s work, visit lunaallison.com.

Read More About:
Culture, Arts, Theatre, Ottawa, Media

Keep Reading

In “Ten Bridges I’ve Burnt,” Brontez Purnell balances on a knife edge between hilarity and despair

Purnell's new memoir turns heaviness into humour, and exposes the bleakness under what seems silly and light

‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Season 16, Episode 12 power ranking: Designing women

Who among our top five will fall short of the finale?

‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Season 16, Episode 12 recap: Bathroom babes

The infamous room design challenge returns, this time with … restrooms?

Bollywood flair quickens the tender heart of ‘The Queen of My Dreams’

Filmmaker Fawzia Mirza discusses her feature debut and how the intergenerational drama echoes much of her own life