Hello everyone!
I have been horribly remiss in keeping this Myspace page updated and edited -- I guess that's what happens when you're on the Fringe road, juggling performances of shows, seeing OTHER people's shows, promoting your own show, and trying to find wifi here and there. SO, belated as they are, here are some reviews from the Calgary Fringe of "Circumference".

The Calgary Sun -- Dave on the Fringe
August 5, 2008 -- by Dave Breakenridge
Link here
Every so often at the Fringe comes a show, that is personal, funny, poignant and touching, a show carefully crafted to take advantage of each moment's full emotional effect, whether highs or lows.

This year that show would seem to be Amy Salloway's Circumference.

The show is about the battle with the bulge and the battle many of have against our own bodies and against a beauty-obsessed world.

The show jumps between her past and her present body issues — as a 7th-Grader ostracized by her classmates and as an adult suffering through loneliness, depression and a backwards insurance approval process to qualify for gastric bypass surgery — as Salloway manages to offer up tales that are familiar to many without ever resorting to "poor me" tactics, even when the story has her at her lowest points.

And boy are there low points, but even during those, there are plenty laughs to be had.
Salloway especially manages to inject comedy into some cringe-inducing moments involving her Grade 7 gym teacher, who routinely singles the poor 12-year-old out in front of her fellow classmates.

As a performer, Salloway is tireless, and delightful, with range and comedic timing to boot.

Along the way, through the humiliation, name-calling, Circumference leads to some semblance of self-acceptance that avoids coming off as flabby, tired cliche.
4 ½ Stars

Calgary Herald – August 5, 2008
by Stephen Hunt
Link here.
Four Stars out of Five

At the end of the (fringe) day, when patrons are blurrily stumbling from one show to another, sluggish and fuzzy, frequently hungry and sometimes a bit grumpy, nothing works better to restore their faith in fringe theatre than strong writing. All the high concepts, splashy sets, slide shows, shock value or cursing can't subsitute for good, strong writing.



What's strong writing? I once had a writing teacher who said, "the audience only responds to the truth--and they recognize it, immediately."



Amy Salloway's "Circumference" is ostensibly about her very own personal
battle of the bulge. It's a one-person show reliving her days in Minneapolis attempting to qualify for gastric bypass surgery that is covered by her insurer (it ain't cheap). The catch, in this case, is that in order to prove she can't lose weight, Salloway must first commit to a six month stretch of completely documented diet, exercise and futility in order to get the bypass surgery, which she figures is her last best shot at living a normal person's life.

"Circumference" is all about how Salloway gets her life and her body back even as her plan to have gastric bypass surgery goes awry. It's smart, funny, and most importantly, honest. You can almost see her brain working towards a punch line as she tells us one of her fat horror stories, and then, at the last moment, going, oh, I'll just write the truth instead.

Salloway is also just as engaging a performer as she is a writer.

The night before I saw Circumference, I asked some volunteers what their favorite shows so far had been and one said, 'Circumference--but it's about women's body image issues, so I don't know how much guys would be into it.'

Memo to volunteer: guys invented women's body image issues. And we have a
few of our own as well.

Circumference pulled a full house Monday, and it was an equal divide between guys and women. There was no divide between who was laughing, though: that would be everyone lucky enough to be at the show.


Calgary Herald -- Five Fringe Shows Not To Be Missed -- August 7, 2008
By Stephen Hunt
It's the final countdown for the Calgary Fringe -- it wraps up Sunday -- so we decided to turn Centre Stage into a fringe greatest hits, featuring our favourite fringe productions of the week. We haven't seen everything, but we've seen a few terrific shows that are not to be missed. In no particular order, here are a few of Centre Stage's fringe faves...

3.) Circumference. Amy Salloway's one-person show about a heavy woman's (is that OK to say?) last best chance at living a normal life: gastric bypass surgery, and how being denied it helps her get her body and herself back. Solloway is that rarity, an equally talented writer and performer who has written for National Public Radio and CBC Radio, among others. She's a hilarious, honest, unsparing storyteller with a great sense of pace, who will cause you never to look at a zucchini the same way again.