While You're At It...
 
...Or Shows In A Similar Vein

Marveling at the mythological meanderings of...
Metamorphoses?

Try
Lokasenna
Maximum Verbosity
MCTC Whitney Studio

A more home-grown mythological entry, coming to us from Rochester, based on the Eddas, a collection of Icelandic poetry.

I'm a junky for myths and ancient tales told by modern theatrical artists - so that's my own personal bias. If it's not your cup of tea, so be it. However, how can you not be curious about a show that describes itself as...

"...the Ring Cycle, performed by the Marx Brothers. On acid"?

Plus, I love the enthusiasm of these folks. Phillip Andrew Bennett Low, the writer/adapter, told me this about the show when I went snooping around a few months back...

"A 'senna' is a kind of combat that takes the form of ritualized insults, usually very crude. Loki is the god of profanity, blasphemy, and mischief, who figures as a central character in many of the stories. Hence, "Lokasenna" -- the senna of Loki.

...This collection of songs and routines takes more the form of a comedy revue...[It] retells several Scandinavian myths, including the cutting of Sif's hair, Thor's journey to Utgard, and the theft of Thor's hammer. The twist is that the stories are filtered through the twin perspectives of Loki and his daughter Hel, the goddess of the underworld; thus, the exploits of the gods take the form of a kind of slapstick comedy.

I hope this doesn't sound too academic, because the show is first and foremost designed to be entertaining. One of the challenges of this project has been creating jokes that work on multiple levels: i.e., they're funny if you know the stories, but Joe off the street can still laugh even if he doesn't get the reference. In many cases, we're telling jokes that are nearly a thousand years old, and that's thrilling."

They're also right next door to my own show, Dandelion Snow, so it's more like dropping by to chat with the neighbors about how the Fringe is going. Looking forward to the acid trip.

While You're At It - other shows that, if you like any of the other top ten/sure thing shows I mentioned, should also be of interest to you:

The Valets (for the Plants and Animals crowd)
Punk Rock Awesome (for the In Defense of Sin crowd)
Delaware, And Other Lies (for the Kevin Kling crowd)
Osama Kincaid, Painter of Terror (for the Death Penalty Puppetry crowd)
Pipes (for the Origin of Consciousness Crowd)

(For more of my writing - plays, past blog entries and more - visit www.matthewaeverett.com)