Fringe Day 4, Part 1 - August 9, 2004, 8:30pm

Women! Live On Stage!
Theatre Unbound
Minneapolis Theatre Garage

One of the many things I like about Theatre Unbound is that they refuse to settle for less than their best. They are constantly pushing their limits as a company. Even if they don't always succeed, the effort alone is something to watch. One can almost sense the troupe growing into what it will one day become.

Last year's Fringe saw them bringing us The Love Talker, a script that still baffles me, but a production which I admired and recommended nonetheless.

This year, Theatre Unbound had three of its company's writers create a brand new script - with the daunting task of somehow encapsulating the highlights of women's contributions to the art of theatre, all in a Fringe-sized package.

Well, a little research soon told them the story was way too big for a show less than an hour long. But I'm sensing this sampling of milestones in theatre is just the first in a series of what could be a very successful, as well as entertaining, set of shows that makes us all a bit more familiar with yet another hidden history of both ancient and modern times. I can think of no one better suited to such a task than Theatre Unbound. It was great to get in on the ground floor of their efforts with this Fringe offering.

Women! Live On Stage! is just that, an all-female ensemble of seven actresses who are all quite gifted, and ricochet us through a series of set pieces spotlighting theatrical traditions in Italy, Japan, England and America, just to name a few. It's by no means a tired, dry lesson plan they bring to life. Just like the bewildered new actress who has been invited to join this mysterious troupe, the audience, too, is swept along in a current of ever-changing styles and genres of plays and performance - kabuki, melodrama, commedia dell'arte (which I freely admit I can't properly spell but you know what I'm driving at). No explanation, just presentation. The audience, like the new company member, must think on its feet and follow along. As they do, they receive the larger picture and the larger message of the show. Dig deeper. There's a lot society doesn't tell you, there's a lot you don't know, it's time to start asking the questions. Valuing the past and letting it help to enable our better future.

It's an intriguing, magical mystery tour (as they say) and well worth taking.

Catch one of their final performances this weekend, then visit their Fringe page and post a review of your own.

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