Fringe Snapshot, Day 2

Apologies to any and all who were hoping to see full reviews, as was I, of what I saw yesterday before having to launch into today.

Here's the down and dirty quick snapshot, however, to hopefully tide you over...

Death Penalty Puppetry - amazingly fun and thought-provoking, on all sides of a thorny issue - 5 stars - Mom seconds this

The Lives of the Notorious Highwaymen - rollicking good adventure yarn, great script, inventively staged, wonderful actors, they don't miss a beat, also highly recommended - 5 stars - Mom seconds this

10,000 Comic Books - free comic book for all, a very funny show - comic book addicts will get all the jokes, but even this non-comic book literate audience member thoroughly enjoyed himself - 4 stars - Mom seconds this, and my brother will be so jealous

Mary Kelley Sunshine Box - a quirky little oddity, more like an independent film than a stage play, two fine actors, one of them also the author, fill a very big space, deserves a bigger audience than it's currently getting - 3.5 stars - Mom wasn't so sure about this one

Improv A Go-Go: Deathmatch - all the fun of the weekly Improv A Go-Go, and now the audience gets to vote, too - 4 stars - Mom liked this, too.

Dandelion Snow - well, I wrote it, a number of my friends are acting in it. All I can see, of course, are the things in the script I want to fix. But the audience kept on clapping until the pleasantly surprised cast came back onstage for a second curtain call. First time in 12 shows I saw that happen so far. A good sign. Since I have no objectivity whatsoever, I'll give it - 4.5 stars - Mom... well, she's Mom, of course she liked it

Vision's Tale - sorry, I skipped this one. So many people to talk to after my opening, and I needed to decompress, so Mom and I went to Fringe Central instead. The cost of Mom's ticket is her donation to the Fringe. I'll try and catch it in a later performance this week because I still very much want to see it.

Fast Fringe, both parts, open in about an hour. I had to draft up and copy scene shift plots for the two shows, mock up a warning about the smoking and gunshots, and now I'm off to set up, after dropping off Mom at the airport.

I do have short breaks around either side of Plants & Animals at 6pm. So I'll try to get home and do some more blogging then. Plus the evening ends early on Sunday, so there's more time.'

Happy Fringeing, everyone!

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