Fringe Snapshot, Day 7

Some great theatre, some horrible theatre. A brief overview. More complete reviews to follow...

Dandelion Snow - 4-1/2 stars - There were about 40 people in the audience, not bad for a Thursday at 5:30pm. The cast was, as ever, great. And the audience seemed to genuinely enjoy themselves, and were very complimentary. Just two performances left now (Friday, Saturday). Come join us.

Everything and Nothing All At The Same Time - Uh...I was not the audience for this show. There was one other person near me who I could tell was also not having a good time, but we were in the minority. The bulk of the audience applauded wildly and, to my complete bewilderment, gave them a standing ovation. So it obviously strikes a chord with some people. I will grant them the courtesy of not posting something on their Fringe page to bring down their star average. I will also probably withhold a review until after I review everything else I've seen which I recommend, which should safely get us past the end of the Fringe. See their page, see the audience reviews. If it sounds like something you would like, go see it. Personally, I should have stuck to my original plan and saw Pipes

VISION'S TALE: Curse of the Machine/Cycles of Social Haunting/Birth of Vision - 4-1/2 stars - I hadn't realized what a lily white Fringe experience I was having until I saw this great multicultural cast doing this really fun, inventive, earnest, incredibly peculiar and thought-provoking show. Colorful not just in the skin tones of the cast but in the set, costumes, sound, and the amazing cascades of language, primarily but not exclusively English. If it weren't so sincere, it would be pretentious. But it is very sincere, and very engaging. Wonderful Fringey stuff here. Even the kids in the audience were enjoying themselves (and talking back to the show, which the actors, to their credit, took in stride) Two more performances - Saturday and Sunday. Highly recommended.

Feeling Faust - 4 stars A deceptively simple setup - Faust bargains for immortality in exchange for having to live through all the pain and suffering he has caused others - and my, he's been busy - from his childhood cat to his father to his wife to his daughter, no one comes to a good end. But thankfully, neither does Dr. Faust. Nice to see the bad guy get a taste of his own medicine. Although it was odd to find myself rooting for the Devil to win. Three fine actors, a simple set, and a compelling script. Two more chances to see this show - Friday and Sunday. Highly recommended.

Now I'm going to try and elaborate on all of that.

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