Wednesday, August 03, 2016

Fringe 2016 - Top 20 List - 16-20


16 - A Pie.  A Duck. And A Shoe. - Sparkle Theatricals

This was the only Fringe preview that changed my mind from “Well, that seems kinda vague”:

Clever comedy, marvelous music, delightful dance, and an astonishing live animal act. It will be a barrel of fun, a treat for the kids, a grand exhibition of extraordinary amusements.

To “Hey, that guy knows how to work a room and time his preview perfectly. I might really enjoy that show.”  Plus their cast list includes “Carnage The Executioner: Beatboxer”  And one of the producers is Rick Ausland, of Buckets and Tap Shoes fame.  So this one gets more and more promising, the more you look at it.


17 - Twice - Its Time Productions

No it’s not a parody of the musical Once, thank God.  When doing the gay content search and the religious content search, this one also comes up with both.  Plus it’s new plays (I wish we could search for “new plays” on the site, it would make my life easier).  Plus I like the idea: 

Three stories told TWICE. Sex. Church. Death. REPEAT. Six one-act plays by two playwrights - Chris Andersen & Lee Richard Lawing. Two versions of each scene remind us we are seldom original, never alone and things are rarely what we think.



18 - Genesis // Revelations - SB Movement

This one got on the list because 1) I wanted more dance on the schedule, 2) it had an intriguing description:

Finding parallels between Biblical content and actual experiences, we move through the only way we know how: with sometimes fumbling feet, strong second positions and hope of being protected along the way.

3) their photo was interesting, 4) they actually listed who was in their ensemble (so many Fringe shows foolishly don’t this year), and 5) two of the people listed are dancers of color I’ve seen in previous Fringe shows that I liked.  So this one seems like a good bet.


19 - masc4masc - Perfect Chair Productions

The first thing I do with the Fringe listings is look for gay content.  This one fits in the schedule with Mom around other things we’re seeing in the area that day.  Still, I’m torn.  I want to be supportive of new work but starting with the title, this is pretty much everything that drives me nuts about the gay community.  Then there’s the description:

Recently dumped and down on his luck, Cody thrusts into the homosexuals? #nohomo fast-paced world of online "dating", only to learn that - despite being #totesmasc - gay stereotypes are sooo yaasssterday!

And it’s a musical, because, of course it is.  So are we celebrating, satirizing or savaging the subject matter here?  And just what combination of those approaches would I be comfortable with.  The more I read the promo material (and they provide all kinds of handy info on the Fringe site and elsewhere), the more I wonder if this is a good idea.  But what the hell, here we go.


20 - When She Became Me - a pro-choice play about abortion - Constructed Theatre

This one had me at the title.  Then I read:

Ensemble-based production comprised of real stories from women who had abortions before and after Roe v. Wade. Their stories and words are  combined with the experiences of the show’s creator growing up with her mother volunteering at, working at, and then running the only abortion clinic in North Dakota during the 1990s.

So yeah, this is the kind of show I go to the Fringe to see.

No comments: