Comments on: Hip Shot: ‘May 39th/40th’

By: Capital Fringe Fest 2009: Our Comprehensive Rundown - Fringe & Purge - Washington City Paper

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:16:27 +0000

[...] May 39th/40th [...]

By: mammal

mammal — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:32:54 +0000

I got way more enjoyment out of May 39 than the reviewer seems to have — it did have moments of “cute” (for some values of cute), but moved cleverly into “creepy,” then turned disturbingly wistful. My sympathies were played with very effectively.

The acting was very good, both vocally and with body language. The set was effectively spare and evocative — most of the clutter was a satisfying mix of familiar and mysterious. (The silver-painted styrofoam constructions looked a little tooky from the front row, though.) The pre-show and intermission recordings were a very nice touch.

I didn’t enjoy 40 as much, and I don’t know if that’s because the actors were still coping with the change-up, or that the writing didn’t seem as polished to me. It seemed a lot more ambiguous to me, in many ways — not all of them good. The physical constraints of being on a table may have hampered “Jim’s” expressiveness, as well.

By: callie kimball

callie kimball — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:50:40 +0000

Yes, we did switch the genders two weeks before opening.

Thanks for coming to the show.

By: Aaron Wiener

Aaron Wiener — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 03:20:14 +0000

I agree, Trey, that 39 was tighter than 40, and the show might have managed to dodge the badge of triteness had 39 been allowed to stand on its own. I imagine that the performances will only improve over the coming two weeks.

By: Trey Graham

Trey Graham — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 20:40:00 +0000

Good catch, Aaron: I heard (from the playwright and from one of the actors) that just last week, the author flipped the roles in the second half. Literally: “You know those lines that used to be hers? Now they’re his.”

So yeah, May 40th still seems much more like a work in progress. I like the first play better than you did, though.

(Full disclosure: Callie Kimball and I are on friendly, coffee-having terms, and the guy who plays Sam/Jim works a day job with my other half.)