Archive for July, 2009
Hip Shot: ‘Dorks on the Loose: Facey Facey Face Face’
Dorks on the Loose: Facey Facey Face Face
The Baldacchino Gypsy Tent Bar – at Fort Fringe
Remaining Performances:
Friday, July 24th @ 7 pm
Saturday, July 25th @ 3:15 pm
Sunday, July 26th @ 7 pm
They say: Phaea and Becca don’t just have a face. They have two. And after last year’s Fringe success they are returning to celebrate with a new comedy show, Dorks on the Loose: Facey Facey Face Face. C’mon, you need a lift. 50 minutes
Chris says: Laurel and Hardy. Nichols and May. Lemmon and Mathau. Cheech and Chong. Phaea and Becca.
It’s not simple matter to explain what makes a comedy duo work: personality, chemistry, timing, and intellect are merely the more obvious variables. Loose dorks Phaea and Becca come off as an odd couple—one more conventionally tall and dorky, one at first glance too cute and cuddly for satire—but the chemistry is undeniable and the timing is spot on. Imagine your young teenage daughter and her best friend finishing each other’s sentences, then fast forward 15 years.
Hip Shot: ‘Dancing to Ancient Rhythms’
Dancing to Ancient Rhythms
The Apothecary at the Trading Post
Remaining Performances:
Saturday, July 25 @ 2:30 p.m.
They say: “Visually stunning vignettes of the sacred and profane, the transcendent and mundane. Theatrical dance inspired by the wisdom of the East in a captivating first Fringe Festival performance by the critically acclaimed Ancient Rhythms Dance Company.”
Mike says: Before I rip into this show as a terrible, terrible fit for Fringe, let me just say that the costumes are exquisite, the performers are elegant and seductive, and the dancing is very, very good. Despite all that, this show is the worst Fringe has to offer.
Why? Because Dancing to Ancient Rhythms is an hour of belly dances performed by students of the Ancient Rhythms Dance Company, some of whom are still in high school. In other words, it’s a dance recital. On top of that, it’s located in the Apothecary, which is poorly insulated for temperature and sound—the latter so much so that last night’s dance routines were frequently interrupted by what sounded like a much more interesting show next door.
Hip Shot: ‘Home Free’
Home Free
Goethe Institut
Remaining Performances: Thursday, July 23 at 10:15 pm. Saturday, July 25 at 7:00 pm. Sunday, July 26 at 11:15 am.
They say: In a studio apartment, Lawrence and Joanna live in a world of their own making with Edna and Claypone. How long can they keep real world outside? What happens if reality comes through the door?
Ann’s take: Lanford Wilson’s Home Free gives its audience much to unravel as it follows the muddied logic of Lawrence and Joanna’s aberrant, make-believe world. Psychological disorder drives the piece, and we have much to sort through as we piece together the mystery of what’s so scary about the outside world. Social taboos abound in this one-act, but there is an eloquent innocence in Wilson’s deviant world, providing a nice tug-of-war on the audience’s sensibilities.
Hip Shot: ‘Lila: The Love Story of Radha and Krishna’
Lila: The Love Story of Radha and Krishna
The Apothecary
Remaining performances:
Jul 25th 4:15 pm
They say: Attraction, flirtation, jealousy, passion. Follow the human Radha and the god Krishna as they bask in the joy and burn in the heat of their love. The emotional quality of their story is captured beautifully through Odissi Indian classical dance.
Llewellyn’s take: It was pouring rain outside the Apothecary. People shuffled in, soaked from head to toe, sopping wet playbills in hand. A veritable waterfall cascaded from the ceiling in the back of the house. The stage manager quipped that they were just trying to set the ambiance by making it more monsoon-like. She may have been joking, but the drenched, humid conditions were perfect for what was a beautiful, intricate, and all-around amazing performance. I can’t imagine a better way to wait out a monsoon then to watch the graceful interplay of these gorgeous women; the slow, delicate contortions alternating with the staccato raga stepwork. Shalini Goel Agarwal’s flirtatious, mesmerizing gaze itself is reason enough to see this show. The captivating beauty in their dress and expressive personalities had me wishing for an even plusher production—what if there were more dancers, more tapestries, real waterfalls, and a live tabla-sitar orchestra?
Hip Shot: “South-Asian American Dance”
South-Asian American Dance
The Apothecary at the Trading Post
Remaining Performances
Friday, July 24th at 7:45 pm and Sunday, July 26th at 11:30 am
They say: “Presenting in its signature classical and contemporary style with original musical scores, TMDC’s dancing is precise, athletic and theatrical. The themes run the gamut of emotions. The message may be personal or political but it’s always relevant to the times.”
Caroline’s take: Who knew presidential politics could be interpreted through traditional Indian dances? I certainly didn’t before seeing this production of the Tehreema Mitha Dance Company, but the combination of traditional choreography with contemporary subject matter landed with surprising resonance.
Hip Shot: “Late Bloomers and Glory Days”
Late Bloomers and Glory Days
The Bodega at the Trading Post
Remaining Performances: Friday, July 24th at 8:30 p.m.; Sunday, July 26th at 6:30 p.m.
They Say: “The fifteen year high school reunion of the Fighting Eagles brings out the teenager in 7 former friends. But as the drink count rises and secrets are revealed, will they manage to stay that way?”
Glen’s Take: The above description promises — or threatens, I suppose, depending on your point of view — a tried and true reunion-sparks-shattering-revelations drama in the That Championship Season mode. Which is essentially what Late Bloomers and Glory Days delivers — you’ll know you’re on rails from beginning to end, but the track runs pretty smooth.
Local playwright Allyson Currin knows that we ‘ve seen this all before, and plays with those expectations a bit. That shattering revelation is deliberately anti-climactic, and — mercifully — has nothing to do with anyone coming out of the damn closet because that shit is, can we all agree, A) not particularly shattering, and B) SERIOUSLY tired, already.
Hip Shot: ‘Lipstick Handgun’
Lipstick Handgun
Redrum at Fort Fringe
Remaining Performances:
Friday, July 24 @
5:45 p.m.
Saturday, July 25 @ 11:45 p.m.
They say: “This is play is scar from my head through my heart to my crotch. It’s a Greek chorus wrapped inside a romantic tragedy. There is also some moments of comedy and a compulsion to move via dance yoga and/or tai chi contained within it. A tornado in the rodeo of love and obsession. With meditations on the power of positive thinking. A shogun mystery choreopoem. Unraveling samskaric imprints.” [Note: I typed exactly what was in the Fringe Guide. Exactly.]
Hilary’s take: “I don’t get it,” says K, as D and M (or maybe it was T?) pantomime their pants off, clawing at their waistlines and collars. “I don’t get it!”
That’s exactly how I felt the entire 45 minutes of Stephen Forrest Notes’ “tornado in the rodeo of love and obsession.” I weathered the storm but walked out of Fort Fringe unamazed and confused. I think the gist of the play is this: Boy meets local “it” girl and becomes obsessed with her powerful sexual energy. But this woman is not powerful at all; she is vulnerable, needy even. But she doesn’t need him. Each is searching for a fulfilment the other is painfully ill-equipped to provide.
Hip Shot: ‘A.D.’
A. D.
The Bedroom at Fort Fringe
Remaining Performances:
Jul 24th 5 pm
Jul 25th 8:30 pm
Jul 26th 5 pm
They Say: A show that runs the gamut from A to D. Attention deficits, afternoon delights, American dreams, artistic differences, anxiety disorders, they’re all here. From the author of last year’s A Report of Gunfire, a comic look at the world today.
Llewellyn’s take: Of the “A.D.” items listed in the description, the emphasis should be placed on “attention deficit” and “anxiety disorders.” There are also American Dreams and artistic differences, though I didn’t see any afternoon delights. Instead, A.D. is a frenetic, one-woman dash through multiple personalities that weave in and out of neurotic introspections…all of it surrounding the fast-paced huck-a-buck world we live in today. Annie Huey keeps up the tempo throughout the show with a nervous grin no matter which character she assumes, from frantic stewardess to nervous art model.
Hip Shot: ‘Hopelessly Devoted’
Hopelessly Devoted
Goethe Institut Mainstage
Remaining performances: Thurs., July 23 at 9:30 p.m.; Fri., July 24 at 9:45 p.m.; Sat., July 25 at 2 p.m.; Sun., July 26 at 3 p.m.
They say: Chicago Improvisers/Catholics Vincent Lacey and Natalie Sullivan offer up scenes, songs and secret confessions of being devout fish in a sea of pessimism. Bursting with guilt…err…love Christ, Hopelessly Devoted is a comedy even Saint Peter couldn’t deny.
Ted’s take: “In the unlikely event of the Rapture,” Natalie Sullivan advises the audience at the opening of Hopelessly Devoted, “please pray for your own sins before praying for those around you.”
The chance of rapture here? As advertised, unlikely. The chance of mild amusement courtesy of two talented comedians? Much higher.
Sullivan and Vincent Lacey, two funnypeople of the unrepentant Catholic persuasion, have mounted a pleasant diversion over at the Goethe Institut, a zany, ADD-style compendium of sketches, one-liners, a song or two, and even a borderline-charming hip-hop number about the Church of the Blessed Sacrament, which is hemorrhaging believers and whose few remaining parishioners call it the “Church of the Blessed Sack.” There’s a lot of biography going on here, too: Lacey adapts winning character sketches of his reluctantly devout father and of his dean at Catholic University. Sullivan, meanwhile, steals one of the shows’ more uncomfortable scenes, in which she remains the confirmation sponsor of the ex-boyfriend she convinced to convert, even after dumping him. True story! So, yes: not your run-of-the-mill Christian lampoonery here; this is been-there, still-there, ain’t-never-recanted Christian lampoonery.
Hip Shot: ‘Concord, Virginia’
Concord, Virginia: A Southern Town in Stories
Goethe Institut
Remaining Performances:
Jul 23rd, 7:30 pm
Jul 24th, 6 pm
Jul 25th, 6:30 pm
Jul 26th, 1 pm
They say: “Neofotis performs stories from his prize-winning book, newly published by St. Martin’s Press. With tales of night-swimming lovers, moon-shining old ladies, and gay trials, come witness the 28 year-old love child of Truman Capote and Eudora Welty! (NYC’s Next Magazine)”
Brian’s take: I’ll not mince words: Concord, Virginia, has too many words.
When I’m writing prose, I read my sentences aloud so that I can hear all the over-wrought language I need to banish from the pages. Here, as Peter Neofotis performs aloud two short stories about a small Virginia town, I couldn’t help but wish he’d taken a machete to his manuscript, pruning what are otherwise perfectly compelling stories of thorny phrases like, “She wistfully walked by,” “Helen pointedly replied,” and, thorniest of all, “They ambulated out the door.”
Read the rest of this entry »
