‘The Cloud Factory’

The Cloud Factory
Warehouse Next Door

Remaining Performances:
Thursday, July 17 @ 10:30 PM
Friday, July 18 @ 6:30 PM
Saturday, July 19 @ 4:30 PM
Friday, July 25 @ 8:30 PM

They say: “Welcome to Sommerville, home of North America’s last independent cloud factory. The forecast is always partly cloudy, and Mary is sick of looking for the silver lining. But what will she do when the factory is shut down and her little town is changed forever?”

Brett’s take: I’ve read several reviews so far that talk about the relative “Fringe-iness” of the show being reviewed. General consensus seems to be that the out-there, the edgy, and the daring are the definition of Fringe (vis-a-vis The Naked Party), but based on my experience, far more common (and at times far more beloved) at Fringe is the small, simple solo show. Perhaps they are even the bread-and-butter of Fringe, these 7×1 Samurais and McSwiggins Pubs and Mothers of Inventions, compared to the flaming desserts and exotic liquors (to belabor the metaphor) of the Naked Parties and Sticking Places. So it all depends on what you’re looking for.

Cloud Factory is one such gemlike, intimate solo show. Making its U.S. premiere after writer/performer and native New Yorker Alix Sobler debuted it in Canada, it’s the kind of show that fits in a suitcase: a couple basic costume pieces to help indicate character changes, four props (one of them a ukelele), a CD of sound cues and nothing else except for Sobler’s script and talent. Read the rest of this entry »