Current NYC Theater Reviews
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THE LONELIEST WHALE IN THE WORLD
Reviewed by Collin McConnell (August 28, 2013)
"Why?" is the question of the hour in Zoë Geltman's The Loneliest Whale in the World. The problem is, the play isn't asking that question - the audience is.
TO DREAM OF TREES
Reviewed by Collin McConnell (August 25, 2013)
A cautionary folk fairy tale... It's like The Point meets The Labyrinth in a highly physical production of The Lorax. Without ever being too heavy-handed, this work grapples with the not-so-unrealistic apocalyptic vision of a world destroyed by selfishness. The sky is getting lower, the world is a mountain of garbage praised by all, and its inhabitants are mutated, cannibalistic garbage-insect-humans. And a young girl is having strange dreams...
WAITING FOR WAITING FOR GODOT
Reviewed by Gianfranco Lentini (August 21, 2013)
“There’s nothing [everything] to be done” about Waiting for Waiting for Godot at the 2013 New York International Fringe Festival. Written by Dave Hanson and directed by Alex Harvey, this piece is not an adaptation of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot but an original and highly dignified new piece that finds its source material in Beckett’s work. Never having been a complete fan of Beckett or Waiting for Godot, I entered the Kraine Theatre throwing caution to the wind but was instantaneously swept away from the moment the production began.
THE MAGIC MIRROR
Reviewed by Julie Congress (August 21, 2013)
The Magic Mirror, an opera with 14 singers and a live orchestra of seven (plus a conductor!), has a sound of a magnitude unlike any other FringeNYC show. Yet while an auditory powerhouse, the theatrical elements (staging, acting, etc.) do not live up to the music.
THE YOUNG OLYMPIANS AND THE MOST AMAZINGLY AWESOME ADVENTURE EVER
Reviewed by Andrew Rothkin (August 21, 2013)
What do you get when you combine ancient Greek mythology with puppetry, pop
culture, a wacky quest, and some fun and catchy new tunes? If you’re the
talented cast and crew of The Maryland Ensemble Theater, you get The Young
Olympians & The Most Amazingly Awesome Adventure Ever—a fun musical for
adults and, no doubt, a pretty amazingly awesome adventure for kids.
THE FAMOUS PLAY
Reviewed by Jason S. Grossman (August 21, 2013)
Two actors appear on stage and post an enormous sign with the playwright's contact information. A narrator enters and identifies himself as the playwright and describes what the audience is seeing. The narrator praises himself for his own dialogue and the fame he will inevitably achieve for writing the work.
UNBIDDEN
Reviewed by Kimberly Wadsworth (August 21, 2013)
Geneticist Julia Lamb, the woman at the center of Joanne Hudson’s Unbidden, is something of a mess. While researching a study into the human genome, Julia (Chelsea Leigh Barrett) first sells out her colleague and boyfriend Floyd (Thomas Burns Scully), by reporting his findings to their ambitious boss Jack Strauss (Jason Gray), who is notorious for stealing other researchers’ work.
MARSHALL'S LAW
Reviewed by David Koteles (August 20, 2013)
A man and a woman are locked in a basement. A basement where dark secrets seem to be kept, waiting to be revealed. We learn the man and woman used to be best friends, until he “stole” her husband. Now the ex-husband, the object of both of their affections, is dead, and his gay partner may have been the cause of his death.
MERCEDES BENZ AWKWARDLY
Reviewed by Fred Backus (August 20, 2013)
Arriving from Australia to help close out the 2013 New YorkInternational Fringe Festival in its final week is Mercedes Benz Awkwardly, a raucous one-woman comedy about a first time stripper’s rise to the top of the pole.
THE TOMKAT PROJECT
Reviewed by Bob Stewart (August 20, 2013)
The TomKat Project by writer Brandon Ogborn is a great example, (by this reviewer) of a perfect FringeNYC Show. It has 7 players, (including the playwright as narrator) 7 chairs, a few props, and 6 really versatile, comic actors. This is a fun, sometimes comically disturbing take on the courtship, marriage & divorce of Tom Cruise’s 3rd marriage to Katie Holmes—complete with a Scientology subplot that oozes with camp and creepy espionage.
THE UNFORTUNATES
Reviewed by Pamela Butler (August 20, 2013)
The late 19th century in London’s East End was not a safe place for young women plying the trade of prostitution. Women who for one reason or another fell into desperate situations, were considered “the unfortunates”, often only able to survive by selling their one valuable asset; their bodies.
QUAKE: A LOVE STORY
Reviewed by Robert Weinstein (August 18, 2013)
Ain’t Real Theatre Company’s Quake: A Love Story begins in the basement of a sparring couple as they go through their collective possessions after a bitter separation.
WILLIAM
Reviewed by Gianfranco Lentini (August 18, 2013)
1592. The end of the Renaissance is rapidly approaching, and the Baroque period is about to take the stage. Henry VI (Parts I-III) has been publicly performed, and the audience cries for more. William Shakespeare picks up his quill, writes Richard III into immortality, and this is where our story begins. William, the “one-man [biographical] musical about the Shakespeare you don’t know,” strikes while the iron is hot at the 2013 New York International Fringe Festival. Book, music, and lyrics in Swedish by Jan-Erick Sääf, translated into English by Owen Robertson, and directed by Andres Boonstra, this production is a testament to why [cue the music] “everyone goes to the theatre!”
AND IT SPINS TWICE
Reviewed by Mitchell Conway (August 17, 2013)
For those interested in contemplating the implications of string theory, And It Spins Twice is a good introduction to some of the concepts that are radically altering our understanding of the fundamental constituents of nature. Three of the four roles in the play are theoretical physicists, who each have an opportunity to explicate pieces of this theory as they juggle their personal relationships.
AMERICA'S BREATH OF FRESH AIR
Reviewed by Maura Kelley (August 19, 2013)
America's Breath of Fresh Air, the new musical at the New York International Fringe Festival is not only fresh but strange, funny and most of all ridiculous. I’m wondering what Arnie Roman, the play's author has for breakfast each morning after having weaved these nonsensical ideas into a feasible charming story.
THE OFFICE OF DEAD LETTERS
Reviewed by Jason Jacobs (August 19, 2013)
In a surreal office, suspended beyond time and place, a group of clownish office workers process letters written in the past but never received by their intended. As they perform a kind of channeling—speaking for the writers of the lost letters—we glimpse at characters such as lovers separated by the Berlin Wall, and a cult survivor apologizing to her dead sister after escaping the group’s mass suicide. The missives provide insight into broken communications and unfulfilled lives spanning the globe and history. Falling somewhere between an epistolary play and a series of thematically connected monologues, the postal-inspired show does not fully deliver.
THE MADOGS OF DIEGO
Reviewed by Mitchell Conway (August 16, 2013)
Two Mauritians crawled across a stage littered with coconuts and fishing nets, acting as dogs, and made direct contact with the audience in this form. The people of Diego Garcia, called Chagossians, were treated like dogs, ousted from their island in a political deal gaining the US a location for a new military base via the British after the Second World War.
PEP TALK
Reviewed by Mary Notari (August 19, 2013)
How to enjoy PEP TALK:
Step 1: Ignore the show’s description in the FringeNYC program.
Step 2: Go see it.
THE RUFUS EQUATION
Reviewed by Mel House (August 17, 2013)
If you could predict the future with 100% accuracy, would you want to?
Would that mean that nothing in the universe is truly random? Even love?
FIRST HAND WOMAN
Reviewed by Richard Hinojosa (August 17, 2013)
Used up like a pair of jeans from the Salvation Army, second hand women feel they’re stuck playing second fiddle to everything. However, the women of this production embody its title. They are first hand women and this is a first rate show.
KEMBLE'S RIOT
Reviewed by Aimee Todoroff (August 17, 2013)
When I saw that Kemble’s Riot, the brilliant play written by the late Adrian Bunting, was being presented at this year’s FringeNYC Festival, I was thrilled. Last year, I was lucky enough to catch the excellent production mounted at the 2012 Edinburgh Fringe Festival by Zincbar Performing Arts.
THE A-IS-FOR-ABORTION PLAY
Reviewed by Aimee Todoroff (August 17, 2013)
Abortion. The word itself is often enough to stop people in their tracks. Everyone has an opinion about it, but the conversation is usually limited to political talking points. Whichever side of the political divide one falls about a woman’s right to choose, the woman is question is largely hypothetical. Discussing the actual experience of abortion is still very much a taboo, despite the fact that statistically 1 in 3 American women will have one by the time they are 45 years old. In some parts of the country, even admitting to having an abortion is inviting shame, personal attacks and sometimes violence. Who can blame women for not wanting to talk about something so risky but yet so common? Who wants to take on the 21st century version of the scarlet letter?
THE MYTHMAKERS
Reviewed by David Koteles (August 18, 2013)
Two men share a whiskey in an empty space that is at once an office, a London home, and a frozen tundra. Here are two men who revere each other but truthfully share little in common besides a publisher. The relationship between these men is the subject of this two-hander, The Mythmakers, now playing in the New York International Fringe Festival. I’d like to say after 60 minutes in the company of J.M. Barrie and R.F. Scott I understood something about the relationship between these men, but truthfully I’m left with more questions than answers.
ORBITING ASTRAL BODIES
Reviewed by Erin M.Daley (August 17, 2013)
The Moon (played by Amy Persons) has had enough. She looks down on Earth and disgusted with the folly and insolence of us earthlings, she strikes out on her own, hoping to garner the respect of Io and Titan, the more prestigious moons of Jupiter and Saturn.
SOUNDWAVES: THE PASSION OF NOOR INAYAT KHAN
Reviewed by Alyssa Simon (August 18, 2013)
SOUNDWAVES: The Passion Of Noor Inayat Khan, is a play about an exemplary hero, the Sufi mystic children’s author, musician, advocate of Gandhi’s principles of non-violence and World War II spy for the British secret service in Nazi occupied France. Unfortunately, several technical missteps and questionable choices obscure the fascinating and compelling subject material, at least when I saw it on opening night.
SLUT
Reviewed by Martin Denton (August 19, 2013)
SLUT is a new play by Katie Cappiello, developed by The Arts Effect
All-Girl Theater Company, a group whose work has appeared in FringeNYC very
successfully in the past. Directed by Cappiello and Meg McInerney, it's an
astonishingly professional piece, considering that their collaborators—and
all of the actors in the play—are young women aged 15-17. Particular kudos to
Winnifred Bonjean-Alpart, the 16-year-old Brooklyn high school student who takes
the lead; she is onstage for the entire length of the play and is given some
formidable, even harrowing dialogue to deliver. She seems well-equipped to
pursue an acting career in the future, should she so choose.
WHAMMY! THE SEVEN SECRETS TO A SANE SELF
Reviewed by Collin McConnell (August 16, 2013)
“Life is a confusing mess.”
Perhaps that sounds a bit banal, but Whammy! takes this idea and violently smashes it open, exploring the desperate loneliness in all of us, without remorse. After roughly one hour and ten minutes, this play left my head and heart spinning, unsure of how to continue viewing the world. Beyond all technicality of skill (of which here there is an incredible abundance), HotCity Theatre of St. Louis packs a hell of an existential punch to the gut – or a hell of a punch to the existential gut, I’m not sure which. In a word, the emotional experience of Chuck Harper’s piece is endlessly fascinating.
JACK LONDON: SEX, LOVE AND REVOLUTION
Reviewed by Josephine Cashman (August 18, 2013)
At the top of this play, Jack London, writer and adventurer decides to marry. Marry out of convenience and “science,” or marry for love and adventure. He chooses convenience. This is such a mistake that the first act drags beneath the unending self-pity desertification of his marriage.
THE SKYPE SHOW OR SEE YOU IN AUGUST
Reviewed by Lynn Marie Macy (August 14, 2013)
The Skype Show is a fascinating idea and writer/performer Jody Christopherson has done a worthy job of constructing a unique piece based on actual experiences. Is life imitating art? Or is art imitating life?
A HOMECOMING
Reviewed by Sergei Burbank (August 16, 2013)
James and Lee spend their twilight years together sharing a home of thirty years under the flightpath of one of New York’s airports. With their grown children out of the house, and with the help of full-time Nurse Callahan, the old married couple navigates their days with the incidental collisions that mark a lifetime spent together -- and the incipient chaos that intrudes as a result of the symtoms of Lee’s Alzheimer’s Disease. As his wife’s window of lucidity appears to narrow, James decides to hold what is for all intents and purposes her final birthday party, and invites his two sons and daughter (and daughter-in-law) home to say goodbye. It is apparently the first time everyone has been under the same roof at once in some time, and not without reason: James likens his family to a powder keg needing only a minor spark to create a conflagration.
OCCUPY OLYMPUS: BASED ON 'PLUTUS, GOD OF WEALTH'
Reviewed by Richard Hinojosa (August 16, 2013)
I have always been a fan of good political theatre. It is theatre with goals – theatre with purpose. Occupy Olympus has two goals. One is to provoke thought about the widening gap between the richest minority and the rest of us. The other is to entertain. They certainly succeed at both and they do it by using what (to some extent) built this nation: cooperation. When I say, “to some extent”, I mean there is also the other part of our growth as a nation that was all about greed and individual achievement. That’s what has led us to where we are today and to the incubus of this production.
MELTING IN MADRAS
Reviewed by Julia Lee Barclay (August 18, 2013)
If you like good storytelling and want to see a well-done solo show about a subject that now seems cliché after Eat, Pray, Love yet is renewed here by the humility of the storyteller, then go see Melting in Madras at CSV.
INEXCUSABLE FANTASIES
Reviewed by Andrew Rothkin (August 18, 2013)
Coasting down the highway with a Harley trembling between your legs… Lusting after Martha Stewart and her agile, accomplished hands…. Grieving over the loss of your one true love/sex toy…
SAVE THE DATE: A WEDDING ROAD-TRIP MUSICAL
Reviewed by Mary Beth Smith (August 16, 2013)
Early on Saturday morning, wedged into the middle seat of a rental car from Queens, I traveled down to New Hope, PA for the wedding of two dear friends. Flashback to the previous night when I had the pleasure of attending the opening night of Save the Date written by Gregory Jacobs-Roseman--a musical about weddings, friendships, and being at an age when it seems that everyone you know is getting married. The irony is not lost on me.
BRADLEY COLE
Reviewed by Melanie N. Lee (August 16, 2013)
The Internet is a great place for self-expression and other-connection. It’s also a great place to lie—er, reinvent yourself. Small, slender, shy, dorky Ian Maxwell pours all his suave intellect, sharp quips, and shrewd observations into a blog presumably penned by Bradley Cole, an urban fox whose faux fame gets out of hand. The musical Bradley Cole—book and lyrics by Jason Young, music by Bomi Lee, directed and choreographed by Geoffrey Goldberg, musical direction by Ming Aldrich-Gan—skewers the contemporary social media and television star-making machinery, and teases our eternal longing to be seen, heard, known, and loved.
COWBOYS DON'T SING: A WESTERN MUSICAL
Reviewed by Olivia Jane Smith (August 15, 2013)
What's in store at a musical in which the title boasts an inability--or at least an unwillingness--to sing? There's only one real cowboy in Cowboys Don't Sing, which is showing as part of the New York International Fringe Festival, and true to the title, much of the plot hinges on his refusal to give voice to so much as a note (though not for the reasons you might expect).
VERY LITTLE
Reviewed by Kimberly Wadsworth (August 16, 2013)
Very Little is very short. Not “only one minute” short – it’s just over a half hour – but it’s still fairly brief.
2&2
Reviewed by Gianfranco Lentini (August 15, 2013)
It won’t take much to put 2 and 2 together about this year’s 2013 New York International Fringe Festival show, 2&2. “A new serio-comedy about forgiveness,” written by Peter Cosmas Sofronas and directed by Christian Amato, this piece tries its hardest to ask its audience, “What do you get when you put 2 and 2 together?” Unfortunately, my response may fall somewhat short of their expectations.
SPARKLE HOUR!
Reviewed by Charles C Bales (August 16, 2013)
Bolting through the audience and bounding on to the stage with the conviction of a tent revival evangelist, Philip Markle quickly wins over the Sparkle Hour! audience with his enthusiasm. A bildungsroman for geeky gay teens, his one-man musical indeed sparkles with hilarious tales of sex and sexuality, online gaming, and dress up accompanied by a collection of catchy tunes.
BRENDA
Reviewed by Edward Elefterion (August 16, 2013)
FringeNYC’s blurb for BRENDA, “Wallace is 25 and feeling a little stuck in life. Oh, he's also gradually transforming into a 55-year-old woman... Brenda is an unhinged, melancholy road-trip play about American loneliness and the fragile things that make us who we are.” It’s not about that. It’s not about Wallace (turns out he’s not so important and vanishes mid-play). It’s not about him turning into his 55-year-old mother (she appears for the second half of the play). It’s not a road-trip (though there are a couple of driving scenes). It’s not about loneliness or identity…no matter how much playwright Cory Finley wants it to be. It’s mostly about that gigantic, unwieldy, refrigerator-sized box.
RECIPE FOR SUCCESS WITH CHEF MICHAEL DENARDI
Reviewed by Lynn Marie Macy (August 14, 2013)
With signature dishes like baked ziti burritos, peanut butter papaya pizza, and Thanksgiving milkshakes, Chef Michael Denardi is not likely to cook his way into your heart but actor/writer Peter Grosz may have a shot with his goofy concoction Recipe for Success at engaging your funny bone. You will have to leave any preconceived notions about real cooking and food preparation at the door.
THE ADVENTURES OF BOY AND GIRL
Reviewed by Martin Denton (August 17, 2013)
The main reason to see The Adventures of Boy and Girl, a new short
play at FringeNYC this year, is to make the acquaintance of Matthew Goodrich,
the likable, good-natured, and very funny young actor who plays one of the title
characters. Goodrich's bio reveals that during this past Broadway season he
covered a total of five roles in Picnic and The Nance; expect to see him originating some roles of his own in the future.
TALKING WITH ANGELS: BUDAPEST 1943
Reviewed by Carissa Cordes (August 17, 2013)
Talking with Angels: Budapest 1943, comes from an actual account of four friends in Budapest, Hungary during the German occupation. The story opens before the occupation when Hungary is still considered a neutral country in the war, similar to Switzerland. The story centers on Gitta and her Jewish friends Hannah Dallos, Lili Strausz and Joseph Kruetzer. At some point while the friends are hanging out one Friday night, an angel appears to them.
IN MY OWN DEFENSE
Reviewed by Case Aiken (August 16, 2013)
In My Own Defense is a two-man show in this year’s New York International Fringe Festival. I sat through a performance of which, I couldn’t for the life of me explain what I just saw. Two men, dressed entirely in black, on a poorly lit stage, mumble through a series of events that I think may just have something to do with conquering the world.
TRACK TWELVE
Reviewed by Julie Congress (August 15, 2013)
Track Twelve, a new play by Emily Comisar, is about four people connecting, and misconnecting, with one another when their Amtrak train is delayed leaving Penn Station. While the play’s heart is in the right place, the production feels more implausible than one would hope.
AISLE SIX
Reviewed by Mike Duffy (August 16, 2013)
The supermarket can be a fun place to shop. What comes after is the real fun part. But most
supermarkets aren’t visited by the plague.
The plague pays a visit in
Aisle Six,
a musical comedy written and directed by Nicola McEldowney.
Melody Elbow (McEldowney), a spunky-but-gullible trainee must fulfill her destiny of saving the Super
Duper Store.
WHAT'S YOUR OPINION ON SPONTANEOUS HUMAN COMBUSTION?
Reviewed by Case Aiken (August 14, 2013)
What’s Your Opinion on Spontaneous Human Combustion?, a new show playing in this year’s New York International Fringe Festival, is the kind of show that can best be described as a chemistry equation: take a single container, mix in a bunch of different elements. As you might infer from the title, the results here are explosive.
MILK FOR MRS. STONE
Reviewed by Steven Cherry (August 16, 2013)
Milk for Mrs. Stone is a hard play to like, and a hard play to dislike. It wants to say something authentic about truth, honesty, and, well, authenticity. And the thing it wants to say is while that honesty veers between being ridiculously easy and being simply impossible, authenticity is always complicated.
PERSEPHONE
Reviewed by Steven Cherry (August 14, 2013)
Persephone starts out as just your basic abduction story: Boys abduct girl, boys abduct boy, girl and boy are lovers and now co-captives.
DISREMEMBER
Reviewed by Sarah Lang (August 14, 2013)
disremember, described by the artists as “a whimsical, gothic dance theatre duet” had moments of intensely powerful emotional connection and surprise, but as a whole left me a little confused.
I (HONESTLY) LOVE YOU
Reviewed by Jo Ann Rosen (August 16, 2013)
Damon Lockwood has a smart little comedy in I (honestly) Love You. The dialog snaps, the plot moves crisply, and there are enough inventive moments to keep the play unpredictable and funny. Lockwood is playwright, director, actor and producer - a set-up that often proves disappointing. However, in this case, Lockwood manages to see the whole picture while tending to all the important details that make this an entertaining 50 minutes. That includes an eye for talent. His cast is wonderful.
CONFESSIONS OF POVERTY
Reviewed by Josh Sherman (August 13, 2013)
I am truly baffled as to what an audience member is supposed to conclude, emote or draw from after experiencing a performance of the terribly misnamed Confessions of Poverty, now running at FringeNYC at Teatro SEA. Writer-director Om Rupani has created a story that ostensibly interwines the love lives of four individuals and how their choices impact upon each other – and yet the actual dialogue provides all the punch of a watered down iced tea.
SOMEWHERE SAFER
Reviewed by Edward Elefterion (August 14, 2013)
Rigorously curated and highly competitive, FringeNYC is unofficially known as a kind of testing ground, a place to workshop new material that’s still in the development phase. This production of Somewhere Safer bears all the signs of material still in progress: a scattered script, awkward design, spirited acting, and broad-stroke directing. What the play has in spades is ideas. Lots of ideas.
PENINSULA
Reviewed by Lillian Meredith (August 14, 2013)
In the dubious first moments of the otherwise terrific Peninsula, the audience is introduced to Tiago, a beautiful Brazilian man, suspended under water. We know he’s under water because he tells us so, in a first person poetic monologue. “I am under the water,” he says. “I think I am. I must be. Under. The. Water. Looking up. Up. Up.” For a good minute or so, we watch as he punctuates this rather stilted description with darted abstract movement and tip-toed suspension. This is, unfortunately, a motif we will return to repeatedly over the next hour and a half.
I WAS LOVED BY A RAT
Reviewed by Jason S. Grossman (August 15, 2013)
Not since the films Willard and Ben premiered in the early seventies has there been a work so dedicated to telling a love story involving a person and a rat (just in case you were wondering about the subject matter of this one-act play). Antonia is a recent college grad about to embark on a new job at a nonprofit. Compounding these pressures is a prominent rodent issue in her dilapidated studio apartment. Welcome to the big city.
EX MACHINA
Reviewed by Wesley Frugé (August 15, 2013)
Ex Machina is a new play written by David Jacobi that attempts to be an enlightening evening on the subject of workers’ rights, and an entertaining odyssey about two men fighting against the machine, but ultimately needs more development to fully find its voice on both accounts.
PUSSY
Reviewed by Julie Congress (August 14, 2013)
A nice lady, her argumentative British girlfriend, her hot Russian landlady and, of course, her cat, Pussy. Writer/performer Maura Halloran’s one-woman show Pussy is an entertaining, though somewhat superficial, look at human (and human/feline) relationships.
THE ACCIDENTAL HAMLET
Reviewed by Charles C Bales (August 15, 2013)
Taking on William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, even when you’re taking jabs at it, is a daunting task. The two-man show, The Accidental Hamlet, tries hard to bring a fresh approach to the Bard’s masterpiece, but ultimately fails because of its juvenile humor and sluggish pacing.
WHY NOT ME
Reviewed by Shelley Molad (August 16, 2013)
This afternoon, I attended my first FringeNYC show of the season: a one woman show called Why Not Me: Love, Cancer & Jack White. When I arrived at 45 Bleecker street, I was greeted by the FringeNYC staff wearing Neon-yellow traffic vests, and there was a bit of confusion as to which show I was headed, as the venue housed multiple shows.
ANOTHER EVENING OF AWKWARD ROMANCE
Reviewed by Pamela Butler (August 15, 2013)
Wendy Herlich has written a series of delightfully funny and quirky romantic scenarios she performs with the very talented Aaron Phillips. Each vignette illuminates the trials and tribulations of love and desire, unrequited and otherwise. She mixes live stage action with short videos that serve as follow ups to first encounters.
THE HUNGRY GHOST
Reviewed by David Koteles (August 14, 2013)
The Hungry Ghost, a new play by Evan Brenner, is the backstory behind the development of Brenner’s 2009 performance piece The Buddha Play. According to this play, that play was a big success. While I am unfamiliar with his first show, that didn’t deter his new piece from being an interesting evening of theatre.
BAPTIZED
Reviewed by Pamela Butler (August 15, 2013)
Written and directed by Kristen Lishen, the program notes that Baptized is based on true events. It isn’t really so surprising; the news is filled with stories of priests who have erred and pursued young boys or girls, why should the Bible thumping churches of the deep south be exempt from harboring similar predators.
FXXX ME!
Reviewed by Josephine Cashman (August 15, 2013)
“Don’t ever stop fucking me.”
There’s a loaded statement if there ever was one.
TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA: A SWASHBUCKLING COMEDY!
Reviewed by David Fuller (August 11, 2013)
A recipe for fun: take one of Shakespeare’s lesser comedies, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, pare it to its essentials, add a heaping helping of stage combat, and pepper throughout with Buccaneer madness. The resulting summer fare is Two Gentlemen of Verona: A Swashbuckling Comedy!, adapted and directed by Michael Hagins, who also choreographed the fights. His cast of ten happily embraces this concept, inhabiting characters as adept at fighting with quarterstaffs and rapiers as retorts and repartee.
NAKED IN ALASKA
Reviewed by Heather McAllister (August 15, 2013)
Val, aka Autumn, recounts her life as an exotic dancer in Fairbanks, AK during the 1990’s. Through many wonderful vignettes, using strong characterizations, amazing dance moves, humor and pathos, Val reveals the story of this stage of her life, and takes off her clothes, piece by piece. As we observe, voyeurs all, we ask ourselves, what does it mean for those of us who are watching? Who do we really see, Autumn the seductress, or Val, the lost girl/princess inside?
THE HAT
Reviewed by Martin Denton (August 15, 2013)
The Hat referred to in the title of this one-act play by Melissa R. Randel is
the sparkling gold topper she wore and danced with in the musical A Chorus
Line. At the very beginning of The Hat, Randel executes the
now-iconic choreography that Michael Bennett created for his actors and their
hats, describing the steps as she seamlessly moves through them until she
triumphantly cocks her head back—as she puts it, "left cheek to God."
SEE JANE GIVE UP DICK
Reviewed by Kimberly Wadsworth (August 14, 2013)
The name of this play caught my eye first: my own parents’ names really are Dick and Jane. But – as I very quickly learned – the “Dick” which this Jane is trying to give up….isn’t a specific person.
HUMAN FRUIT BOWL
Reviewed by Julie Congress (August 13, 2013)
Human Fruit Bowl, by Andrea Kuchlewska,is a finely crafted, endlessly interesting portrait of a young woman. Entering the theatre, we are given a small piece of white paper and a pencil and instructed that there will be four 20-minute poses with five-minute breaks between.
INFALLIBILITY
Reviewed by Jason Jacobs (August 14, 2013)
Did you hear the one about the dead Pope who was exhumed and put on trial by his successor? No, that’s not a joke set-up. I myself had never heard of the Cadaver Synod of 897, but to be honest, my knowledge of papacy scandals circa 9th-century is sketchy at best.
WHAT EVERY GIRL SHOULD KNOW
Reviewed by Naomi McDougall Graham (August 15, 2013)
Top to bottom, start to finish, What Every Girl Should Know is an excellent piece of theater. The quality of the production design and calibre of the production overall lifts it well above the average FringeNYC fare.
ALABAMA BOUND
Reviewed by Aimee Todoroff (August 14, 2013)
Solo performances are one of the most difficult undertakings for an actor. The performer carries the burden of the storytelling entirely, with no scene partners to rely on for rest or to supply the information for the audience that keeps the action moving forward.
WREX
Reviewed by Nat Cassidy (August 14, 2013)
Some of the greatest flaws inherent in our unblinking news cycle sit at the fore of Floundering Fathers’ world premiere of Christopher Lord Compton’s WREX. What is the line between reportage and speculation? Should there be a filter between the reporter and the reporting? Can there be? And, if so, how? Furthermore, if the news is such a constant cataract, how can we decipher, let alone report, what is truly important? Such contemporary quandries might seem surprising given that WREX is a pretty blatant adaptation of the story of Oedipus, but it’s just one of the many resonations in this clever adaptation of one of our species’ most well-known myths.
LIES WE TELL OURSELVES (WHEN FLAMETHROWERS AREN'T ENOUGH)
Reviewed by Case Aiken (August 13, 2013)
After a lifetime of exposure to pop culture and stories about heroes and triumphs, it’s hard for anyone to deal with the realization that they are not the hero of their own story. Lies We Tell Ourselves (When Flamethrowers Aren’t Enough), a show in this year’s New York International Fringe Festival, attempts to investigate such a scenario.
FREE DESIREE
Reviewed by Melanie N. Lee (August 12, 2013)
Growing up a black teenager in the early 1970s, for many, meant the Jackson Five, Stevie Wonder, the New Birth, Superfly, and Shaft. For the Haley sisters, high-schooler Desiree and twentysomething Shauna, it also means emerging collective Black Pride and individual self-actualizing and self-preservation. Seattle-based solo actress Amontaine Aurore brilliantly captures these sharp sisters and several other characters in Free Desiree, written by Aurore and directed by Tikka Sears.
SURE-MINDED UNCERTAINTIES
Reviewed by Charles C Bales (August 14, 2013)
Sure-Minded Uncertainties is a breathtakingly beautiful shadow play from Hudson Valley-based ensemble Cave Dogs. Creating an awesome spectacle with shadow puppetry, computer animation, and live performance, this is a truly one-of-a-kind show for all ages that is not to be missed.
KUMRADS WON'T
Reviewed by Heather McAllister (August 15, 2013)
A tragedy disguised as a romance, kumrads won’t paints a devastating portrait of loneliness, which according to playwright Christina Michelle Watkins, “…doesn’t exist. It’s just self-loathing.” Over the course of one windy evening, connections are missed, swerved around, or crashed into head on like out of control jets, each piloted by a damaged, beautiful soul.
OFF THE DESK (TALES OF A MEDIOCRE STOCKBROKER)
Reviewed by Judith Jarosz (August 10, 2013)
Why do we need to hear another person’s sad journey through the challenges of picking a career that he wasn’t really interested in, getting sucked into a work schedule that wrecks a serious relationship, blowing LOTS of money on various addictive substances and strippers and almost killing himself? Because Chris Foley is funny…that’s’ why.
HORSEHEAD
Reviewed by Robert Weinstein (August 13, 2013)
When I first heard the idea behind Cattive Compagnie’s Horsehead, I laughed for a good thirty seconds. The play takes place in the world of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather and follows the story of the two brothers who are tasked with cutting off the horse head that is placed in a movie producers bed who refused to do a favor for Marlon Brando.
UNCERTAIN GROUND
Reviewed by Nita Congress (August 14, 2013)
Think Dadaist Monty Python in a Slovak accent murmured by Kafka, and you have a sense of Uncertain Ground.
TWO WOMEN, TWO STORIES
Reviewed by Heather McAllister (August 14, 2013)
In Two Women Two Stories, two one woman shows that focus on family, love, and healing, Vicki Dello Joio and Merry Ross illustrate two sides of the California coin: peppy and sunny, spiritual and thoughtful as we meet their families and find out what is important in their life’s journeys.
POLLY'S WAFFLE
Reviewed by Naomi McDougall Graham (August 14, 2013)
Polly’s Waffle comes to us from Australia following a sold-out run at Perth’s Fringe World 2012 and is written and produced by multi award-winner, Tiffany Barton.
THE ASSESSMENT
Reviewed by Melanie N. Lee (August 11, 2013)
The FringeNYC blurb advertising the solo show The Assessment presents a mystery: a list of disasters such as fires, miscarriage, and cancer, followed by, “But I do it out of love. Are you ready for your assessment?” The accompanying graphic says, “I love all my people.”
A FUTURE IMPERFECT
Reviewed by Pamela Butler (August 13, 2013)
Given the temper of the times; the culture wars, the gender wars and all the dire warning about the possible demise of our fragile and finite planet, it’s refreshing to know there are writers like William Coleman who can imagine a few perfectly possible scenarios, looking a dozen years into the future, to such an absurd degree that they are unnerving and tragically hilarious.
I AM A MOON
Reviewed by Cory Conley (August 12, 2013)
According to playwright Zhu Yi, her new work I AM A MOON is about the experience of shame. Specifically, "the shame of being overweight, the shame of liberated sexuality, the shame of physical disability, the shame of physical scars, the shame of being a victim of sexual harassment, and the shame of aging." That might sound like a rather grim evening, or at least an indulgent one. But instead, by lingering on the inner vulnerabilities of its isolated characters, this lyrical play celebrates the beauty and pain of living inside your own body.
THE KITCHEN TABLE PLAYS
Reviewed by Taylor Shann (August 13, 2013)
There are two plays at war here in Erin Breznitsky’s The Kitchen Table Plays. You might think there would be five wars, given that the show is five vignettes, all taking place around a kitchen table. But the various scenes are all on the same page thematically, it’s the framing device and extra stuff that feels like a completely different show.
NOT ANOTHER TEEN SOLO SHOW
Reviewed by Charles C Bales (August 13, 2013)
Spoofing the title of the 2001 movie that in turn spoofed the teen rom-coms churned out in the late 1990s, Not Another Teen Solo Show was created by and stars the charming and energetic Rati Gupta.
PERCEVAL
Reviewed by Judith Jarosz (August 10, 2013)
Perceval is an informative and entertaining tale of the journey of Sir Perceval, one of the legendary knights of King Arthur’s round table. In the beginning, we are introduced to a charmingly geeky librarian type woman who speaks to us of the legends and myths of the round table, centering on the story of Perceval. She calls herself The Troubador and invites us on a journey through Perceval’s life and legend.
WOMAN OF LEISURE AND PANIC
Reviewed by Sarah Lang (August 11, 2013)
You could talk all day about the pressures that come with being a modern woman and not say it half as well as Charlotte Bydwell shows and tells it in forty-five minutes.
NOVAYA ZEMLYA OR A STRANGE, NEW LAND
Reviewed by Lillian Meredith (August 12, 2013)
According to its website, novaya zemlya, or a strange, new land is “part coming of age story, part dark fairy tale.” This makes a lot of sense, and brings clarity to my experience of the play. Unfortunately, as a theater-goer who prefers to attend shows blind in order to figure them out for myself, I did not read this description until five minutes ago. If I had seen it pre-show, I might have been less confused.
CAL AND GREY
Reviewed by Gianfranco Lentini (August 11, 2013)
Orphans sentenced to rigorous work with scraps of bread in the hazardous environment of a shelter that the majority wants nothing to do with. Whether in literature, film, or stage, it's hard to brush any genre in today’s market without picking up a few of these stories. Cal and Grey, written by Becca Schlossberg and directed by Madeleine Rose Parsigian, takes the stage at the 2013 New York International Fringe Festival.
THE SPIDER
Reviewed by Amy Lee Pearsall (August 11, 2013)
Children can be cruel when faced with what they don’t understand. Playground taunts, however, pale in comparison to that special brand cruelty of which members of our own families are sometimes capable. Love, manipulation, and intimate familial connection – physical and otherwise – are just some of the subjects explored in B+ Company’s powerful production of The Spider, currently showing at the Celebration of Whimsy (COW) Theatre as part of the New York International Fringe Festival.
BLIZZARD '67
Reviewed by Edward Elefterion (August 13, 2013)
The press materials for Blizzard ’67 say that it’s about the way we respond to natural disasters and what those life-and-death choices tell us about ourselves. After seeing the opening performance, I’d have to agree…and disagree, which sums up my feeling about the entire experience. It was an interesting production but not very interesting.
UNIVERSAL SELF
Reviewed by Martin Denton (August 14, 2013)
Universal Self is a one-man performance by Kilusan Bautista about his
formative years, growing up in the Bay Area in the '80s and '90s. It's a tale of
dysfunctionality that we've heard enough times to make it feel almost banal: his
father is unemployed, an alcoholic and a crack addict; he grows up poor and
victimized, eventually finding his way (in his early teens) into a tough street
gang; and then, thanks to an uncle, he finds a way off this dead end path when
he takes up the study of martial arts.
DOWN THE MOUNTAIN AND ACROSS THE STREAM
Reviewed by Garry Schrader (August 10, 2013)
The title recalls Hemingway, his first flop, Across the River and Into the Woods, and one of the main characters does too: Gerald is a writer, sensitive and macho at the same time, who carries a gun and says he was “built for war.”
THEMUMBLINGS
Reviewed by Stephen Cedars (August 13, 2013)
Dan Kitrosser's theMUMBLINGS is on its surface a simple play that tells a simple story: a gay man working as a children's entertainer (Allen) and a sexually-repressed anthropologist (Jodie) have lived for several years in a marriage of convenience, and they explain to us how and why. Focused around only the two actors, the play requires only a simple quasi-unit set that allows their narrative storytelling to almost exclusively drive the story.
BELLINI AND THE SULTAN: A COMEDY IN ISTANBUL
Reviewed by Heather Lee Rogers (August 13, 2013)
Bellini and the Sultan, written and directed by Ed Stevens, is being produced by Turkish American Repertory Theater and Entertainment (TARTE) whose mission includes sharing Turkish culture and literature with American audiences. The premise of Bellini and the Sultan is that Bellini, the self-proclaimed most talented painter in Venice, is sent by his Doje to Istanbul because Sultan Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire would like his portrait painted.
SUICIDE MATH
Reviewed by Sergei Burbank (August 13, 2013)
Over the course of the twentieth century the life expectancy of Americans nearly doubled. As generations overlapped and cohabitated to an increasing degree, the social compact between them became more complex, even as it was codified in laws like the Social Security Act. The struggle for resources and supremacy continues to this day, as questions like the funding of that same Social Security, and crowding out expensive older workers in favor of cheaper younger ones, vex policymakers. But these issues are small beer compared to the Vietnam Era, when elder generations seemed hell-bent on the wholesale slaughter, for no apparent reason, of their descendants.
JUDGMENT DAY
Reviewed by Amber Gallery (August 13, 2013)
As a reviewer nothing brings quite as much joy as to witness a team of
artists that integrate so wonderfully together to create a fantastic evening of
theatre. With Judgment Day, having its premiere at the Players Theater,
the combination of playwright Maria S. Schlatter, director Michael Schwartz,
performer Donald Corren, with design team, is a perfect concoction.
MOLLY MARJORIE ROSENBLATT NEEDS A MAN (AND OTHER STUFF)
Reviewed by Megin Jimenez (August 11, 2013)
While you might have a sense of what you’re in for when you sign up to see a
one-woman musical about a lonely aspiring actress, you may still experience a
moment of adjustment as you confirm that indeed, a single performer is taking
the stage and belting out a narrative about internet dating. Musical theatre by
definition is larger than life, but Molly Marjorie Rosenblatt Needs a Man
(And Other Stuff) scales it all back; at times, there’s a
singing-into-the-hairbrush vibe, although Mallory Schlossberg, the one-woman in
the title role, keeps the pace moving along with unflagging energy, while the
steady accompaniment of Joel Esher on the piano offers a little company on the
stage.
CERTIFIABLE
Reviewed by Cory Conley (August 11, 2013)
Love is crazy, but so are Greg and Pam, the couple at the center of Certifiable, Molly Rydzel's wonderfully tense and vibrant play. Okay, I shouldn't call them "crazy." Pam, after all, has a legitimate case of schizophrenia, and a recent trauma to deal with. Greg has no medical excuse, but clearly, his uncontrollable obsession with Pam has led him to a place he never thought he'd be.
AUTUMN IN ANDROMEDA
Reviewed by Ethan Angelica (August 11, 2013)
An alien that looks like a bug captures a human in a play that is set on a spaceship and claims to be about alienation? Sounds like it might be awesome, right? That was my feeling going into Autumn In Andromeda, Jonathan Wallace's newest offering at FringeNYC this year.
FOR A GOOD TIME, CALL KATHY BLANCHARD
Reviewed by David Fuller (August 10, 2013)
There is a comment late in this play where a character threatens another by saying if she doesn’t behave she will write her name on the wall of every washroom across America. I am guessing this is the allusion for the title of this comedy-drama, but, For a Good Time, Call Kathy Blanchard has nothing to do with anyone named Kathy or Blanchard.
THE ALEXIS LAMBRIGHT TELL-A-THON: COMBATING ADULT VIRGINITY
Reviewed by Garry Schrader (August 10, 2013)
As far as I know, Jerry Lewis never actually contracted muscular dystrophy. So perhaps comic Alexis Lambright has even more at stake than Jerry in her staged telethon to rid the world of the blight of Adult Virginity—starting with herself.
BEAST OF FESTIVE SKIN
Reviewed by Richard Hinojosa (August 11, 2013)
“There is no goodbye in Hell.” But there is an open mic night. There’s another thought that lets you know you’re in Hell — as long as we’re here we might as well make the best of it.
CAROL AND COTTON
Reviewed by Amy Lee Pearsall (August 11, 2013)
The year is 1963 – and before, and after. The place is St. Paul, Minnesota. And the life shared by a successful attorney, his wife, and their four children is picture-perfect, or at least it would seem that way. In Partizan Theater’s production of James Veulek’s Carol and Cotton, currently showing at the Kraine Theatre as part of the New York International Fringe Festival, we are reminded that dark undercurrents can easily run beneath Kodak moments.
ANTONY & CLEOPATRA: INFINITE LIVES
Reviewed by Jane Titus (August 11, 2013)
I had a very intriguing evening in the theatre on Sunday. I went to see a production of Antony and Cleopatra Infinite Lives. It is a new play written and produced by The Porch Room.
KINEMATIK
Reviewed by Rew David Greer (August 12, 2013)
KINEMATIK is a multi-media dance show with two separate pieces by the company’s artistic director Svea Schneider with collaborative choreography from her dancers on the second piece. The simplicity and precision of Schneider and her dancers’ choreography is inventive and unforgettable at times, occasionally confusing, but always captivating. Schneider and the Kinematik Dance Theater are exciting new voices in the New York City dance scene and have made their presence known in their FringeNYC debut at the 14th Street Y Theater.
INFORMED CONSENT
Reviewed by Stephen Cedars (August 12, 2013)
Jeff Mandels's Informed Consent has a slew of fascinating elements that make it an ideal FringeNYC entry. Set in a German mental hospital for women in the early days of World War II, its atmosphere, setting and characters all resonate tension and the potential for visceral unease. Though the action spans only two rooms, the play explores the delusions of the unwell, the compromises made during wartime, the limits and costs of personal ambition, and the sad reality of life for women forgotten by society.
PETUNIA
Reviewed by Melanie N. Lee (August 10, 2013)
How do you kill someone who’s already dead—and should you?
At the start of the “garage musical” Petunia, the title character—a red-haired, aging woman in flowery housecoat—is still alive, burying her cat Whiskers. Her husband Buddy lazes on the couch, playing solitaire. As the kitchen faucet drip, drip, drips (accented with drumbeat), Petunia yells, “YOU THINK YOU’D HELP ME FIX THE SINK OR SOMETHING!” Buddy counters, “It’s always something.”
OLD FAMILIAR FACES
Reviewed by Nathaniel Kressen (August 11, 2013)
By closely following a playwright’s career, one grows accustomed to their tried and true formulas – the tricks they know will work onstage. It’s therefore a special joy to see a writer break out of their comfort zone and try something radically different. Nat Cassidy – a seismic talent – has done just that with his new play Old Familiar Faces, and while it does not yet feel like a fully realized work, it’s shaping up to be one of his most uncluttered and emotionally resonant projects to date.
CLOWN PLAY
Reviewed by Collin McConnell (August 11, 2013)
Sex, semiautomatic assault rifles, ugly Christmas sweaters, and clowns.
At its heart, the battle being waged within Paul David Young’s Clown Play is between what do we want, and how do we want it. Artistic integrity versus entertainment. Affable living versus economic freedom. Sex versus rape. In a generation willing to struggle in order to pursue artistic aspirations, in a culture where abuse is subjective and thoughts on what constitutes a relationship are shifting, and in an age where the middle class is arguably disappearing, this is a valuable idea to explore, flooded with questions worth asking.
CARROLL GARDENS ABORNING
Reviewed by Theresa Buchheister (August 11, 2013)
It is a rare occasion that I leave a theatre after a show, turn to my theatre audience companion, and we simultaneously say 'Let's take the long way to the train. I want to talk about this."
THEY CALL ME Q!
Reviewed by Di Jayawickrema (August 10, 2013)
A solo show is always tough to pull off. A solo show that traces the evolution of a multicultural identity from birth to adulthood? That’s a gargantuan task. And yet, it’s the one Qurrat Ann Kadwani has boldly set herself in the first play she has written, and it’s a testament to her poise and charisma as an actress that she pulls it off competently. In They Call Me Q!, Kadwani charts the rocky path to self-discovery as a culturally-confused Indian girl raised in the Bronx. It’s a skillful though somewhat cursory ride.
THE ABC'S GUIDE TO GETTING FAMOUS
Reviewed by Di Jayawickrema (August 10, 2013)
When I first read the grim “quick facts” about race in casting listed in the program for Spookfish Theatre Company’s The ABC’s Guide to Getting Famous, I thought I’d open my review with one. By the end of the show, I changed my mind.
MONOCULAR MAN
Reviewed by David Koteles (August 11, 2013)
R. Jim Stahl is a natural storyteller. Monocular Man: Story of a One-Eyed Son is his autobiographical monologue presented simply, much as Spalding Gray might have staged it: with a desk, a glass of water and a chalkboard. Tall, handsome, academic-looking and, yes, one-eyed, Stahl is a former high school English teacher and a short story writer. It’s clear he doesn’t really feel comfortable performing, and that has a certain charm at first. He’s unpretentious and clearly his own man, and that makes him quite likable.
STILL LIFE
Reviewed by David Koteles (August 10, 2013)
What do two grapes talk about when they’re alone? Yes, grapes. That’s the premise of Zeke Blackwell’s new comedy Still Life, playing the 2013 New York International Fringe Festival.
WHO'S AFRAID OF ME, MYSELF, AND EDWARD ALBEE?
Reviewed by Cory Conley (August 10, 2013)
Just in time for summer vacation, Matt Thompson gives us yet another reason to avoid taking the bus. There were plenty of reasons before, of course, but Thompson's clever play Who's Afraid of Me, Myself, and Edward Albee? raises the prospect of an alarming new hazard for motor travel: you could face an existential crisis at the bus stop.
SCARRED FOR LIFE: TALE OF A MEXICAN-AMERICAN TRYING TO GET OUT OF EAST L.A.
Reviewed by Megin Jimenez (August 10, 2013)
In his one-man show, Scarred for Life, David Valdez recounts his life growing up in the tough neighborhood of East Los Angeles. Through a series of sketches, jokes and wandering anecdotes, Valdez touches on key moments of his childhood and youth as the youngest son of hard-working Mexican immigrants.
WHY YOU BEASTING?
Reviewed by Sarah Lang (August 10, 2013)
Why You Beasting? is a drama that depicts the journey of a first year high school English teacher in the Bronx, along with his students and fellow faculty members, as they grapple with challenges at all levels of the educational “system”. The show holds wonderful moments of humor, surprising twists, and some truly explosive moments.
SHEEPLE
Reviewed by David Fuller (August 10, 2013)
Sheeple by Mara Wilson is a comedy-drama about high school angst set on a back porch of a southern California home in the summer of 2005. It’s just before senior year and we are at the home of Nick, where we find him and his best friend Alberto, hanging out with not much to do except ponder what life will be like once they graduate. Alberto says he is thinking about enlisting because it’s the only way he can see that he can afford college. Nick, an incipient pacifist, is totally against that, but he has more important things to think about, namely, Soo-Min and their relationship. Soo-Min, of Korean-American heritage, is Nick’s first love, his first intimate experience, and his catalyst for confusion and frustration. Into this mix are Russ, an anarchistic conspiracy theorist who is the group’s pot connection, and Seth, Nick’s older brother who has already graduated and lives elsewhere, but has come by to do his laundry.
BREAKING KAYFABE
Reviewed by Mel House (August 12, 2013)
Kayfabe is a wrestling term that means “top secret,” and also refers to the
practice of maintaining the illusion that wrestling is 100% genuine. In
other words, wrestling is real and what you see on television is reality.
MARRIED SEX
Reviewed by Case Aiken (August 10, 2013)
Married Sex is a new show playing in this year’s New York
International Fringe Festival, featuring a one-woman investigation of the
hurdles that confront women sexually after marriage, sort of. Written and
performed by Laura Zam, with direction by Shirley Serotsky, what is presented is
an uneven piece that I had high hopes for.
LITTLE PIECE OF YOU
Reviewed by Josephine Cashman (August 10, 2013)
Little Piece of You begins with a ten-minute video showing Jessica and
Sam. It’s the kind of cozy and sweet exchange that happens at the
beginning of relationship, but it is disappointing to see it on video, when it
could easily have been performed on the stage to greater success. In fact,
this use of video seems to weaken the powerful bond between
Jessica and Sam. The videos lack the intimacy and chemistry that exists
when the two actors stand on stage and simply look at each other.
SHYAMA - THE LEGEND OF KRISHNA
Reviewed by Amy Lee Pearsall (August 10, 2013)
In many cultures—perhaps none more so than in India—dance is not merely
an art form; it is an act of prayer. To behold the work of dancer/choreographer
Ramya Ramnarayan and the Nrithyanjali ensemble in Shyama – The Legend of
Krishna, currently showing as part of the New York International Fringe
Festival, is to bear witness to a joyous offering of both devotion and narrative
through performance.
THE GREAT III AM
Reviewed by Erin Layton (August 11, 2013)
Upon entering SubCulture—the fabulous FringeNYC venue/bar in the basement of
The Culture Project where Matt Graham performs his one person show The Great
iii Am directed by Darren Lee Cole—the ambiance, music (Rolling Stones’
“Sympathy For the Devil”) and smartly designed set by Launa Eddy, strewn with
random scrabble pieces, a chalkboard and a skeleton seated at what appears to
resemble a chess table, “sets the stage” for what could either be a magic show,
classroom lecture or interactive stand-up comedy routine. Or it could be a game
show with two attractive young woman walking around in tightly fitted dresses
and high heels handing out blank index card assignments to the audience for a
special treat at some point during Matt’s routine. Or all of the above. My
general assumption is that we will be entertained by a master wordsmith
exhibiting his craft in ways that will utilize everything that we’ve seen, heard
and experienced up until lights go up.
LULA DEL RAY
Reviewed by Loren Noveck (August 11, 2013)
THE STORY TELLERS
Reviewed by Richard Hinojosa (August 10, 2013)
Fans of storytelling may well enjoy this production. It takes three macabre short stories, and one narrative poem, and adapts them for the stage in a way that is both interesting and entertaining.
THE NIGHTMARE 'DREAM'
Reviewed by Carissa Cordes (August 11, 2013)
The Nightmare ‘Dream’ came about as playwright Neal Freeman discovered the similarities with Bram Stoker’s Dracula while he was toying about with creating a gothic Midsummer Night’s Dream, so he decided to combine the two texts.
PETER PAN AND STARDUST DANCES
Reviewed by Carissa Cordes (August 11, 2013)
Peter Pan and the Stardust Dancers is the anticipated returned of choreographer Eva Dean to FringeNYC with her family friendly dance shows. The dance begins with story of Peter Pan (George Hirsch) and Tinkerbell (Katherine Moncebaiz) looking for Peter’s Shadow (Jessy Smith) They are soon discovered by Wendy (Klara Beyeler) who convinces Peter to be friends. The mischievous Shadow is reattached with the help of Wendy and Wendy tries to kiss Peter Pan much to the dismay of Tinkerbell. Wendy is then whisked away to Neverland. Shortly thereafter Capitan Hook (Alexander Glaz) and Smee (Hiram Pines) manage to capture Peter. But Peter is saved when the hungry Crocodile (Julien Kanor) comes looking for the rest of Hook.
EPICISH
Reviewed by Sergei Burbank (August 11, 2013)
For those lucky enough to have visited, Savannah is an entrancing city. Contrasted against the newness of much of America, Savannah feels impossibly old. It is the survivor of more than one brush with its demise; as a port city it absorbs elements of all who pass through, yielding a patchwork culture in which one’s value is directly tied to their relation to the city itself rather than other distant abstract origins. Cultures that live on the water -- like Savannah, or New York City, or Athens -- have a front row seat to awe-inspiring displays of energy: be they storms arriving from off-shore or invading armies seeking passage to the sea; therefore, they have a different understanding of history that is tied to tides.
KILLER THERAPY
Reviewed by Ethan Angelica (August 10, 2013)
Does strength breed aggression? Must pacifism only equate to openness and connection? And what happens when you reverse these equations? These are the big questions asked in Killer Therapy, Brandt Johnson's new play in FringeNYC. And they are important ones. Yet, the play itself is a rambling, confused jumble of scenes that never dives deep enough into these issues to actually make the audience think hard about them.
LIGHTS NARROW
Reviewed by Martin Denton (August 11, 2013)
If you are seeking a theatrical work that probes some of the most fundamental and profound questions that plague humankind, then Vincent Marano's offering in FringeNYC 2013, Lights Narrow, is for you. Seldom does drama tackle the issues of the soul and salvation, the existence of heaven and hell, and what happens to us when we die; on the rare occasions when it does, it is usually more in the realm of speculative fiction than on the almost wholly spiritual terms that Marano confines himself to. The result is a piercing, surprisingly intimate play that raises many questions and unsettles, even as it attempts to resolve some of the eternal conflicts at its center.
NDEBELE FUNERAL
Reviewed by Ed Malin (August 11, 2013)
Brooklyn-based Smoke & Mirrors Collaborative has presented their work on several continents and now brings Ndebele Funeral to FringeNYC.
SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE
Reviewed by Kristin Skye Hoffmann (August 11, 2013)
This year at FringeNYC, True False Theatre has contributed Daria Tavana’s dramatization of Kurt Vonnegut’s most well-known novel Slaughterhouse-Five. The book is required reading for most American High School students and rightly so. The story is Vonnegut’s semi-autobiographical WWII satire that chronicles the adventures of Billy Pilgrim, a reluctant soldier who refuses to fight. It examines the illogical nature of humans and the decisions we make over the course of our lives.
THE DEAD HOOKER PLAY
Reviewed by Kristin Skye Hoffmann (August 11, 2013)
Scotty Decker’s latest offering to FringeNYC is his new work, The Dead Hooker Play, and it is definitely as dark and wacky as the title suggests. We begin in a cheap motel room where Miles, our murderous hero played by the playwright/director himself, stands in a state of calm consideration over the body of the “dead hooker” in question. Almost immediately he joins a whirlwind of ridiculousness when his overage hipster friend, Marco ( played by a manic Jim Conroy) who’s skinny jeans just aren’t quite skinny enough, blows in and announces that he’s been “candy flipping” (thank you, Urban Dictionary) a variety of drugs and huffing paint or glue or something. Marco seems to be unphased by the whole idea of a dead hooker in the room and is completely accepting of Miles’ matter of fact proclamation that he himself has murdered her. It is his “very first murder” after all and as he says, “Every monster was a man first.”
TALK TO ME ABOUT SHAME
Reviewed by Lillian Meredith (August 10, 2013)
Before the start of Talk to me about Shame, co-creator and performer Julian Goldhagen joins the audience in the house. He greets friends, meets new people, and is generally charming and casual, establishing an atmosphere of ease. He manages to do this, it must be added, while wearing nothing but a large diaper and blue toenail polish.
SARAZAD AND THE MONSTER-KING
Reviewed by Rew David Greer (August 10, 2013)
When you think of the New York International Fringe Festival you think of exciting and daring theatrical works. Children’s theatre does not immediately come to mind. Still, New York’s premiere summer theatre festival would not be complete without a few options for the whole family. With this year’s slim pickings of only three such shows you can count on The TRUF Theatre Company’s production of Sarazad and the Monster-King as an interactive family pleaser, even if it’s rough around the edges.
WHAT'S AN ANJAN?
Reviewed by Mel House (August 10, 2013)
What’s An Anjan?
Breathe. Here goes.
LOLLAPACOACHAROOZASTOCK MUSIC FESTIVAL
Reviewed by Ed Malin (August 11, 2013)
Lollapacoacharoozastock Music Festival is a spoof of music festivals, hair bands, arena rockers, and the like. There is something to enjoy here for those who want to laugh with (not at) the 80s, 90s, and today. Adam Blotner and Jenny Pinzari Blotner (and an outstanding assortment of wigs) have developed this show with The Groundlings Theatre in Los Angeles, and now bring it to FringeNYC. They are backed by the versatile band Positive Feedback: Matt Tobin on keyboard, Joe Hendrick on drums, Daniel Namm on electric guitar, and Danny Weller on bass.
LANDSCAPE WITH MISSING PERSON: A COMEDY ABOUT FINDING WHAT YOU DIDN'T KNOW YOU WERE LOOKING FOR
Reviewed by Martin Denton (August 10, 2013)
In a year that has seen many more than its share of dystopic and apocalyptic
visions on stage, it is a breath of fresh, clear, cool air to discover John
Crutchfield's stunning new play Landscape With Missing Person, a luminous
but quiet celebration of the power of the human spirit and of love. It's
presented at FringeNYC by Asheville, North Carolina's Magnetic Theatre, in a
production of spare and stately beauty directed by Steven Samuels. It deserves
to be a gigantic hit at this year's festival and beyond: I wish it a long and
fruitful life.
SNAKES I HAVE KNOWN
Reviewed by Martin Denton (August 11, 2013)
I've only spent about 24 hours of my life in Texas, and just about all of
them were spent inside a hotel or at the DFW airport. But after spending just
one hour with playwright/actor Molly Montgomery at her vivid and colorful solo
show Snakes I Have Known, I feel as though I've done a good deal of time
in the Lone Star State.
LISTEN...CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?
Reviewed by Erin Layton (August 10, 2013)
The path to finding one’s voice is rarely easy especially when the adults who brought you into the world dictate the exact moments of when, how or if you should speak. Such is the case with Gloria Rosen’s touching and heartfelt one person show, Listen...Can You Hear Me Now - an autobiographical telling of her upbringing with two deaf parents.
BANG, BANG YOU'RE DEAD
Reviewed by Josephine Cashman (August 11, 2013)
“Columbine, Newtown, Virginia Tech,” chant the ensemble. Violent shootings in schools now covers all grades, from nursery schools to universities. In this case, High School student Josh (played by the talented Ed Squires) kills five fellow students in his school’s cafeteria: One is his ex-girlfriend, another a former friend, and three other students who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
RUBBLE
Reviewed by Jo Ann Rosen (August 10, 2013)
What is FringNYC for if not to try out new material? That’s what Mike Reiss, veteran writer for the animated TV smash The Simpsons, seems to be doing with RUBBLE, a fast-paced play that draws on all sorts of comedy – physical, farce, burlesque, screwball, self-deprecating and more – to deliver consistently funny lines. And he does it with a first-rate cast. Taking no chances, Reiss lured an all-star creative team to support this production, undoubtedly preparing for a wider audience.
BULLY
Reviewed by Heather McAllister (August 10, 2013)
When you see someone like Lee J. Kaplan – extraordinarily fit, well spoken and handsome – it’s easy to project an breezy confidence, to imagine that their life must be a piece of cake. But in his one man show, Bully, Kaplan lowers his put together façade, revealing the vulnerable, joyous little boy who’s enthusiasm and uniqueness, as he says, “painted a big ole bully target” right on his back. Kaplan literally takes us into the boxing ring, where he challenges the bullies of his past, and their resonating echoes in his present, in “the fight of his life.”
VERY BAD WORDS
Reviewed by Taylor Shann (August 10, 2013)
Jacob Presson’s Very Bad Words reminded me very much, in both title and spirit, of the pitch black comedy film Very Bad Things. How you feel about one will gauge how you feel about the other. Many people find the movie funny, and many people in the audience (some of whom, based on the cheering at the beginning, were friends and family of the cast) were laughing. For both, I was so appalled by how the material was handled that there was little left to do but admire the skill of the actors committing to their roles.
THE 3RD GENDER
Reviewed by Ed Malin (August 10, 2013)
The 3rd Gender is sci-fi with a heart. It comes from the mind of Peter Zachari, whose work on Fat Asses: The Musical earlier this year was particularly noteworthy. It took me a while to warm to this cautionary tale of a gender-controlled future. When I see sci-fi in which there is discussion of eugenics mixed with waving of guns, shouting, and hot pursuit, I think of Logan’s Run, or perhaps A Brave New World or Sleeper. Fortunately, this play is not black-and-white, but asks us to pick up the gay man’s burden and imagine a world where anyone displaying “heteronormative” tendencies is killed at birth to avoid society’s relapse into a primitive past.
NICHOLAS MAEVE MARIANNE
Reviewed by Aimee Todoroff (August 10, 2013)
Lights come up on a table littered with alcoholic drinks. We enter the action mid-stream — a rapid fire debate between two friends while a third acts as peace-maker. It is made clear from the start that these people, now apparently in their late twenties, have known each other for a decade at least. There is a tension in the air, and we just know that by the end of the play, the relationships between these three people, now interacting as a cohesive, if somewhat dysfunctional unit will have painfully and irreparably changed. It is a well worn trope, but the expertly drawn characters and outstanding performances by the cast make Nicholas Maeve Marianne stand out as a thoughtful play well worth seeing.
LIKE POETRY
Reviewed by Martin Denton (August 10, 2013)
At the core of Kristian O'Hare's new play Like Poetry, which is being
presented by Ivy Theatre Company at FringeNYC, is a compelling and important
story of a young gay man who has repressed his sexual identity with sorrowful
and regretful results. When we first meet him, the protagonist Stagger is seeking
help from an unorthodox (possibly just holistic?) therapist known simply as Doc;
a blend of herbs and medicines and a journey though the poetry of Walt Whitman
comprise the prescription that will help Stagger address and hopefully work
through his crisis. Much of the play consists of flashbacks, where Stagger
recalls moments from his youth, dealing with an overprotective Mom and a distant
but macho
Dad and the strange yearnings he seems to feel for his best friend Card.
HALF
Reviewed by Alyssa Simon (August 10, 2013)
The start of a marriage can be like a fairytale. Spouses are royalty who rule over the private dominion of their castle or one-bedroom apartment. But Becca Foresman’s HALF, a terrifically absurd and hysterically funny two-person farce acted by Foresman and Adam Zivkovic, shows what happens when Their Majesties divorce, the magic spell breaks and innocents are left to pick up the pieces. No really. It’s very funny.
DOUBLE HEART (THE COURTSHIP OF BEATRICE AND BENEDICK)
Reviewed by Heather Lee Rogers (August 10, 2013)
In Shakespeare’s comedy Much Ado About Nothing the characters of Beatrice and Benedick begin the play with scathing, verbal attacks on each other while each separately swearing to never fall in love. But when Don Pedro takes Beatrice to task for putting down his friend, they have the following curious conversation:
ADAM & STEVE AND THE EMPTY SEA
Reviewed by Naomi McDougall Graham (August 10, 2013)
Adam & Steve and the Empty Sea is an outstandingly beautiful, smart, funny, profound, and heartbreaking play. Even in the FringeNYC, where you have 183 choices, go see this play. You won’t regret it.
ME LOVE ME
Reviewed by Steven Cherry (August 10, 2013)
A three-person play offers three potential two-person relationships: A+B, B+C, and A+C. But what if A=C?
A FALLOPIAN FAIRY TALE
Reviewed by Josephine Cashman (August 10, 2013)
In Fact and in Fiction, girls grow up. Bodies change, hormones race, and fairy tales and princesses are a way to make it more palatable. Marisa Marquez fairly points out that sanitized fairy tales discourage girls from growing into a powerful and unique self. Marisa pitches a story for girls that will take the Pink, Fluffy, Disney-ification out of Princesses and put the Bold and Spirited Pussy back in. Marisa’s one-woman show tells two intertwining tales; one is her strict, catholic, Pilipino upbringing. The other is a grittier fairy tale version.
THE DRIFTS LIVE: THE NOVEL ONSTAGE
Reviewed by Ed Malin (August 10, 2013)
In 2006, author/performer and Arkansas native Thom Vernon left the U.S. for Canada so he could remain with his Zimbabwean partner. However, I can’t detect bitterness towards his native land in his work. His adaptation of his 2010 novel The Drifts surely is worthy of attention for its portrayal of unfulfilled dreams in Arkansas. The inclusion of queer voices makes this story even more compelling. I’m reading the e-book available from Coach House Books right now.
