Fringe Festival - Day 1 (Thursday)
Aug. 2nd, 2008 11:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dreamsharkTwo very good shows to start out. I'm annoyed that the Fringe site has dropped half-star ratings, but I'm going to continue to use them. Last year I tried to post most of my reviews on the Fringe site, but I'm not going to bother this year unless I feel I have something to say that needs to be said. In particular, I will try to post reviews if I find unexpectedly good shows that have been overlooked. However, there's no reason to say lukewarm things about a show that other people might just love, and there's rarely anything to say about a Scrimshaw show that somebody else hasn't posted already.
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Tipping the Bucket * * * 1/2
Allegra J. Lingo
This story-teller got great buzz last year, but I never got to one of her shows. She does indeed have a very artful way with words and a polished delivery, but her material was a little thin, imho. I liked the way her apparently separate stories wove together retroactively to form a larger tale about her spiritual journey, and she handled the difficult theater in-the-round space about as well as possible (but really, a space like that doesn't work well for an individual storyteller unless the story teller is Joe Scrimshaw). Allegra seems to be a really likable person so I feel a little mean saying this but (as one of my companions commented) her personal story isn't really as compelling as she seems to think it is.
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Dance of the Whisky Faerie * * * * *
Joseph & Sara Scrimshaw
This is my idea of a perfect Fringe show. Joe Scrimshaw is just a comic genius and that's all there is to it. This would have been a great show even if he had just stood in the middle of the stage and spewed out his hilariously modernized versions of British Isles faerie stories (I was particularly taken with the special talents demonstrated by the Brainerd faerie changeling). But we've all seen Joe tell stories before (haven't we?). Just for variety (and probably so that the show could be submitted to the Fringe lottery by someone else), the stories are combined with modern dance performed by the talented Sara Stevenson Scrimshaw. I love modern dance, but have a short attention span for non-verbal performances, so for me this was a combination made in heaven. The fact that the two performers are married to each other added another level of nuance to the show; clearly they were acting out some of the dynamics in their relationship and having a ball doing it. I'd be perfectly happy to see this show again if anybody wants company.
__________________________________________________________________________
Tipping the Bucket * * * 1/2
Allegra J. Lingo
This story-teller got great buzz last year, but I never got to one of her shows. She does indeed have a very artful way with words and a polished delivery, but her material was a little thin, imho. I liked the way her apparently separate stories wove together retroactively to form a larger tale about her spiritual journey, and she handled the difficult theater in-the-round space about as well as possible (but really, a space like that doesn't work well for an individual storyteller unless the story teller is Joe Scrimshaw). Allegra seems to be a really likable person so I feel a little mean saying this but (as one of my companions commented) her personal story isn't really as compelling as she seems to think it is.
______________________________________________________________________
Dance of the Whisky Faerie * * * * *
Joseph & Sara Scrimshaw
This is my idea of a perfect Fringe show. Joe Scrimshaw is just a comic genius and that's all there is to it. This would have been a great show even if he had just stood in the middle of the stage and spewed out his hilariously modernized versions of British Isles faerie stories (I was particularly taken with the special talents demonstrated by the Brainerd faerie changeling). But we've all seen Joe tell stories before (haven't we?). Just for variety (and probably so that the show could be submitted to the Fringe lottery by someone else), the stories are combined with modern dance performed by the talented Sara Stevenson Scrimshaw. I love modern dance, but have a short attention span for non-verbal performances, so for me this was a combination made in heaven. The fact that the two performers are married to each other added another level of nuance to the show; clearly they were acting out some of the dynamics in their relationship and having a ball doing it. I'd be perfectly happy to see this show again if anybody wants company.
