Fringe Tuesday - two great shows
Aug. 6th, 2008 10:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dreamsharkBoom * * * *
presented by IL Productions (Andrew Connor)
A touching fable about a small-town bomb maker trying to maintain his high standards of ethics and craftsmanship in the face of corporate America. Andrew Connor is one-half of the astonishing Cody Rivers Company performing solo in a much smaller space. Cody Rivers is so popular that we were worried this one might sell out, but no, everybody was lining up to see the Pumpkin Pie Stories instead. "Boom" has one more performance, and it is well worth seeing. Although it really should have been called "The Butterfly Bomb" instead of "Boom."
Shakespeare's Land of the Dead * * * * 1/2
presented by Walking Shadow
Since we were already in Rarig we got swept away by the mob and piled into this hit show. The line went out the door and down the block, but it's a big theater so even the huge rush line got in. It's a much better show than you'd expect. Everybody talks about the zombies but it was actually quite a good play before the zombies showed up, focusing on the relationships of the folks in the inner circle at the Globe Theater. Although the zombie mayhem is fun, the first half of the play is better written, in very plausible sounding Elizabethan English with just occasional embedded Shakespeare. By the last act, the dialogue consists mostly of familiar quotes repurposed for zombie attacks (there are, after all, a lot of death scenes to draw on in the Shakespearean canon). And then everybody dies and the zombies take over London.
In other news, I'm sorry to report that I was right to worry about the cast of Deviants hurting themselves. One of the female performers had an injury and is now out of the show. They cancelled one performance but are continuing with a stand-in. I heard about the injury from the guy sitting next to me at a show on Monday, and got more details last night when I saw The Milkman handing out show fliers. The injured performer is Vanessa, the woman in the slinky black dress. She did not, however, break an ankle on those spike heels - just pulled a muscle in her leg. I'm glad to hear it isn't anything permanent or serious, but how sad to have that happen halfway through the show's run.
presented by IL Productions (Andrew Connor)
A touching fable about a small-town bomb maker trying to maintain his high standards of ethics and craftsmanship in the face of corporate America. Andrew Connor is one-half of the astonishing Cody Rivers Company performing solo in a much smaller space. Cody Rivers is so popular that we were worried this one might sell out, but no, everybody was lining up to see the Pumpkin Pie Stories instead. "Boom" has one more performance, and it is well worth seeing. Although it really should have been called "The Butterfly Bomb" instead of "Boom."
Shakespeare's Land of the Dead * * * * 1/2
presented by Walking Shadow
Since we were already in Rarig we got swept away by the mob and piled into this hit show. The line went out the door and down the block, but it's a big theater so even the huge rush line got in. It's a much better show than you'd expect. Everybody talks about the zombies but it was actually quite a good play before the zombies showed up, focusing on the relationships of the folks in the inner circle at the Globe Theater. Although the zombie mayhem is fun, the first half of the play is better written, in very plausible sounding Elizabethan English with just occasional embedded Shakespeare. By the last act, the dialogue consists mostly of familiar quotes repurposed for zombie attacks (there are, after all, a lot of death scenes to draw on in the Shakespearean canon). And then everybody dies and the zombies take over London.
In other news, I'm sorry to report that I was right to worry about the cast of Deviants hurting themselves. One of the female performers had an injury and is now out of the show. They cancelled one performance but are continuing with a stand-in. I heard about the injury from the guy sitting next to me at a show on Monday, and got more details last night when I saw The Milkman handing out show fliers. The injured performer is Vanessa, the woman in the slinky black dress. She did not, however, break an ankle on those spike heels - just pulled a muscle in her leg. I'm glad to hear it isn't anything permanent or serious, but how sad to have that happen halfway through the show's run.
