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Has anybody seen Soccerazzi?
Aug. 10th, 2007 01:32 pmIt fits my schedule (Uptown. Tonight.) but has only two reviewers and both reviewers hated it.
Aug. 10th, 2007
Fringe Day 8 - Thursday
Aug. 10th, 2007 11:36 pm7:00 PM We'll Survive if We Don't Protect Ourselves * * * * 1/2
Presented by Penelope Freeh at Grain Belt Bottling House - Atrium
Really superb dancing in a very interesting space. I particularly enjoyed the segments where the dancers wore gorilla heads. Not quite 5 stars because I would have liked a little more variety - maybe 30 minutes of the main dance and a couple of short pieces with a different tempo and style. But that's probably my failing more than the dance troupe's - I just don't have a very long attention span for non-verbal performance.
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9:00 PM The Most Mysterious Day of the Year * * *
Presented by The Missoula Oblongata at Circle of Discipline
Not the worst show I've seen this year by any means, but probably the most aggravating. So many wonderful bits: the nutso surrealism, excellent acting, bright bits of dialogue, inspired use of props. Yet the whole is so much less than the sum of its parts. What ever possessed these people to think that they needed 90 minutes for this little bit of fluff? Even an hour would have felt long (especially in that unbearably hot performance space), but an hour and a half was interminable. Jokes that would have been wonderful as throwaway lines were draggggged out and repeated until they ceased to be funny and just became annoying. The cockeyed characters were initially charming, but by they end they just became sad and tiresome. And all that time spent setting up the plot turned out to be treading water - the "mystery" was never solved, the relationships between the two feuding families went nowhere, the parakeet (the only likeable character) spent the second half of the play in a semi-catatonic depression, and the whole show ended much like the final season of The Sopranos. Unlike last year's offering (Wonders of the World, Recite) this play did not have a single moment of joy in it. This troupe has tremendous talent and creative energy, and if they're here next year I'll go see them again - provided the show isn't more than an hour long!
Presented by Penelope Freeh at Grain Belt Bottling House - Atrium
Really superb dancing in a very interesting space. I particularly enjoyed the segments where the dancers wore gorilla heads. Not quite 5 stars because I would have liked a little more variety - maybe 30 minutes of the main dance and a couple of short pieces with a different tempo and style. But that's probably my failing more than the dance troupe's - I just don't have a very long attention span for non-verbal performance.
______________________________________________
9:00 PM The Most Mysterious Day of the Year * * *
Presented by The Missoula Oblongata at Circle of Discipline
Not the worst show I've seen this year by any means, but probably the most aggravating. So many wonderful bits: the nutso surrealism, excellent acting, bright bits of dialogue, inspired use of props. Yet the whole is so much less than the sum of its parts. What ever possessed these people to think that they needed 90 minutes for this little bit of fluff? Even an hour would have felt long (especially in that unbearably hot performance space), but an hour and a half was interminable. Jokes that would have been wonderful as throwaway lines were draggggged out and repeated until they ceased to be funny and just became annoying. The cockeyed characters were initially charming, but by they end they just became sad and tiresome. And all that time spent setting up the plot turned out to be treading water - the "mystery" was never solved, the relationships between the two feuding families went nowhere, the parakeet (the only likeable character) spent the second half of the play in a semi-catatonic depression, and the whole show ended much like the final season of The Sopranos. Unlike last year's offering (Wonders of the World, Recite) this play did not have a single moment of joy in it. This troupe has tremendous talent and creative energy, and if they're here next year I'll go see them again - provided the show isn't more than an hour long!
Fringe Day 9 - Friday
Aug. 10th, 2007 11:54 pm8:00 PM the limitation of sight * * * *
Presented by Country Waif Productions at Bryant-Lake Bowl
Another of those serendipitous discoveries - I just picked this one because I biked to/from work, and BLB is literally on my way home - right next to the Bryant exit from the Midtown Bikeway. That, and they serve food. I put on a huge burst of speed and made it all the way from Eden Prairie in 50 minutes, hooked a great spot right in the front row of the tiered seats, and managed to order a beer and quesadillas just as the lights went down. All that, and the show was good too! It was just a sweet little 2-person play about relationships: no manic surrealism, no multimedia extravaganzas, and (thank God) no puppets. The situation was one of those personal crises that is really only possible to take seriously when you're about 20 years old. But the actors really WERE about 20 years old and very engaging, which made it easy to like the characters and hope that things work out for them in the long run.
Oddly enough, of the 20 or so plays I have seen so far, this may have been the first one that didn't have any cross-gender casting. There was one guy, and he was played by a guy. One girl and she was played by a girl. It actually worked pretty well. Maybe it will catch on.
Presented by Country Waif Productions at Bryant-Lake Bowl
Another of those serendipitous discoveries - I just picked this one because I biked to/from work, and BLB is literally on my way home - right next to the Bryant exit from the Midtown Bikeway. That, and they serve food. I put on a huge burst of speed and made it all the way from Eden Prairie in 50 minutes, hooked a great spot right in the front row of the tiered seats, and managed to order a beer and quesadillas just as the lights went down. All that, and the show was good too! It was just a sweet little 2-person play about relationships: no manic surrealism, no multimedia extravaganzas, and (thank God) no puppets. The situation was one of those personal crises that is really only possible to take seriously when you're about 20 years old. But the actors really WERE about 20 years old and very engaging, which made it easy to like the characters and hope that things work out for them in the long run.
Oddly enough, of the 20 or so plays I have seen so far, this may have been the first one that didn't have any cross-gender casting. There was one guy, and he was played by a guy. One girl and she was played by a girl. It actually worked pretty well. Maybe it will catch on.