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dreamsharkSunday was a bang-up ending to the 2010 Fringe. We took advantage of the unexpectedly beautiful weather (finally!) to bike to the West Bank. Saw 4 shows, including what turned out to be my Pick of the Fringe (Fruitcake). If only we'd quit while we were ahead and not seen that last show (ick ick ick) it would have been a perfect day. But we had a nice bike ride home in the fresh, cool (at last!) air to recover, so it was a fine day.
2:30 p.m. Idiosynchronicity * * *
presented by Rob Callahan
Venue: U of M Rarig Arena
Short stories and a sort of geek/beat poetry very well performed by local writer Rob Callahan. He didn't have the material quite memorized but knew it well enough so that he never missed a beat while pacing around the rotating podium, whirling it expertly when he needed to consult his script. Skillful use of the difficult in-the-round performance space. Unfortunately, most of his material didn't really gel for me. The first story (about 2 old men in a space ship, each trying to outlive the other) was the best, but a little too obviously cribbed from Larry Niven. The geek-love stories were amusing, but the heavily generational pop culture references are aimed at a target audience of which I am not a member so they didn't really resonate for me.
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5:30 p.m. The Princeton Seventh * * * * *
presented by Partizan Theater
Venue: U of M Rarig Thrust
A very tightly written one-act play, impeccably performed. All is not as it seems.
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7:00 p.m. Fruitcake-Ten Commandments from the Psych Ward * * * * *
presented by Rob Gee
Venue: U of M Rarig Thrust
Absolutely brilliant, possibly the best performance I saw this year. With his rubber face, restless energy and manic grin, this guy is a riveting story-teller. And what stories! The words pour out at breakneck speed, and soon the empty stage seems to be overflowing with funny/sad/horrifying/tragicomic characters from Rob's years as a psychiatric nurse. It may sound mean to be laughing at mentally ill people, but Rob's
heart is as big as his sense of humor, and he tells these stories with an equal serving of compassion and wit. When I have my psychotic break, I just hope I'm on his floor!
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8:30 (Encore Performance) An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein * *
Rarig Experimental
Evil Temptress Productions
My initial reaction to the title of the show was to skip right past it with the comment, "I've always thought Shel Silverstein was deeply creepy." But then it turned into the must-see sellout show of the Fringe and I decided I had to see it too. I was right the first time. It was intermittently witty and well enough acted, but more ugly than funny. I mean, a whole sketch consisting of a man and woman shouting slang terms for breasts and penis at each other? Beavis and Butthead would have loved it. The last sketch (who would YOU throw overboard?) was actually pretty funny, but by that time I just wanted to get out of the theater and scrape the layer of dark sludge off my psyche. An angry man, that Shel Silverstein.
2:30 p.m. Idiosynchronicity * * *
presented by Rob Callahan
Venue: U of M Rarig Arena
Short stories and a sort of geek/beat poetry very well performed by local writer Rob Callahan. He didn't have the material quite memorized but knew it well enough so that he never missed a beat while pacing around the rotating podium, whirling it expertly when he needed to consult his script. Skillful use of the difficult in-the-round performance space. Unfortunately, most of his material didn't really gel for me. The first story (about 2 old men in a space ship, each trying to outlive the other) was the best, but a little too obviously cribbed from Larry Niven. The geek-love stories were amusing, but the heavily generational pop culture references are aimed at a target audience of which I am not a member so they didn't really resonate for me.
_____________
5:30 p.m. The Princeton Seventh * * * * *
presented by Partizan Theater
Venue: U of M Rarig Thrust
A very tightly written one-act play, impeccably performed. All is not as it seems.
_____________
7:00 p.m. Fruitcake-Ten Commandments from the Psych Ward * * * * *
presented by Rob Gee
Venue: U of M Rarig Thrust
Absolutely brilliant, possibly the best performance I saw this year. With his rubber face, restless energy and manic grin, this guy is a riveting story-teller. And what stories! The words pour out at breakneck speed, and soon the empty stage seems to be overflowing with funny/sad/horrifying/tragicomic characters from Rob's years as a psychiatric nurse. It may sound mean to be laughing at mentally ill people, but Rob's
heart is as big as his sense of humor, and he tells these stories with an equal serving of compassion and wit. When I have my psychotic break, I just hope I'm on his floor!
_____________
8:30 (Encore Performance) An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein * *
Rarig Experimental
Evil Temptress Productions
My initial reaction to the title of the show was to skip right past it with the comment, "I've always thought Shel Silverstein was deeply creepy." But then it turned into the must-see sellout show of the Fringe and I decided I had to see it too. I was right the first time. It was intermittently witty and well enough acted, but more ugly than funny. I mean, a whole sketch consisting of a man and woman shouting slang terms for breasts and penis at each other? Beavis and Butthead would have loved it. The last sketch (who would YOU throw overboard?) was actually pretty funny, but by that time I just wanted to get out of the theater and scrape the layer of dark sludge off my psyche. An angry man, that Shel Silverstein.
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Date: 2010-08-17 10:23 pm (UTC)I understand completely about Shel Silverstein, but I was more emotionally prepared, and I really appreciated hearing the voices behind the essays. The actors did a really good job of bringing the characters to life. Interestingly, both Carole and I thought the last sketch was the weakest.