Fringe - saving the best for last

[dreamshark]

Sunday was definitely the best day, overall, with the gorgeous weather, dinner at Loring Grill, and two really excellent shows. Missed the boat on minnehaha's brunch expedition, so we went to LG for dinner instead. Significantly more expensive than lunch, but worth it. Both Bob and Chris were there, which was a plus. The dinner rush was over, so Bob joined us at our outside table for some catching up and gossip. It was delightful to see him. He sounded like he was missing the old Minnstf crowd and would like to be invited to a Minnstf meeting sometime soon. I got his email address if anyone wants it.

Adventures in Mating - absolutely the funniest thing I've seen at the Fringe this year. Richard thought it tied with THACO for that title, which says a lot considering how totally THACO's Target Audience he is. I almost skipped this one, due to an unfortunate experience with an "interactive play" at BNW years ago (I think it was called "Flanagan's Wake," and it was dreadful, combining all the worst aspects of ethnic stereotypes played for laughs and lazy improv). This was something else entirely. The sharp writing and dead-on comic timing would have been quite enough on their own to make this a winner. But the audience participation element was handled so skillfully that it made the show even better. Considering that the format meant that they had to have rehearsed as least twice as much material as we actually saw on the stage, the quality was astounding.

Charley Bethel's Gilgamesh - wow. One of our best local story-tellers tackles the oldest recorded story, with spectacular results. Other than the song in Silverlock, I really didn't know much about The Epic of Gilgamesh except that it was written in cuneiform on clay tablets thousands of years ago. It's really quite a tale. I may write a little more about it later.

Comments

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

I am sorry to have missed "Adventures in Mating", but I did very much like "Michigan Disasters," and so that last performance of each was at the same time. We went to "Michigan" because it was easy to jump over to see "THAC0", which was important as the show sold out.

I thought "THAC0" was funny, but at least 20 minutes too long. I am not the target audience at all. Lots of audience members had to buy a Fringe button as well as a ticket; the word was clearly Out among the gamers.

K. [I am glad the Fringe is over, in truth. it is so time-consuming!]

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

We both liked Michigan Disasters a lot too.

Time-consuming? Really? Gosh, I guess that's what happens when you set yourself a Quest of seeing at least 15 shows, eh? What was your final total?

It may sound like I'm poking fun, but I'm seriously considering going with the Ultrapass next year. If I counted right, I came in just under Ultrapass level this year, with 14 shows. It was fun, in the same way Minicon is fun. You get so focused on one thing that the rest of the world kind of fades away. Like going out of town for a week.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

I saw 20 shows in all. Pretty good considering that there were 4 days of the 11-day run of the festival that I didn't see any. Seeing everything playing at one venue in a single day really upped the count. The logistics of getting between shows are no small matter (as you of course know).

K.

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

I've been reading some translations of the Epic of Gilgamesh (available online) more or less recently - it also contains the earliest known dream interpretations.

Bob Johnson

[markiv1111.livejournal.com]

When Louie and I went down for my birthday dinner last Thursday, Bob had just left for the day. I did call him yesterday afternoon, and we made a date for a longer phone conversation sometime when he isn't actually cooking. Meanwhile, though, I'd be quite happy to have his e-mail address, and he won't mind -- this is someone who is *very much* an old friend, as well as being a humam being I really respect.

Nate