#25 The Stage is a World
This summer has been a whirlwind of travel, performance, and day-job drama. I’ve been on 33 flights this year and, if I’m being conservative, there are about half a dozen more to come. I’m full of Airport Candy (SM) and my body feels like I’ve been sleeping in a wheelbarrow.
However, there are major upsides to the Airport Candy/Wheelbarrow plan.
I’m performing my solo show, That’s Not How It Happened, all over the place. That’s amazing and I will definitely be reflecting on that experience in the coming weeks. In the meantime (shameless plug) you can read reviews of the show here and here.
Photo credit: Daniel Axler
Of the many wonderful things about doing these Fringe Festivals all over the country, one of the greatest is getting to see live performances. Because of my schedule, I wasn’t able to see as many shows in DC or PEI as I would have liked, but I drank from the firehouse at IndyFringe.
In 3 days, I saw stuff ranging from serious dramatic plays, solo shows, and legit musicals to transcendent dance shows, buffon-clown theatricals, and straight-up magic shows.
Here’s a smattering of what I really loved….
I saw this show late on a Saturday night. It was a last-minute switch-up based on a recommendation from another performer. And I am so glad I did. FFTTB is a little hard to describe: dance, music, lighting, balloons. The Fourth Wall Ensemble is made up of 3 insanely talented artists, all of whom play instruments, dance, and create a visual tableaux that I’m still thinking about a week later. Plus, balloons.
Photo Credit and Copyright: Brian Harris - H&M Photography
She's playing the flute while en pointe. Show off.
A comedy musical about a Hunger Games-like volleyball tournament — the losers die. It’s an ensemble of 7 who rotate through a cast characters, all winners and losers. It was the kind of show where we were laughing so hard, we missed the other half of the lines.
Photo credit: Daniel Axler
A gut-busting cabaret show featuring our favorite “crazy women” from history: Typhoid Mary, Lizzie Borden, Medusa, and more. Powerhouse vocalists belted out parodies of classic tunes (like: “I Ain’t Got No Body” sung by Marie Antionette, Anne Boleyn, and Mary Queen of Scots).
Photo credit: Daniel Axler
The director of this show described it to me thusly: “The Teletubbies meets Fellini meets Pussy Riot.”
Photo credit: Daniel Axler
OA is a strange and wild series of darkly comic feminist monologues written by Franca Rame and Dario Fo, adapted by Estelle Parsons (yes, that Estelle Parsons. She’s fascinating too!). This production was fast, furious, and funny. It left me scratching my head - which, on reflection, is exactly what it was trying to do.
Seen anything cool this summer? Let me know in the comments below (or on FB/IG)….
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