Fringe part 2

[blue_lotus13]

I started off Saturday with a play called Doom 2012- When will you flee? This was a one-man show about the coming apocalypse and when we're going to bite it due to viruses, lack of oil, climate change, etc. The actor was good, and comical and it was basically an informative lecture, complete with audience participation. It contained A LOT of information and multi-media effects and was extremely well done. Not for everyone, but good for history and science geeks, current news junkies and conspiracy theorists. I thought it was well put together, and created interesting discussion among audience members, so 4 stars.

Between Tosha and Bolek- Holy crap, I hated this play. It was about two old Soviet era people who were about to die and who pledged that they were going to die together. Slow, and boring and I couldn't wait for a character to die so I could stop watching the play. There were some nice moments as they tried to remember their memories, and the acting was all right, so two stars.

Nggrfg- Add the vowels to discover the real title of this play. Actor Berend McKenzie delivered a one man performance about being black and queer. He also talked about being adopted into a white family, and about his childhood experiences. This was both painful and funny and he was incredibly charismatic and likeable. I admired the bravado and honesty in this production and it made me cry, so FIVE STARS.

Late night Cabaret- This is a new addition to the Fringe. It's a good idea. They had improv hosts doing segments and some comedy routines. Then they brought out guests from other plays who had to spin "The Wheel of Destiny" to get a game show challenge. During this show, comedic Rob Gee had to marinate his balls in a beer. Then one of the hosts had to drink it. This was incredibly gross, but the crowd loved it. (The ball marinating took place offstage.) The idea was good, because you get to hear/meet a lot of new actors and hear about their shows.

Douche/Awesome- This show was likely written by a guy sitting in his basement. It was about guys who like to sit around in their basements, making dick jokes, being annoying and worshipping at the altars of Kevin Smith and Judd Apatow. There were some good lines and I loved one guy's Alan Rickman impersonation, so I gave them 2 stars, after telling them they needed to get a plot.

All in all, this was a great experience for me. I learned a lot about reviewing and about how to evaluate things. I ended up checking other peoples' reviews of shows after I'd seen them, and quite often saw that many of the comments were similar to mine. I had a great conversation with a critic who watches all the local plays in order to help nominate people for the Sterlings, which are the big theatre awards in town. He is moved by truth and honesty in performance and writing and this is what drives him.

The whole experience was fantastic and tiring. I'd do it again, for sure. I thought I'd be inspired to write a play after reviewing so many, but I found that I really just want to write good short stories and I'm not going to learn how to do plays at this moment. So I'm back at my desk writing about potato bugs today.