Sub-Total
2018 Audience Reviews
Member Reviews
The following reviews were submitted by Fringe Member:
Company: Play-Dot
Show: Midwestworld
Venue: Southern Theater
Off the Hook?
Most Fringes, I like to walk into a venue and watch a show without even knowing what is on the bill, and this year that turned out to be Midwestworld. The actors performed this with a lot of energy, but I probably was not the ideal audience having never seen Westworld in either movie or series form, and probably too Apple for lots of Win/Dell humor. If these are more your thing, you’ll probably have a great time, but for me the show slid on by sinking nary a hook.
Company: Shrieking Harpies
Show: Shrieking Harpies
Venue: Augsburg Studio
Get An Agenda, or Get Buried. By River Trolls!
Someone tossed out kayaking, and... well... You had to be there, because this is an improv musical, and it won't happen again. But if you visit the Harpies I expect what you see will be as funny, well sung, strange, magic, and sort of touching as "Kayaking" was. (And maybe you'll see me, because a return visit could pay Huge dividends!)
Company: MonTra Performance
Show: Aphrodite's Refugees
Venue: Rarig Center Xperimental
Humanity Married With Art
I put this show on my ‘see’ list, because I was intrigued by the blending of visual art with storytelling. Aphrodite delivered on that promise, and more. Here are the teller’s personal family stories adding human dimension to the dry statistics that generally describe the refugee experience. Stories reinforced by projection intermixed with the live painting of a beautiful landscape of Cyprus. Which is done with the artist “behind” the paper canvas, so it appears a gray shadow is painting with color; the effect is marvelous! I could niggle about a few things, but frankly I was too giddy at the creativity on display to care!
Company: Colleen Somerville Productions
Show: Not Fair, My Lady!
Venue: Mixed Blood Theatre
Brava!!!
Disclaimer: I normally avoid Fringe musicals and political shows like the plague, but... enter "Not Fair" with its great writing, fast pace, big laughs, catchy songs, pointed medleys, a sharp message, and a cast just bursting with talent, and I'm glad I broke my rules. See it! (And consider a reservation; I suspect some sellouts may be coming!) (Reviewed 8/2; resubmitted 8/4)
Company: Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society
Show: The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society Versus the Nazis
Venue: Rarig Center Thrust
Plain Old Fun!
Two old radio scripts come to vivid life through the talents of seasoned professionals who jump seamlessly through multiple sharply drawn characters, while simultaneously generating sound effects and live music, and seemingly having as much fun in the performance as the audience. This show is pure delight!
Company: Ghoulish Delights, LLC
Show: The Screaming Skull
Venue: Rarig Center Thrust
Classic Tale Well Told
The Screaming Skull uses language and atmospherics to gently build from the normal to the macabre. Everything was there Thursday for a good show, but for me things lagged in movement and energy in ways that kept it a bit short of great, though this could easily improve over the run of the festival. (Reviewed 8/2, resubmitted 8/4)
Company: Beardog Productions
Show: The Things They Carried
Venue: Ritz Theater Studio
Carried Along!
Match first class material with a first class storyteller, and the result is electric. From the moment Mr Stowell came on the stage until the lights went out, the audience was 100% on board. Simply outstanding! (Reviewed 8/2, resubmitted 8/4)
Company: The Band Group
Show: TITUS: Sweet Water, Silent Walks
Venue: Rarig Center Thrust
This is Why I Love Theater!
Titus's blend of Shakespeare and movement is intense, dark, and absolutely riveting. There are a couple moments when pace falters due to shoehorning in a lot of stuff, but there are also powerful scenes wrought through talent of choreography, direction, and performance in ways that can only work on the stage. And they work so well here that hours later, I can still see and feel the show. Titus is not always easy to watch, but I really loved it! (Reviewed 8/2, resubmitted 8/4)