Almost one hundred years ago, Edgar Lee Masters began publishing poems from the point of view of the deceased residents of Spoon River, a lightly-fictionalized…
View More [23] SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY (Manayunk Roxborough Art Center): Fringe reviewCategory: Reviews
[22] GAYZE: A REAL LIVE WEBSERIES (MJ/JT): Fringe review
GAYZE: A REAL LIVE WEBSERIES is rough around the edges, without a doubt. The cast aims for the cartoonish a lot of the time, and…
View More [22] GAYZE: A REAL LIVE WEBSERIES (MJ/JT): Fringe review[21] SAINT JOAN, BETRAYED (Aaron Cromie & Mary Tuomanen): 2013 Fringe review
This town knows Aaron Cromie, polymath of the arts—puppeteer, performer, director, designer of puppets, sets, and props; choreographer, musician, teacher, and writer. What else? I…
View More [21] SAINT JOAN, BETRAYED (Aaron Cromie & Mary Tuomanen): 2013 Fringe review[7.2] THE SOCIETY (Jo Strømgren Kompani): Fringe review
Let’s be real: Most theater we see these days is at least a little bit pretentious. The very nature of theater is based in pretense.…
View More [7.2] THE SOCIETY (Jo Strømgren Kompani): Fringe reviewTRAVELING LIGHT (Liam’s Sofa Cushion Fortress): 2013 Fringe review 13.2
This play travels anything but light, but for aficionados—as I am—of talented and doomed Joe Orton or for those fascinated by Brian Epstein (the man…
View More TRAVELING LIGHT (Liam’s Sofa Cushion Fortress): 2013 Fringe review 13.2[20] PAY UP (Pig Iron Theatre Company with The University of the Arts): Fringe review
This is not a play. Therefore this is not a review, but a warning. If you’re looking to sit in a darkened theater watching actors…
View More [20] PAY UP (Pig Iron Theatre Company with The University of the Arts): Fringe review[19] HOLLY’S DEAD SOLDIERS (Bruce Walsh, Douglas Williams, Chris Davis): 2013 Fringe review
The play transpires in and around Bruce Walsh’s living room. (September 14 performances will take place at the home of Doug Williams.) Three collaborating playwrights share…
View More [19] HOLLY’S DEAD SOLDIERS (Bruce Walsh, Douglas Williams, Chris Davis): 2013 Fringe review[18] ANTIHERO (Tribe of Fools Theatre Company): Fringe review
Although founded ten years ago, Tribe of Fools Theatre Company really burst onto the scene with its inimitable Fringe ‘11 offering, Heavy Metal Dance Fag. Like that…
View More [18] ANTIHERO (Tribe of Fools Theatre Company): Fringe review[17] TOUGH COOKIES (Together We Act): Fringe review
First, the elephant in the room: Together We Act is a non-profit theater company for people who stutter. Now, it doesn’t take a cynical theater…
View More [17] TOUGH COOKIES (Together We Act): Fringe review[16] THE SAFE WORD IS BEGONIA (B. Someday Productions): Fringe review
Walking Fish Theatre has won accolades (including a 2010 Barrymore) for its programs in education and children’s theater. But Ari Flamingo’s THE SAFE WORD IS…
View More [16] THE SAFE WORD IS BEGONIA (B. Someday Productions): Fringe review[15] GO LONG BIG SOFTIE (Groundswell Players): Fringe review
As I watch TV and lament the opportunities missed by my fantasy football team (Why didn’t I start Jimmy Graham? I’m an idiot, that’s why.)…
View More [15] GO LONG BIG SOFTIE (Groundswell Players): Fringe review[14] THE CASTLE (Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium): Fringe review
Though Franz Kafka’s work is not categorized as theater of the absurd per se, his writings have been cited as important predecessors of the genre.…
View More [14] THE CASTLE (Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium): Fringe reviewTRAVELING LIGHT (Liam’s Sofa Cushion Fortress): 2013 Fringe review 13.1
Entering the Adrienne’s Skybox into Liam’s Sofa Cushion Fortress Philadelphia premiere production of TRAVELING LIGHT, I was worried. I normally abhor plays hinged around real-life…
View More TRAVELING LIGHT (Liam’s Sofa Cushion Fortress): 2013 Fringe review 13.1[12] THIS IS NOT FOR YOU (elbow room performance): Fringe review
Julie Beauvais is a director of operas. She lives in the mountains of Switzerland. Her partner on THIS IS NOT FOR YOU is Jon Foley Sherman,…
View More [12] THIS IS NOT FOR YOU (elbow room performance): Fringe review[11] THE MOMENTUM (Collaboration Town): Fringe review
“This morning I woke up in the spinning hole of momentum,” begins Geoffrey Decas O’Donnell as a self-help devotee in CTown’s THE MOMENTUM, “riding momentum……
View More [11] THE MOMENTUM (Collaboration Town): Fringe review[10] PARTS: A SPEED-THROUGH (Drexel Players): Fringe review
PARTS: A SPEED-THROUGH is an ambitious, outside-the-box piece devised and performed by the Drexel Players. Anyone who has ever been involved in theater knows the…
View More [10] PARTS: A SPEED-THROUGH (Drexel Players): Fringe review[9] BYE BYE LIVER: THE PHILADELPHIA DRINKING PLAY (The Pub Theater Company 2013): Fringe review
Good drinking companions hard to come by? This September, there’re at least six of them hanging out in Fairmount. The ensemble cast of the Pub…
View More [9] BYE BYE LIVER: THE PHILADELPHIA DRINKING PLAY (The Pub Theater Company 2013): Fringe review[8] A DOLL’S HOUSE (EgoPo Classic Theatre): Fringe review
A DOLL’S HOUSE, Henrik Ibsen’s classic tale of female confinement, is ripe for adaptation to the world of a teenage girl: the claustrophobia of a…
View More [8] A DOLL’S HOUSE (EgoPo Classic Theatre): Fringe review[7.1] THE SOCIETY (Jo Strømgren Kompani): Fringe review
This outrageous frolic with a ridiculous premise begins in the meeting room of a quiet, conservative French coffee society. Everything is ordered and in its…
View More [7.1] THE SOCIETY (Jo Strømgren Kompani): Fringe review[1.2] BATHTUB MOBY-DICK (The Renegade Company): 2013 Fringe review
Renegade’s contemporary deconstruction of Herman Melville’s classic novel about one man’s vengeful obsession with an eponymous white whale features a tour-de-force solo performance by Ed…
View More [1.2] BATHTUB MOBY-DICK (The Renegade Company): 2013 Fringe review