WOMEN UN PLUGGED is about women and what they say to each other when they think no one is looking.
View More WOMEN UN PLUGGED (Dretwin Productions): 2014 Fringe Review 83
Category: Theater
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BROKEN PEOPLE (David DelBianco): Fringe Review 82
There is quite a lot of yelling in BROKEN PEOPLE, the new show by local actor and playwright David DelBianco.
View More BROKEN PEOPLE (David DelBianco): Fringe Review 82
FANDO Y LIS (Emily Schuman): Fringe Review 81
Fernando Arrabal’s FANDO Y LIS stands as an exemplar of mid-20th century modernism, alongside other practitioners of the Theater of the Absurd.
View More FANDO Y LIS (Emily Schuman): Fringe Review 81
IN THE PONY PALACE/ FOOTBALL (Half Saddle): Fringe Review 80
With dialogue like “I thought this player was a golden unicorn in the last game” the presentation is recognizable, but slightly askew, and ten times more fun
View More IN THE PONY PALACE/ FOOTBALL (Half Saddle): Fringe Review 80
SKIN IN THE GAME (Foreverlore): Fringe Review 70
Past mistakes haunt the promising futures of three underprivileged high school seniors when a strange benefactoroffers a full scholarship for the winner of a unspecified competition on a remote island.
View More SKIN IN THE GAME (Foreverlore): Fringe Review 70
BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK (Silver Stage Company): Fringe Review 69
As a culture, we are fascinated by celebrities’ elusive personal lives. Silver Stage Company’s BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK questions the responsibility we bestow…
View More BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK (Silver Stage Company): Fringe Review 69
LIVING IN EXILE: A RETELLING OF THE ILIAD (Philadelphia Experimental Theatre Ensemble): Fringe Review 68
LIVING IN EXILE presents a compelling reinterpretation of the Trojan War; playwright Jon Lipsky’s script draws directly upon the Homeric tradition of oral recitation.
View More LIVING IN EXILE: A RETELLING OF THE ILIAD (Philadelphia Experimental Theatre Ensemble): Fringe Review 68
WHITE RABBIT, RED RABBIT (Nassim Soleimanpour, performed by Jennifer Lynn): Fringe Review 31.2
Driving to work one morning, I’d heard WHYY’s Jennifer Lynn mention she’d be hosting the performance of WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT. I experienced an immediate “I wonder what this disembodied voice will look like in real life” moment.
View More WHITE RABBIT, RED RABBIT (Nassim Soleimanpour, performed by Jennifer Lynn): Fringe Review 31.2
PASSPORT (IshowNY Productions & Yajaira Paredes): Fringe Review 67
PASSPORT shows how not being understood can turn a person into a non-person, who can therefore be subjected to inhumane abuse.
View More PASSPORT (IshowNY Productions & Yajaira Paredes): Fringe Review 67
PETER PAN IS DEAD (Brandon Monokian): Fringe Review 65
The enthusiasm of this production is infectious; Fringe exists for productions just like it.
View More PETER PAN IS DEAD (Brandon Monokian): Fringe Review 65
BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO (Temple Theaters): Fringe Review 61.2
Throughout, the play is ridden with fearful moments, guilty consciences, and serious reflections of what life may be like for creatures being surrounded by uneasiness and pain.
View More BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO (Temple Theaters): Fringe Review 61.2
THE BODY LAUTREC (Aaron Cromie and Mary Tuomanen): Fringe Review 53.2
Aaron Cromie’s good-natured portrayal reflects the real Lautrec, who retained his artist’s eye and famed geniality even as he joined his friends in their sad retreat into alcoholism and the dementia of syphilis.
View More THE BODY LAUTREC (Aaron Cromie and Mary Tuomanen): Fringe Review 53.2
THE YELLOW WALLPAPER (Wild Plum Productions): Fringe Review 63
Wild Plum Productions’ abridged staging of THE YELLOW WALLPAPER succeeds in capturing the chills and insight of the original work.
View More THE YELLOW WALLPAPER (Wild Plum Productions): Fringe Review 63
BY YOU THAT MADE ME, FRANKENSTEIN (Philadelphia Opera Collective): 2014 Fringe Review 51.2
This is an opera about monsters—the Frankenstein of the title, a monster we know well from films if not from literature, and the ways in which people become monsters.
View More BY YOU THAT MADE ME, FRANKENSTEIN (Philadelphia Opera Collective): 2014 Fringe Review 51.2
BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO (Temple Theaters): Fringe Review 61.1
Everything about BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO asserts the production as one of the best works in this year’s Fringe.
View More BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO (Temple Theaters): Fringe Review 61.1
SISTERS OF ELLERY HOLLOW BY STEPHEN SPOTSWOOD (RHolt Productions): Fringe Review 60
The show, which is all about loss and violence in a dark corner of the world, is too bright – it has no real darkness to it at all
View More SISTERS OF ELLERY HOLLOW BY STEPHEN SPOTSWOOD (RHolt Productions): Fringe Review 60
Give the rhinos a chance: Interview with the actors of Ionesco’s RHINOCEROS
I asked cast members of the Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium (IRC), Philadelphia’s absurdist theatre (since 2006), founded by artistic director Tina Brock, what Ionesco’s RHINOCEROS brought up for them as actors and as people. The range of responses is as astounding as this production. A big thank you to everyone who participated in this Phindie interview.
View More Give the rhinos a chance: Interview with the actors of Ionesco’s RHINOCEROS
On becoming a RHINOCEROS: Interview with director Tina Brock
Tina Brock, writer, actor, founder and producing artistic director of the Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium (IRC) since 2006—Philadelphia’s only absurdist theatre company—holds degrees from the University of Maryland and West Chester University, works as a Standardized Patient Trainer at the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners, and makes the impossible possible, year after year, with some of the most thought provoking and unusual productions.
View More On becoming a RHINOCEROS: Interview with director Tina Brock
Nudity or Crudity: a conversation with Mary Tuomanen about THE BODY LAUTREC
I asked Tuomanen, who directed the piece, to talk about The Body Lautrec. On extremely short notice, she agreed (“Aaron called me, said someone was upset about Lautrec and you wanted to ask me some questions.”) We talk about filth, exploitation, agency, and other uplifting stuff.
View More Nudity or Crudity: a conversation with Mary Tuomanen about THE BODY LAUTREC
THE ORGASM CHRONICLES (OneTaste Philly): Fringe Review 59
Dramatic narrators voice acutely detailed stories of sexual exploits, dating disasters/successes, and intimate gatherings.
View More THE ORGASM CHRONICLES (OneTaste Philly): Fringe Review 59