Pig Iron’s School for Advanced Performance Training is in its infancy, but it has already fostered some of the most exciting young artists and companies in Philadelphia. Butter & Serve mark another entry on that list with their Fringe piece, V. In a short, engaging production, the four APT students in Butter & Serve (Alicia Crosby, Vanita Kalra, Riva Rubenoff, Sara Vanasse) give an impressionistic, non-linear recounting of “The Night Witches”, the female Soviet air regiment who flew harassing bombing mission against invading German troops in World War II.
Placed on a simple yet expressive set (scattered paper airplanes, prints of Stalin and Hitler), V shows a deft use of varied narrative and theatrical techniques. With simulated oral histories, storytelling through creative movement, and naturalistic scenes of the women’s interaction, Butter & Serve craft an engaging and intelligible account of military service from a female perspective. And it only takes 35 minutes. [Pig Iron School Studio One, 1417 North 2nd Street] September 5-7, 2014; fringearts.com/v.