WOMEN UN PLUGGED (Dretwin Productions): 2014 Fringe Review 83

Women-Un-Plugged_Dretwin-ProductionsV2WOMEN UN PLUGGED is about women and what they say to each other when they think no one is looking. It comprises three vignettes conceived and written by Miriam Dretler-Winneg, a water color artist as well as actress, and according to the program, this is “the eighth show she has written and performed for the Philadelphia festival.” The first vignette, Women and Doctors, explores attitudes toward conventional versus alternative treatments for a variety of ailments, offering the view that there is more than one approach to healing while at the same time depicting women’s preoccupation with health and the value of a cute doctor or dentist who might just be a potential mate. The Beauty Closet focuses on women’s desire to be well dressed, in clothes with recognizable labels. The last piece, The Poetry of Three Women, is a spiritual poetry reading session that ends with Joni Mitchell’s Cactus Tree.

The show hints at other levels, perhaps how the focus on the superficial—the cute doctor, the label in the dress—is indicative of deeper longings. But WOMEN UN PLUGGED never quite reaches the levels it hints at, and would benefit from a little more preparation. [Philadelphia Ethical Society, 1906 Rittenhouse Square] September 5-20, 2014; fringearts.com/women-un-plugged.

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