CLICK HERE FOR A RECENT REVIEWS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER

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<52
American Appetite: Tales of Dirty Young Boys & Spry Old Men, The
An Evening At Home
Anablep and Other Oddities
Back to Kroenig
Beckett's Last Dance
Beneath Sita's Belly
Black Box Confessions
Blue Sofa
Candistan
Caught Sleeping
Cleopatra!-And Antony
ClockBusters
Death Blow - The Show
Devouring Time
Engineer and The Artist, The
Enronicles
Exit Laughing!
F--king Handicapped Guy
Fred Anderson -Professional Goofball!
Full Spectrum Improvisation
George Bush's Nuts
Getting It Wrong
Guano dell' Amore - ("Birdshit of Love")
Gulag Ha Ha
Interactive Solo Performer Daniel Packard
Ken and Andy Show, The
Lillie, A Musical
Looking, Then Pointing
Mad Adventures of Chaos For Hire, The
Me Laugh You Long Time
Menopause and Desire: Or Why Must I Be Middle Aged and In Love?
Microclimates: A Crime Against Gravity or The Burrito From Sausalito
My Son, the Mummy: Episode Pi
nEO-sURREALIST sYSTEMS pRESENTS: HOE- DOWN!!!!!
Objects In Mirror (May Be Closer Than They Appear)
OUTTAKES: Monologues, Stories, and Social Commentary
Rise And Fall of The US/them Empire, The
Smashing Icons
Something You Might Want
Song in Your Blood, The
Spray
Stranger In Woodstock
Surfing Toasters
Survival of the Fit Enough/ Fern
Talking To Myself
Tangled
Uncle Jacques' Symphony
Underground Movement Theatre
Upper Canada Cougar Movement, The
Valentine's Play Time
Way Light Strikes Filled Mason Jars, The
Winterkill
Woods For The Trees
Zucchini: The Forbidden Dance!

Play: Cleopatra! --and Antony
Reviewer: Frank Wolfe
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 3 Stars
After seeing reviews on this show range from Ms. Chopp’s four-star to the anonymous one-star, I felt I had to put in a few words of my own. Since “One-Star” was clearly not enjoying him- or herself during the first act, it would be pointless to express regrets that he or she hadn’t lingered for the second act, which set the tone by leading off with its intentionally silly and wonderfully tacky ships-on-sticks battle of Actium. I don’t know which performances the others saw; I went to the last one. I thought there was a good deal of talent displayed in this show besides the three players mentioned in the other reviews, though there’s no question that Lola/Cleopatra made two very arresting and dynamic characters, Professor Scrumbly at the piano was a charmer (I’ve seen him in other shows too), and the hulking, simple-minded janitor/guard/messenger was a real scene-stealer. But the blowhard Antony held his own with all of them, breathing fire and bile, and by golly actually chew!
ing the scenery! His suicide by parasol brought down the house.
Cleo was assisted by two very unhandy handmaidens: her Charmian is evidently the producer’s girlfriend, and a more perfect portrayal of a ditsy bimbo would be hard to find; in the role of Iras, Lola’s maid is clearly in over her head and takes to the bottle. Together, they beard Antony, kill the messenger (way cute), and conduct a snake-a-rama finale never imagined by Shakespeare— or any other Cleopatra enactor till now. Caesar was the soul of rational efficiency, and kept a dignified disregard of the repeated intrusions of the recurring Arabian bird (a running gag), while the patrician Octavia had a kind of Olive Oyl loopiness that I found appealing.
“One-Star” complained of a character carrying a script, which I agree isn’t appropriate in a running show, but of course there may have been circumstances we couldn’t know about— say, if this was a last-minute replacement for someone who’d just been rushed to the hospital. This was the Mr. Baker/Soothsayer character, and I thought he carried it off rather well, and added texture by an endless wrestling with his voluminous headgear, which may or may not have been planned.
I gave this show three stars, because I know it can be much better. Though this was readily apparent at the performance, the audience seemed to thoroughly enjoy it, and you have to say of “Cleo” that it was anything but predictable. A show doesn’t necessarily need a high degree of polish to be appreciated by a Fringe audience, after all; we know we’ll see everything from raw through half-baked to well-done. With a bit of rewrite, a bit more rehearsal and a bit more production work, the Excelsior Company can turn “Cleopatra! –and Antony” into a completely delightful experience for even the most exacting of audiences. I don’t know that a festival is their best bet as a setting for this diamond-in-the-very-rough, but I’m sure that it’ll be turning up again somewhere, and I for one will be interested to see how it’s come along.

Play: Cleopatra!-- And Antony
Reviewer:
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 1 Star
Very, very disappointed that the ONLY play I chose to/got to attend for the run of the Fringe ended up being a drag. All I have to say to the cast is: REHEARSALS, people!! You knew you were doing this play since, what? Spring? Early summer? And some of you are still reading off a script/having to carry a script with you during the performances? For shame!! If you are lucky enough to get a slot in the Fringe, at least have the decency to put up a fully-mounted show and honor the audience's time/attention/attendance. The whole thing was messily staged and clumsily done, smacking of badly done community theatre. And not all of that was in the nature of the script/production (the play-within-a-play/behind-the-scenes thing). I left at the end of Act One. I had had high hopes for this one and was excited to see it -- and left disappointed in such dreck. I'm sure you've all been great in what you do at the Renaissance Faire and Dickens Faire, but does that translate to a !
fully staged production in a professional venue? Not in this instance. Very disappointing, overall. The only talented ones in the cast appeared to be the woman playing Cleopatra --and the piano player.

Play: Cleopatra!-And Anthony
Reviewer: Elizabeth Chopp
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 4 Stars
This is a play-within-a-play that takes place in the San Francisco of the 1850's. Real life entertainer Lola Montez stars in a production of Anthony and Cleopatra where everything goes wrong. This production is lots of fun and very inventive on a shoestring budget. I particularly liked the pianist - great period music - and the stagehand/ soldier -he has a great sense of comic timing and I just cracked up every time he appeared on stage.

Play: Cleopatra! and Anthony
Reviewer: Elizabeth Chopp
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 4 Stars
This story of a 19th century production of Anthony and Cleopatra, starring Lola Montez, where everything goes wrong, is lots of fun. Although it has its flaws, the production is very inventive on a low budget, particularly the battle scene. My favorite cast members included the piano player (loved the music) and the inept stagehand/ soldier - I laughed every time he came on stage. The costumes and music were true to the period.