CLICK HERE FOR RECENT REVIEWS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER CLICK ON PLAY FOR AUDIENCE REVIEWS FOR THAT PLAY
- 0 to 6 in 60
69 Moments of Life
Actor, You're Killing Me
Air Tight Security
Almost True Adventures ...
Amazing Improvised Musical
Animal Farm
Ballerina on a Horse
Beautiful Man
Berserker
Caffe di Amore or ...
Check the Box
Clearing Hedges
Corned Beef
Countless
Crime & Variations
Death Blow II: ...
Demon Pope
Diagnosis: Jew Pain ...
Disco Prohecies
Ethan's Gift
Far From Springer
Fixed Boundry
Forty Love
Got Water
I Can't Believe They're Not Oriental!
Idiot Machine: ...
In Cahoots
John Muir: Watch, Pray, Fight
Late Night Talk Show
Ludlow and Canal
Magic at the Fringe
Man 1, Bank 0
Marx in Soho
Mixed Signal
Mother: A Modern Buddhist ...
Naked Inqisition
nEO - surrealists present: ...
Neon's Crazy Blue
Nharcolepsy
Original Action Pack
Park - N - Ride
Passages
Sandwich
Scabaret!
Searching for God in Kerala
Seventh Game of the World Series
Shadow Kissers
Strobe Vision
This World is Not My Home
Total Improvisation - ...
Train Stories
Tripping on the Equator ...
Twinspeak
Play: Actor You're Killimg Me
Reviewer: Dwight Joseph
Reviewer Email: dajoseph@yahoo.com
Rating: 5 Stars
Loved it..lots of fun
Play: Park & Ride
Reviewer: darryl henry
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 3 Stars
This ia a one woman peformance about a woman's decision and subsequent trek
from the midwest to California. Acting - nycg better than the material.
Pleasant enough, but doesn't stick. The ending few minutes after the arrival
in LA came across as "whoops, I'm about out of time". The ride
with the trucker - hilarious! Facial expressions - great! This could be
a 4 star with a bit more depth.
Play: 69 Moments
Reviewer: anon
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 2 Stars
I feel a bit guilty about giving this a tepid review. The actor was sooo
earnest and clearly meant to give it his all but, unfortunately, I cringed
often. It is rare for a solo show, particularly an autobiographical one,
to work. This didn't.
Play: Nharcolepsy
Reviewer: Rich
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 4 Stars
Great entertainers and performances. Script a bit slight, but the actors,
particularly the physicality of "Nhar", made for an enjoyable
hour
Play: Man 1, Bank 0
Reviewer: Rich
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 5 Stars
Wonderful story told in an entertaining and suspenseful way by a born story-teller.
Another best-of fringe show.
Play: Check the Box
Reviewer: Connie Galambos
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 4 Stars
Witty and moving! The actors developed their characters amazing well considering
the shortness of the separate plays...the writers gave them intriguing characters
with which to work.
Play: Countless
Reviewer: Marsha
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 3 Stars
5 stars for the music, 4 stars for the English actor, 3 stars for the video,
3 stars to Sarah Kraft for putting them on the same stage.
Play: Tripping on the Equator
Reviewer: Drew
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 3 Stars
Enjoyed this show very much. The variety was welcome and both actors obviously
put a lot of work into their pieces. Unfortunately, I have to make some
comments about Robin Plutchok's monologue. She didn't keep my interest.
Yes, her writing is intelligent and detailed, but the story wallowed and
oozed too much for my taste. Another related problem was her overly sincere,
emotionally one-dimensional delivery. How can I trust the touching moments
when the whole thing is gushing romance or betrayed romance? Where is the
real Robin Plutchok in it all? Instead of the affected voice of Robin Plutchok?
Ambitious effort but make me pay attention more with stronger content and
more personal risks.
I recommend the show overall because the variety is fun. Nils Vaule had
me in stiches and Robin Plutchok makes a strong effort that has some clever
moments.
Play: Twinspeak
Reviewer: Marty Cooper
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 4 Stars
I thoroughly enjoyed this performance and the courage of the Aho brothers
in not just sharing their internal workings with us audience, but mostly
in their going through the process with each other to produce the show.
For me, it had a daring and fearless self-revelation that, more than the
(well done) staging and scene design, was the heart of the experience. Thanks
to both
Play: Twinspeak
Reviewer:
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 4 Stars
I really liked the play. It was touching and intense. It had good dialogues
and monologue, good music as well as elements of surprise and humor.
It was a very unique and original play. It was emotional and thought
provoking. I felt moved, informed, absorbed and identified with the characters
even though I am not a twin myself.
I thought that the play was deeply psychological and personal, which I found
rewarding to watch. I was always carious what it is like to be an identical
twin, and the play gave me answers to many of those questions.
Play: Train Stories
Reviewer: Richard Walker
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 5 Stars
Note: neither I nor any of the 5 friends I attended this play with know
anyone connected with this production.
We all thought the acting, writing, and production were tremendous and we
enjoyed it thoroughly. It is a powerfully told story of African-American
experience in the not-too-distant past, but the characters and themes are
still very relevant today. It is steeped with both realism and mythology
and is a very American Play. Wayne Harris' acting is as good as it gets,
in my opinion.
Play: Caffe Amore
Reviewer: Megan Tucker
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 4 Stars
Well written and well acted, great humor and costumes! I was rolling with
laughter the whole time. It was a wonderful combination of traditional commedia
and modern day issues.
Play: Actor You're Killing Me
Reviewer: davis
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 5 Stars
This play was huge fun! I happen to be a lawyer and the law stuff measured
up fine, plus the audience really enjoyed being the jury. The premise was
clever and unique and the actors obviously had fun preparing and performing
it. A good time appeared to be had by all the night I saw it.
Play: I Can't Believe They're Not Oriental!
Reviewer: Pat Chan
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 5 Stars
Play: I Can't Believe They're Not Oriental!
Reviewer: John Lee
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 5 Stars
Play: I Can't Believe They're Not Oriental
Reviewer: Paul Kim
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 5 Stars
Excellent! Excellent! Excellent!
60 minutes of hilarity!
Play: man 1 bank 0
Reviewer: Gavin
Reviewer Email:
Great story, but it takes a while to get going. I guess this show had to
be cut down to fit Fringe constraints - too bad the cuts were taken from
the end more than the beginning. The problem is I knew the premise going
in, so the first 20 minutes felt like slow rehash of the check deposit story.
When it gets great is when the check clears and the fallout begins. This
is the meat of the show and where all focus should go.
Play: sandwich
Reviewer: gargantua
Reviewer Email:
Best of Fringe, baby. Fantastic performances, incredible energy. Music and
costumes goddamn. The armadillo transformation in particular a well-done
section, with GREAT text. Experimental while staying fun. Direct correlary
to the old-old-school surrealist-dada-futurist cabaret work (or so I'd like
to think). And, people, STOP calling this piece absurdist - for anal theatre
nerds like me that means something different. Surreal - yes, but there's
no Sysiphean character. Anyways, enough yammering. It is great (although
the rabbit sequences could have moved faster). Fin
Play: Man 1, Bank 0
Reviewer: Alvin
Reviewer Email: LipidA@yahoo.com
Rating: 2 Stars
Yes he's talking directly to you. Yes it's an interesting story, a case
of fact being crazier than fiction. And yes he seems enthusiastic about
telling it. But it just didn't work for me. I was not riveted by the performance
as the other reviews here were. I actually did find myself looking at my
watch several times during the show. Patrick repeats himself quite a bit
(this is often done on tv, but that's due to the short attention span of
the audience). That, combined with the generally slow pace of performance,
left me somewhat restless. I kept waiting to hear what happened, only to
hear either repetition or some humor that wasn't all that original.
I also didn't find the story as profound as the other reviewers. It just wasn't a revelation to me that businesses such as banks will act in their own interests.
Play: Almost True Adventures of an Ex-Morman Stripper
Reviewer: noah
Reviewer Email: noah@ripetreats.com
Rating: 5 Stars
A truly EXCELLENT play- well written & performed- they could have used
maybe one more stage hand- but despite that i was VERY impressed. It's amazing
to see what this crew can do in one single hour- a history lesson, drama,
comedy, DETAILED costumes, song & dance. Loved it.
(oh- and Holly Holmes is a babe)
Play: In Cahoots
Reviewer: Dick Karp
Reviewer Email: dick@catapult.com
Rating: 4 Stars
A pleasurble interlude from three talented clowns who gave us 50 minutes
of silliness. Don't worry about the deep analysis on the back of the program,
just prepare to be entertained. Maybe it isn't anything you'll remember
years later, but you'll enjoy the experience while it's underway.
Play: The Amazing Improvised Musical
Reviewer: Dick Karp
Reviewer Email: dick@catapult.com
Rating: 1 Star
Improv is variable, and the show (Sept 13, afternoon) I saw was at the low
end of the scale. Too many potentially interesting risks not taken, too
many offers blocked, too much wimping. Sometimes I felt that they broke
into song because it was easier than advancing the plot, and indeed the
story ended with one key element unresolved. I came away feeling that they
had to work more on the basics.
Play: 69 Moments of Life
Reviewer: Henry Milstead
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 2 Stars
Some people would say that "edge" is in the eye of the beholder.
A lot of times it takes "crossing the line" to make an audience
believe that they are watching something raw. And sometimes, "fucking
the norm" is the most jarring way to tell an audience - "Hey,
I'm different."
In the case of Terry Costa, the only thing that provides real edge to this awkwardly fragmented and incohesive mish-mash of journal vignettes is his spirit. For that alone, I give credit.
But, for a show that *is* this fragmented and disjointed, it's actually quite derivative. One fidgets 3/4 of the way through the show saying - "I've seen this before...in another solo show."
It's not terrible, mind you. It's just that the show cares more about having you think that it's thought-provoking than actually provoking thought. A lot of the points made are quite profound. But these are merely points you must decipher while wading through the rest of the mess. One such cutesy and painfully indulgent visual is a brain in a martini glass. "A little brain never hurt anyone." Oh, the irony.
Play: 69 Moments of Life
Reviewer: Henry Milstead
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 2 Stars
Some people would say that "edge" is in the eye of the beholder.
A lot of times it takes "crossing the line" to make an audience
believe that they are watching something raw. And sometimes, "fucking
the norm" is the most jarring way to tell an audience - "Hey,
I'm different."
In the case of Terry Costa, the only thing that provides real edge to this awkwardly fragmented and incohesive mish-mash of journal vignettes is his spirit. For that alone, I give credit.
But, for a show that *is* this fragmented and disjointed, it's actually quite derivative. One fidgets 3/4 of the way through the show saying - "I've seen this before...in another solo show."
It's not terrible, mind you. It's just that the show cares more about having you think that it's thought-provoking than actually provoking thought. A lot of the points made are quite profound. But these are merely points you must decipher while wading through the rest of the mess. One such cutesy and painfully indulgent visual is a brain in a martini glass. "A little brain never hurt anyone." Oh, the irony.
Play: Sandwich
Reviewer: Walter Igot
Reviewer Email:
Rating: None
Loud
No Point
Play: Countless
Reviewer: n person
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 5 Stars
With such thoughtful reviews; there's not much for me to add. I agree more
cello, more digital loops, & the comic bits of the actor's bits were
great. Also while I enjoyed the gallery setting, it was hard for the back
rows to see Sara's face.
Thanks to the 4 collaborators for their excellent work.
Play: Late Night Talk Show
Reviewer: Charles Belov
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 4 Stars
This is the talk show from hell, where everything goes wrong and the cast
members have to make up for it. I could see where the other reviewers might
have found it painful, but I was one of the ones who was having a blast.
If you like silly stuff, this is it, go see it.
Play: Check the Box
Reviewer: Charles Belov
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 4 Stars
I don't really have much to add. These are worth seeing and I agree The
Good Daughter is a standout and heartwrenching.
Play: Ludlow and Canal
Reviewer: B. Johnson
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 4 Stars
Funny, silly, fun. I can't get the image of the dog watching out of my head.
Or the girl who shoots herself in the head, lives, and says, "That's
never happened before."
Play: A Beautiful Man
Reviewer: B. Johnson
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 4 Stars
Loved the cast. Loved the play. Lots of fun. But had trouble finding the
venue: "Excuse me. Can you tell me where to see a beautiful man?"
Play: Shadow Kissers
Reviewer: B. Johnson
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 3 Stars
Somehow I guess I expected more. Maybe it was the unbearable heat the night
I saw it. I give the performer a lot of credit for working under such conditions.
Some memorable and amusing stuff. I'm just not sure I find dope addicts
that funny. All right, the cripple addict was pretty funny.
Play: Got Water?
Reviewer: B. Johnson
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 1 Star
The cast of young performers really cares, and with a little experience,
some could be good actors. But the play itself is a sad mix of themes that
never get connected, as if to say, "We're telling you stuff that's
really important and profound, but we aren't quite sure what we want to
tell you."
Play: The Late Nite Talk Show
Reviewer: Phil
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 5 Stars
Of the 4 Fringe shows I saw, the Late Nite Talk Show was my favorite. The
actors had great physical life and incredible energy. There was a good deal
of interaction with the audience (as befits a talk show), and it definitely
worked in this show's favor. An excellent performance.
Play: TWINSPEAK
Reviewer: wendy x
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 5 Stars
At first, I really did not know what to expect. But I was quite surprised
to see the range of emotions the performance drew from the audience. The
play embroidered a masterpiece that had all the elements of the human emotion;
joy, guilt, pride, sadness, remorse, curiosity, love, hate, and forgiveness,
all sprinkled with confetti of witty humor.
Even though I am not a twin, I was able to connect theirs experiences with
mine. In fact, I came to this play with 2 other friends and after we saw
this performance, we talked about our childhoods and we walked away wanting
to look into ourselves and reflect. It is a sweet, sorrowful play that is
also thought provoking. I look forward to seeing more from this dynamic
duo.
Play: Idiot Machine
Reviewer: B. Johnson
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 5 Stars
Three well-balanced performances by three performers that work perfectly
together. Very professional. Roll on the floor funny. (And damn hot, too.
Ouch!)
Play: Check The Box
Reviewer: Jerry Curtiss
Reviewer Email: JCurtiss@aol.com
Rating: 5 Stars
This production reminded me of an off-Broadway show I saw years ago in New
York. It was fabulous and an unexpected pleasure. The actors were very,
very good and I enjoyed each of the five vignettes, in particular, The Good
Daughter. The entire audience gasped at the end, it was such a surprise.
A wonderful job by all involved.
Play: Death Blow II
Reviewer: Susan
Reviewer Email: sallen@vsite.com
Rating: 5 Stars
This is a most talented and Fringe award deserving group. I loved them last
year, and I am happy to say the romance continues. Mr. Dunn, Mr. Shockley
and Mr. Rackham have managed to combine silliness with a compassionate wit
that creates jewel like moments of theater - some diamonds, a ruby, a couple
of emeralds, some turquoise, and a man-made opal; and all very good. The
imbedded journalist, the audition for Napalm in the Morning, the intrepid
arctic explorers, the return of the Mummy's nose again, and the cultural
dance - all these and more have brought a smile to my face or caused me
to chuckle in the days following the Friday opening.
Thank you all for being so good and for inspiring me to want to see more sketch art. You make being an audience member seem very important indeed. I didn't want to miss a thing, because you make everything seem immediate and newly re-imagined. I shudder to think how my life would be never to have experienced a Death Blow once and now twice.
Play: Mother
Reviewer: jes'fine
Reviewer Email: jes_fine@hotmail.com
Rating: 4 Stars
A lyrically done Buddahist fairy tale of a short but moving 35 minutes.
Well worth seeing and as an added bonus St Boniface's basement theatre has
got to be the coolest place at the Fringe. Coincidence? I don't think so
grasshopper.
Play: "Actor, You're Killing Me"
Reviewer: Jordan Pedraz
Reviewer Email: JP12322658@ao.com
Rating: 4 Stars
This show is hilarious!!!! The cast is really great, everyone is funny,
the cript is soooo funny. I definitely had a great time. I was laughing
every 5 seconds!!!
Play: Actor, You're Killing Me
Reviewer: jean
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 5 Stars
Tons of Fun. Very clever script and great cast. Definitely the most enjoyable
show I've seen this year at the Fest.
Play: Ludlow and Canal
Reviewer: Bob Simon
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 3 Stars
I saw this show on Friday and it took a little to get started but when they
finally hit their stride it was worth it. All the actors were good. I thought
Zach Stern was a little out of place. He seems to rely on his "annnouncer
voice" because thats all he has. Some of the actors are not very versatile
but still the show was fun and sometimes thats enough.
Play: sandwich
Reviewer: Bill M.
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 1 Star
1 star because they showed up. Other than that, this is self indulgent crap.
All these rave reviews must be written by either the cast or their friends.
Some folks seem to like them though, but again they must know the performers.
I was completely bored, this is honestly stupid childish junk. Stay away
from this... don't waste your time or money.
Play: Sandwich
Reviewer: Darryl Henry
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 3 Stars
3 stars. Absurdist theatre. Singing animals......and the world's largest
armadillo. No real message, a light way to spend an hour. Quite amoooooosing.
If you don't like the smell of bacon, sit in the back or don't attend
Play: Disco Prophecies
Reviewer: Darryl Henry
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 3 Stars
3 stars (actually 2.5). It just wasn't entertaining. The thread is one boy/man's
love of disco as he grows up, but there's no meat, no new observations,
and a few jokes. If you don't find the opening bit with slides funny and
entertaining, you'll be in for a long hour. That was the best bit of the
show.
Play: SANDWICH
Reviewer: Derek Mutch
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 5 Stars
Do you like Pee Wee's Playhouse? Do you like Fractured Fairytales? Do you
like Urinetown or Threepenny Opera?
Whether you do or not, you should see SANDWICH as soon as you can because there's nothing else like it in the world. It's better than any of those other things I mentioned, anyway.
A musical about cruelty and food - it is brazenly and wildly theatrical.
Let's think about what it means for human beings to be continually slaughtering animals and packaging the remains in an attractive and mouth-watering fashion for other human beings to consume without getting blood on their hands. Do we feel okay about this?
How do we feel when our pet kitty kills a bird, or, God forbid, a fuzzy bunny!
Let's think about that and laugh!
Let's sing about it and cry!
"I'm going to count to 5 and then I'm going to eat you if you don't tell me you know you're alive."
That, or something to that effect, is spoken to a carrot.
Yes, carrots are or were alive! But do they know it? And can they tell you?
Where do we draw the line?
Perhaps we should Embrace the Glory of the CARNIVORE! (eh, Kitty?) Stop Worrying and Love the Meat!
These are ideas, and I love a show with ideas, but what makes me so enthusiastic about SANDWICH is that it is fun, it is smart, it is vibrant, bold, subversive, hilarious, surprising, and it has great costumes and great music!
Go with your gut.
Play: Twinspeak
Reviewer: Julie Lesperance
Reviewer Email: lebelier@sbcglobal.net
Rating: 5 Stars
Spectacular! I laughed; I cried. This is a very powerful display of the
unique relationship that occurs between twins; one that most of us can't
even imagine. This play was a mixture of performance art and real-life character
development. Hats off to Brian and Michael for the courage in sharing a
slice of their intimate lives in such an original way. Don't miss this one!