• REVIEW: To Kill A Mockingbird – Broadway Across America Cincinnati
  • BROADWAY REVIEW: “Take Me Out”
  • Doubly Great – I Shall Not Be Moved & Your Negro Tour Guide
  • REVIEW: Clybourne Park
  • REVIEW: Fortune
  • REVIEW: Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind
  • REVIEW: Lady Windermere’s Fan
  • FRINGE REVIEW: seXmas Cards
  • REVIEW: The Wolves
  • FRINGE REVIEW – ZOINKS! – NOT TO BE MISSED
  • REVIEW: Association of Controlled Dreamers
  • REVIEW: Skeleton Crew
  • Full Circle: A Story of Mentorship and Collaboration
  • REVIEW: The Thanksgiving Play
  • CCM’s Transmigration an Energetic Festival of New Works!
  • REVIEW: A Doll’s House, Part 2
  • REVIEW: Our Country’s Good
  • REVIEW: Ripcord
  • REVIEW: St. Nicholas
  • REVIEW: Eurydice
  • REVIEW: Mr. Burns – a post electric play
  • REVIEW: Misery
  • THE DROWNING GIRLS playing through Monday in Northside!
  • REVIEW: Jalz
  • REVIEW: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)
  • FRINGE REVIEW: One More Bad Thing
  • FRINGE REVIEW: The Mountains Did Quake, The Hillsides Did Tremble
  • FRINGE REVIEW: of Monster Descent
  • REVIEW: Noises Off
  • Monday Matinee 5.7.18 – This Week in Cincinnati Theatre
  • REVIEW: A Great Wilderness
  • REVIEW: Ken Ludwig’s Treasure Island
  • Monday Matinee 4.23.18 – This Week in Cincinnati Theatre
  • REVIEW: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
  • REVIEW: Sooner/Later
  • REVIEW: Red Velvet
  • REVIEW: Transmigration 2018
  • REVIEW: Buried Child
  • REVIEW: The Pillowman
  • REVIEW: The Humans
  • REVIEW: Poor Behavior
  • REVIEW: The Color of the Leaves
  • REVIEW: The House
  • REVIEW: The Earth is Flat
  • REVIEW: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
  • REVIEW: Dracula
  • REVIEW: This Random World
  • REVIEW: Frankenstein
  • REVIEW: Hamlet
  • REVIEW: Typhoid Mary
  • REVIEW: Guest Artist
  • REVIEW – Cannibal Galaxy: A Love Story
  • REVIEW: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
  • THEATER OF WAR Opens a Dialogue about the Impact of Battle on Soldiers and Their Families
  • REVIEW: This Is Our Youth
  • FRINGE REVIEW: Invisible Girl
  • FRINGE REVIEW: Home
  • FRINGE REVIEW: Gen & Mabel
  • FRINGE REVIEW: God of Obsidian
  • FRINGE REVIEW: Balls of Yarns
  • FRINGE REVIEW: Busted Bumpers and Other Metaphors
  • FRINGE REFLECTION: Is That All There Is?
  • FRINGE REVIEW: The Disappearance of Nicole Jacobs, Part 1 – The Sister
  • FRINGE REVIEW: Pet Fish Are Made For . . .
  • I’m Feeling Fringe-y
  • REVIEW: Erma Bombeck – At Wit’s End
  • REVIEW: Master Harold and the Boys
  • REVIEW: On Golden Pond
  • REVIEW: Bloomsday
  • REVIEW: A Raisin in the Sun
  • REVIEW: All the Roads Home
  • REVIEW: Rabbit Hole
  • REVIEW: Jane Eyre
  • REVIEW: When We Were Young and Unafraid
  • REVIEW: This Wide Night
  • REVIEW: Her Naked Skin
  • REVIEW: Summerland
  • REVIEW: 26 Pebbles
  • REVIEW: Dragon Play
  • REVIEW: A Christmas Carol
  • REVIEW: The Second City’s Holidazed and Confused Revue
  • REVIEW: The Diviners
  • REVIEW: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
  • REVIEW: Jitney
  • REVIEW: The Elephant Man
  • REVIEW: Brownsville Song (B Side for Tray)
  • REVIEW: Romeo and Juliet
  • REVIEW: Disgraced
  • REVIEW: The Road Through Damascus
  • REVIEW: The Diary of Anne Frank
  • REVIEW: A Prayer for Owen Meany
  • REVIEW: The Legend of Georgia McBride
  • REVIEW: Slut Shaming
  • REVIEW: Thom Pain
  • REVIEW: Horizons of Gold
  • It’s Opening Night . . .
  • Cincinnati LAB Theatre’s 2016 Festival of New Works Coming in August
  • REVIEW: The Fisherman’s Wife
  • REVIEW: The Star Spangled Girl
  • FRINGE REVIEW: The 4th Graders Present an Unnamed Love-Suicide
  • FRINGE REVIEW: My Left Teeth
  • FRINGE REVIEW: The Gospel of Fat Kathy
  • FRINGE REVIEW: FURLESQUE
  • FRINGE REVIEW: We Did It, Girl!
  • FRINGE REVIEW: Cessna
  • FRINGE REVIEW: Naked Strangers
  • FRINGE REVIEW: The Midnight Express
  • WRECKED: A Play Reading That Did Me In
  • REVIEW: Bad Dates
  • REVIEW: Satchel Paige and the Kansas City Swing
  • REVIEW: The Shape of Things
  • REVIEW: Mothers and Sons
  • REVIEW: Annapurna
  • Still Time to See EQUUS
  • Transmigration 2016: Another Successful Festival
  • REVIEW: To Kill a Mockingbird
  • Local Director to Stage EQUUS at Miami-Hamilton
  • REVIEW: Emma
  • REVIEW: Begotten
  • REVIEW: Miss Julie
  • REVIEW: Betrayal
  • REVIEW: Ah, Wilderness!
  • REVIEW: The Revolutionists
  • REVIEW: The Glass Menagerie
  • REVIEW: Prelude to a Kiss
  • REVIEW: Native Gardens
  • REVIEW: Grounded
  • REVIEW: The Realistic Joneses
  • REVIEW: Mockingbird
  • REVIEW: This Is Our Youth
  • REVIEW: A Christmas Carol
  • REVIEW: The Aliens
  • CCM Drama Hosts Play Reading Series
  • REVIEW: Relatively Speaking
  • REVIEW: Steel Magnolias
  • REVIEW: The Mystery Plays
  • REVIEW: Mad River Rising
  • REVIEW: The Norwegians
  • REVIEW: Buyer and Cellar
  • REVIEW: Sex With Strangers
  • Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
  • REVIEW: Luna Gale
  • Monthly Matinee: September 2015
  • Cincinnati LAB Theatre Promotes Collaboration and New Works
  • REVIEW: Lysistrata
  • REVIEW: ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS
  • FRINGE REVIEW: Love and Information
  • FRINGE REVIEW: Fixate
  • FRINGE REVIEW: Occupational Pleasures
  • FRINGE REVIEW: Shirtzencockle
  • FRINGE REVIEW: Shelter
  • FRINGE REVIEW: Mouthy Bitch
  • REVIEW: Circle Mirror Transformation
  • REVIEW: Three Days of Rain
  • REVIEW: Outside Mullingar
  • Five Reasons to See VANYA, SONIA, MASHA, & SPIKE
  • REVIEW: You’re Welcome: A Cycle of Bad Plays
  • REVIEW: Taking Shakespeare
  • REVIEW: Xavier’s Spring Awakening
  • REVIEW: Death and the Maiden
  • REVIEW: Race
  • Know Theatre’s SERIALS Adds More Intrigue to the Concept
  • BIRD BRAIN is a Charming Must-See
  • Five Thoughts About THE TAMING OF THE SHREW
  • HEARTS LIKE FISTS Now Playing at Know Theatre
  • REVIEW: Buzzer
  • REVIEW: Detroit ’67
  • REVIEW: Peter and the Star Catcher
  • Transmigration 2015 – Adventurous Theatre
  • REVIEW: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
  • Five Things I Learned From CSC’s “Hamlet”
  • Still Seats Left for Tonight’s Opening of “Every Christmas Story Ever Told (and Then Some)
  • A Klingon Christmas Carol – Special Pricing Tonight!
  • One More Chance to See “The Crucible” on Sunday
  • Looking Forward . . .
  • Klingons love theatre, and so do you!
  • Local Schools Producing Classic Theater This Fall
  • See “Light Sensitive” This Weekend
  • Good Will Hunting
The Sappy Critic

FRINGE: Sunday 6/5 Recap

0

I saw four shows today! First up was “Father, Daughter, and Holy Toast” by Barbara Brady. This solo show centers around the lessons she learned about faith from her aging – and spoiler alert, dying – father. She has a nice way about her and I appreciate the good writing, the effort put into the scene changes and her convincing pantomimes of various activities.

I think this show will appeal to others who’ve been in similar situations, caring for elderly parents, and dealing with the family drama that results as well as cradle Catholics who can relate to the themes in the story.

More information about “Father, Daughter, & Holy Toast” can be found here.

Next up, was “Bent Compass” by Neil Brookshire and Colin Sesek. This show about one man’s military experiences intrigued me for a variety of reasons. One, it talks about trauma in a way I’ve not seen done theatrically before. Two, the actor performing the show is not the man who’s stories are being told, which is unusual for a solo show. In fact – and I’ve never done this in all my years of reviewing and writing about theatre – but after the show I found Brookshire and asked clarifying questions about the process of development. Knowing that he and Sesek worked together to craft this show in Sesek’s voice is crucial to understanding the structure of the play. Because the script is so conversational, I honestly thought that there perhaps were just bullet points and a throughline and that the actor was just telling stories. It wasn’t until our post-show conversation that I learned that much of the show is verbatim from Sesek’s verbal recordings of his memories. This speaks to the brilliance of Brookshire as an actor and knowing this gets my Pick of the Day for this production. You only have three more chances to see this show as part of Fringe so don’t delay. Tickets and more information are available here. (Trigger warning: there is discussion of violence, blood, and trauma in this production.)

Third was “Changing My Major to Joan,” a curious piece that’s sort of the epitome of Fringe in it’s counter-culture approach to storytelling. Boris Dansberry weaves the history of Joan of Arc through alt-pop numbers (with live music from Jess Lamb and the Factory), theatrical analysis of plays about Joan, and then really hits home by mirroring history with Boris’s own journey of self-discovery and queerness.

With more rehearsal time, some tightening up of the script, and a little more punch of emotion and vulnerability this show could be a gamechanger. It’s off to a very good start.

Check out the details here.

Finally, Steven Nicholas presents “Experimental,” a straightforward mentalism exhibition in which he demonstrates some mind-blowing magic. It feels like he’s holding back; his sarcasm and sense of humor leaks out in moments, but if he would really let loose I think audiences would welcome it.

As is, the tricks are very cool and very convincing. I love that shows like this are part of Fringe!

Check out ExperiMENTAL here.

I seldom try to see four shows in one day, but since I was unavailable yesterday I feel a little behind the 8-ball. My time will be somewhat limited this year, but I’ll be back on Tuesday and then again on Friday with more updates from the 2022 Cincinnati Fringe Festival.

What are you seeing? What have you loved so far? Let me know and spread the word to all of Cincinnati about this amazing opportunity to see artists from all over the world bring new work to our city!

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)

Related

Leave A Reply Cancel Reply