Day 2: 10:00 p.m. Time Slot

Show: WANTED
Die Roll: 8
Venue: Interact
Artist: Paul de Cordova

Again, I'll remind you that I don't like one-man shows as a general rule. But this one breaks the rule entirely. First, I should point out that I mentioned that another one-man show wasn't that bad yesterday (Boldy Going Nowhere). In comparison, though, Mr. Cordova blows away Mr. Peterson.

More on that in a moment. But first, wandering around the lobby of Interact (the art gallery, really) prior to the show allowed me to take in a bit of the Visible Fringe. I want to give kudos to one artist specifically...Greg Markstrom. If I have a chance, I will be purchasing a piece of his work. He does photo collages. I'm not normally a fan of photographs as art, but again this is a rule breaker. Great work... beautiful and evocative. Check it out. Even if you're not going to go see a show at Interact, make the trip there for Mr. Markstrom's work.

Now, back to Paul's show. The show begins in a bit of a presentational way that almost scared me off, but then it jumped straight into him relating his experience at the Ghost of X-mas Yet to Come in the Guthrie's "A Christmas Carol." Very funny stuff in and of itself. Even better that it was merely the set-up for the story that was about to unfold.

Apparently, Mr. Cordova grew up in Corpus Christi, TX. He intimately knew a kid who grew up to be a convicted killer who eventually escaped his death row prison cell. Paul related things from the 1998 escape, and the 1981 5th grade classroom that these two shared.

The stage was set up simply. There was a tape line that marked a 6' x 10' rectangle on the stage. It was the size of a prison cell. The costuming was simple. Putting on a "Members Only" jacket took us to 1981, and removing it brought us back to the more recent times.

At one point during the play I found myself thinking... This is great, but what's the message he's trying to send us? And you know what? He answers this thought directly. It is an odd convention to end a show with a monologue that explains why you're doing the show. But it worked. When Paul started his explanation, I thought "Oh no, he's killing the show by adding a moral." But that's not what it did at all. It made his already colid connection to the audience even more firm.

So far, this is the best show that I've seen in the Fringe. Granted, it's only the 2nd day, but there it is.