Monday, August 09, 2004

Day 3: 2:30 p.m. Time Slot

Show: Six Steps Part Deux
Die Roll: 13
Venue: Illusion
Company: Illusion

So... Another part of the Fresh Ink series. And, a sequel to a show from last year's Fringe Festival. Initially I didn't wat to see this one. But, I know people in it. In fact, this is one of those shows that I talked about wanting to miss, because of the description and yet knowing people in it. The thing is, that I think the description missed the boat. The description had me not wanting to see the show, and dreading telling my friends that I couldn't make it. And yet, it was a very witty, funny, and tightly written comedy that lampoons many of today's current political situations. And it has a good deal of physical comedy thrown in for good measure.

At its most basic level, the show, which was directed by one of my favorite young directors Ellen Fenster, was a story about a group of totally inept super heroes that had to save the world. But at its best, it was a wicked commentary of the strategies and lies of the Bush administration. Thinly veiled as that was!

Ellen's direction made the show fun to watch, and the performances of the actors was good, too. I'd like to send specific kudos to William T. Leaf for his Doctor character near the end of the play, Catherine Johnson for her "Techno Donkey," Casey Grieg for his CIA agent, and Matthew Glover for this theoretically brilliant-minded hero. As a matter of fact, I'd really like to say that Matthew amazed me. He is an alum of a small theatre called The Cromulent Shakespeare Company, which I just becamse the artistic director of a couple of weeks ago. He did two plays with the group a few years ago. Thing is, I didn't recognize him in this. I knew that I knew him from somewhere, and because he was so funny, I thought that it was from my days at the Brave New Workshop. Nope! So, there's that.

Good job everyone on this show... One complaint: It ran long. Why does this matter? Well, the shows at the Illusion don't exactly have to follow the rules of the rest of the Fringe Festival because they are an odd satelite venue that fully produces their own stuff. It's sort of like the whole bring-your-own-venue thing. Because of that, the techies at the Illusion aren't quite as much of sticklers for staying within the Fringe's time restraints. The problem arises when the end time of the Illusion shows keeps audience members from being able to make their next shows. Which, of course, it did to me.

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