The Philadelphia Fringe Festival is in full swing, with over 1,000 performances hosted throughout the month of September, across various venues throughout the city. It also includes the Cannonball Festival, one of the central hubs of Fringe that showcases many unique, smaller-scale performances. This Weekly Review Roundup will offer my brief thoughts on the shows I was lucky enough to see that week, which have been presented during the festival.
What is the Butt Game? (Savannah Reich and Connor Hogan)
What do you remember about your childhood daycare experience? Was it shut down during the Satanic Panic of the late 80’s- early 90’s? That experience is what artists Savannah Reich and Connor Hogan are trying to excavate in the very funny, if occasionally messy, What is the Butt Game? Connor, as Savannah, with the help of three local, unrehearsed actors tell the true story of how Savannah’s day care was investigated and shuttered due to reports of sexual abuse and child endangerment, including the titled “butt game.”
When the butt game is firing on all cylinders, it really gels as a hysterical night of theatre. Connor’s ability to connect with the audience, while also leading the three actors, is truly magnificent; he creates a welcoming, endearing tone for the whole show. The show poses a lot of deep, interesting questions, but doesn’t always answer them. The ambiguity is the point, but it can occasionally feel like there are too many loose threads by the end of the show. The spontaneity of improv and rotating cast (each show utilizes three new actors with minimal rehearsal time) provides a really refreshing and very “fringe” experience that makes What is the Butt Game? shine even through its flaws.
What is the Butt Game? is playing at Christ Church Neighborhood House (20 N. American Street) on Sept. 15th, Sept 20th and Sept 26th. Tickets can be purchased here.
Lilith and Her Demons (Apartment 20 Theatre)
A small theatre company presenting a one-night-only concert of a new musical in development? Sign me up! Apartment 20 Theatre presented a concert version of the musical Lilith and Her Demons (which they presented digitally during the COVID-19 Pandemic) on September 2nd. Lilith and her Demons explores the greater idea of the mythological figure Lilith and how she inhabits the lives of women today.
The concert was presented simply and, with the minimal amount of rehearsal time, well. The score is tonally cohesive, and very refined. The melodic lines don't always go where you expect them to, which works most times, but occasionally sounds off in an unintentional way. Musical arrangements by Damien Figueras truly shine; their choice of instrumentation was well thought out, and created a unique sound for the material. The cast of three handled the material well, with Courtney Bird being a standout with powerhouse vocals. Hopefully this show continues to be workshopped and developed, as a full production of this would be fascinating to see.
To keep up with Apartment 20 Theatre and further development of Lilith and Her Demons, click here.
Ulysses (Elevator Repair Service)
Elevator Repair Service, a New York City based theatre company, brought their production of James Joyce’s Ulysses as part of the Fringe Arts curated performances. The performance is a group of actors getting together to read the text of the famous titular novel to the audience. They do skip parts, and fast forward in an attempt to create brevity, but the effect quickly loses its humor. Ulysses is a famously difficult text to read, as the way Joyce writes, and his lack of exposition, make it hard to connect and understand the characters. This production doesn’t help audiences in understanding the text, instead making it all the more muddled and difficult to understand by abridging and omitting what little contest was in the source material. There is also talk of how the writing style changes throughout sections, yet the performance style doesn’t follow suit, instead maintaining a frankly quite boring presentational style that doesn't allow the text or performers to shine. It was a performance and style of theatre that didn’t land well for me, and seemingly missed the mark of making other audience members care about Ulysses, based on the walkouts I saw (unfortunate for the performers, who give it their all).
Ulysses ran until September 7th, check out Elevator Repair Services for their next productions.
On Buried Ground (Christ Church Preservation Trust)
One of the great things about the Philadelphia Fringe Festival is the many opportunities to explore new and exciting “found” theatre productions. One such is On Buried Ground, developed by Nia Benjamin, Rayne (Angela Bey), and Shayla-Vie Jenkins, and presented in collaboration with Christ Church Preservation Trust. This piece unearths the history of black congregants of the historic Christ Church. The show is separated into two halves, with a prolonged intermission taking place at Christ Church Neighborhood House, where there is an exhibit in conjunction with the show entitled Groundlings: An Exhibition.
The first half invites the audience to explore Christ Church Burial Ground as it tells the stories of four black children, who were slaves and buried in unmarked graves at the burial ground. It’s structured as a “choose your own adventure” experience, as each installation is presented concurrently while the light fades on the historic burial ground. This type of theatre is not always my preferred choice, as I feel you can miss certain aspects of the performances while picking your unique path. That being said, all of the vignettes are well crafted, adding to a supremely unique experience.
The second half is truly spectacular. The show moves inside Christ Church to tell the story of Alice of Dunk’s Ferry, an enslaved woman who lived to be 116 years old. It examines the end of her life through a beautiful amalgamation of dance, poetry and technical elements. The way they have lit and presented the space inside Christ Church makes it feel ethereal, haunting and quite frankly stunning. The dancers move throughout the space effortlessly, engaging the audience to look all around the space. The main performance of Alice portrayed by Rhonda Moore is truly magnificent. She is instantly captivating and electrifying to watch. There are moments where everything is working so harmoniously throughout the second half that it becomes more of a spiritual experience than a theatrical one. It was one of the most captivating and engrossing experiences I’ve witnessed in theatre, which makes On Buried Ground a must-see Fringe show.
On Buried Ground runs at Christ Church now until September 14th. Tickets can be purchased here.
The Garden: River’s Edge (Nichole Canuso Dance Company)
More of an individualized guided meditation than full performance piece, Nichole Canuso Dance Company revitalizes their ongoing production piece The Garden… in this new version taking place at Arch Street Meeting House. Small groups of audiences are given headsets, and guided through an interactive experience that combines dance with aspirational speech and music. What transpires is a completely unique experience for each individual, that is exceedingly calming and engaging. The choreography is interesting to watch, but the real purpose of this piece is to get the audience to feel and be aware of the world around them. It’s a wildly effective means of performance and a truly simple, effective way to recenter the idea of performance on the interaction between audience and performers.
The Garden: Rivers Edge runs at Arch Street Meeting House now through September 22nd. Click here for tickets.
Graveyard Shift (Emma McGill/Sam Lane)
Emma McGill and Sam Lane grapple with grief through the lens of a speculative reality show hosted by Andy Cohen. Only this Andy Cohen is a puppet, who is holding the promise of health insurance over the head of our solo performer, Emma. Graveyard Shift tries to say a lot, with much in the piece about grief, toxic work environments and our reality-tv obsessed culture. However, it doesn’t really say much that you can’t find in any basic newsletter about those given topics. The way it is performed is a touch over the top, bordering on abrasive, which rarely feels in step with the topic being discussed. Particularly, a moment where Emma is working as a daycare instructor, and continuously devolves into an aggressive, Gollum-like physical and vocal performance to yell and scold children stood in contrast to the central topics. There are some very real feelings and emotions Emma is trying to mine for the production, and it's an earnest attempt that just needs further refinement.
Graveyard Shift has one more performance on September 11th. Tickets can be purchased here.
Ponya (Ankole INC)
One small piece of Cannonball Festival is their Black Circus Week, which allows many underrepresented circus performers the space to shine and showcase their skills. One such performance was Ponya by Ankole Inc. The show consists of three short vignettes utilizing circus and dance to explore how black and queer bodies are used and stigmatized by western medical practices. Choreography was a standout in this production, with the circus talents being truly mesmerizing to watch. All of the performers were showcased in invigorating ways, especially the one performer who was nursing an arm in a sling, yet still able to present some exciting silks choreography. Technical elements left a little to be desired, with a reliance on strobe lighting that didn’t heighten the choreography. Overall, an enjoyable performance that hopefully gets expanded into a longer examination of its concepts.
Follow Ankole INC here for any upcoming performances.
Diva! Live from Hell (Jack Taylor)
The idea that hell is an individualized punishment based on your deeds in life is on full display in this campy, unsettling production of Diva! Live from Hell. This torture cabaret recounts the story of high school student Desmond Channing, and his downfall from Drama Club President to murderer doomed forever to present kitschy cabaret numbers for demons. It’s a rather wild story when you hash it out, and one that almost lacks a thesis. Are we supposed to feel bad for Desmond? Is it more than just a take down of toxic theatre kid stereotypes? The show never really answers the questions that it’s asking, and becomes strikingly graphic towards the end. It’s a difficult piece to grapple with in today's climate, with heightened awareness of violence geared at younger generations.
That being said, the music is campy fun, though a bit forgettable. Jack Taylor plays Desmond Channing well, with a pleasant voice that is occasionally let down by the material being sung. They are charismatic to watch, and instantly create a wonderful rapport with the audience. As Jack recounts Desmond’s story, he shifts throughout various characters with varying degrees of success. His interpretations of laid back new guy Evan Harris, and the beleaguered teacher/director of the drama club, Mr Dallas, felt a touch too similar at times. However, his performance as Desmond’s best friend Allie Hewitt was delightfully endearing and heartfelt. Her solo song “His Best Friend” was a true standout.
Lighting, set and costumes all were really effective in aiding the storytelling. Also, a special shout out must go to the lobby design and posters leading to the theatre. It truly does set the tone so see a poster of Patti LuPone with flames in her eyes saying “Welcome to Hell”.
Diva! Live from Hell is playing at the Skinner Studio Theatre in Pays and Players (1714 Delancy Street) from now until September 14th. Tickets can be purchased here.
Check back next week for Week Two of the Philadelphia Fringe Festival and my reviews of selected performances! In the meantime, do all these incredible artists a favor and share this review with your friends so more people hear about their great work!
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