Our Triple Whammy Weekend: Austinist Reviews Long Fringe
The following review is from new contributor Jonathon.
This was the last weekend for Frontera Fest's Long Fringe, so we hunkered down for a live performance triple-whammy on Saturday and Sunday. (Note to Frontera Fest staff: for future triple-whammy weekends, we'd appreciate some sleeping accommodation at the theatre. Thanks.)
Of or Pertaining To…, the first show in our Saturday night line-up, was some of the most refreshing fringe dance performances we've seen in awhile. Directed by Dillar (who, like Madonna, goes by one name only), this performance featured new choreography by Molly Roy, Debra McAdoo, Amanda Evans, Karen Morris, and, of course, Dillar herself.
There were moments in all five pieces, but the real standouts were Karen Morris and Amanda Evans. While a run-of-the-mill "comedic" dance is lucky if it inspires snooty, nasal chuckles from dance snobs, we just about wet our pants during Amanda's surreal supermarket gyrations. In Karen's piece, the striking stage pictures, emotional fullness, and commendable attention to detail actually prompted us to get off our high horse and congratulate her after the show (holy crap).
Our one complaint is that all the work looked slightly under-rehearsed, and the ideas didn't appear to be fully realized. But, after what we saw this Saturday, you can bet your hind-quarters we'll be on the lookout for whatever they come up with next.
Our second Saturday night intake, The Most Beautiful Lullaby You've Heard, by Greg Romero, was not the most beautiful lullaby we'd ever heard. The play has a lot of potential. It contains amazing stage directions like "…a woman stands in the rain. The rain stops in mid-air. She picks a few drops out of the sky and puts them in the palm of her hand" (that's not verbatim, but it went something like that). But instead of allowing the audience to empathize with the actors as they experienced these overwhelming, magical events, Greg decided to have another character, named Narrator, read the stage directions out loud. We hate being treated as if we don't have an imagination of our own. Additionally, while the play's two main characters, Man and Woman, share some beautiful, intimate moments full of fantastically vulnerable dialogue, they also share lines like, "It made it easier for my daddy to fuck me." We take no issue with theatre that's intended to be dark, or shocking, (or whatever), but unfortunately Romero falls into the all-too-common artist's trap of simplifying what could have been an intricate, interesting relationship into –- what at least appeared to be -– a couple of "fucked up" people with sexual problems.
Blake DeLong and Natalie Wheeler give solid, professional performances as Man and Woman, but the real star (even though we thought his character was redundant) was Ian Galloway as Narrator. His subtle, layered, powerful performance reminded us of a young Phillip-Seymour Hoffman. The work was presented, for the most part, as a staged reading, indicating that Romero is continuing to work through this text. While we left this particular production feeling slightly let down, we've definitely got high hopes for his next one.
Dance Carousel rounded out our triple-whammy weekend on Sunday afternoon. This is an annual Long Fringe event in which 10 randomly selected members of the Austin Independent Choreographers Collective each present four one-minute pieces as part of a non-stop barrage of modern dance. It's also an unassailably cool way to structure a performance. Some were great, some were absolutely horrible -– but when it's only one minute long, you're always ready for more.
While we have no intention of reviewing all forty dance pieces, here're some highlights:
Megan Knotz: Megan teamed up with a local filmmaker to make four one-minute dance films. Dance on screen usually looks like a taped stage performance (which is lame), but these pieces were pure cinematic goodness. We are fans. Megan and Justin (the filmmaker) also go by the name Thermogenesis, so keep your eyes peeled for more work from this talented pair.
Ashley Parker Overton: Ashley played spoken-word recordings of her poems/stories as she danced. This format seems a little dated to us, but Ashley is a great writer, and her performance was undeniably cute.
Ellen Bartell: Austin's fringe dance queen, Ellen produces Dance Carousel, for which we think she rules. Her final piece exploring combat, complete with anime-style overdubbing in the fight sequence, had us rolling with laughter.
This wraps up our triple-whammy weekend and the Long Fringe for this year. There's still one more week of Short Fringe, and the incredibly popular Best of the Fest following in short order. Stay tuned.
Get tickets for any Frontera show by calling 479-PLAY, or by going here.
* Photo (c) BPOL at Stock Exchange.
