Month: August 2016

IndyFringe: C-

PWJW_Indy IndyFringe, Reviews, Stage , , , , , , , , , ,

By Wendy Carson

Your college years, they were fun — weren’t they?

You had a good time and the worries of the day-to-day working world were but a distant glimmer on the horizon. But now graduation is over 20 years behind you. What have you done with your life and what do you wish that you had been taught back then to better prepare you for your future?

This is the story of one man’s quest to reconnect with some of his frat brothers in order to discern the answers to those questions. Among those Eric Jaffe finds are his redneck buddy who went to college because his parents wouldn’t support his dream of being a “Rock God,” the disgraced athlete who let his scholarship slip through his fingers, and “The Sponge” who was always smoking pot but never bought any of it.

The stories are compelling and their messages are strong. In fact, I would hope that parents would try to bring out their high school-aged kids to see this and maybe learn some of the pitfalls that college offers.

However, the narrative was not at all linear, and this caused the individual characters’ storylines to be impossible to follow. With a little polish, this could be an amazing show that could be a useful teaching tool for college-bound students.

Even so, the message is important enough to make this show worth a look.

Performances are at the Theatre on the Square second stage Aug. 25 and 27. Info and tickets at indyfringefestival.com.

IndyFringe: The Immaculate Big Bang

PWJW_Indy IndyFringe, Reviews, Stage , , , , , , , , ,

By Wendy Carson

An irreverent night of comedy covering science, religion, relationships, philosophy and family, “The Immaculate Big Bang” by comedian Bill Santiago feels like what an episode of “The Big Bang Theory” would be like if it was written by George Carlin. The laughs are pretty constant, but some of the material might even make you pause to think or research one or two of the topics covered.

The material as a whole is not actually offensive, but some of it might not be to everyone’s taste. Basically, if you think the idea of telling Jesus a “Yo’ Mamma’s So Holy…” joke is in poor taste, then this show might not be for you. Otherwise, get out and see this show. Who knows, you might actually learn a thing or two from it.

Performances are at ComedySportz Aug. 25, 27 and 28. Get info and tickets at indyfringefestival.com.

IndyFringe: The Juniper Tree

PWJW_Indy IndyFringe, Reviews, Stage , , , , , , , , ,

By Wendy Carson

Playwright Timothy Taylor presents a loving insight into three generations of women and their struggles with their personal histories. Our first character, Anna (or Bubbe), is the Grandmother. Her determination to connect with her past life and traditions, ripped away from her by antisemitism throughout her beloved homeland of Ukraine. Her stories are touching and sweet, yet sad and rueful. She brings forth the story of The Juniper Tree, which can grow and thrive anywhere they are planted. She is determined to be that hardy and bear fruit no matter how harsh her environment.

In a solid counterpoint, is her daughter, Cece. We see her as a typical, hot mess of a seventies woman. She’s visiting her friend’s shrink, mostly for valium to help her deal with her stress. Although she initially exits when she can’t get what she feels she needs, she eventually comes back to the doctor’s office and we are treated to a glimpse into what made her the way she is. I was utterly surprised at the depth of her story considering how shallow she initially appears to be.

Finally, we have Rachel, Cece’s daughter who has decided that she wants to reconnect with Bubbe, who she has not seen or heard from since she was an infant. She sends a tape recorder & tapes so that she can get a true oral history for her family’s past, as well as insight into what caused the rift between her mother & grandmother in the first place.

This show is a solid look at family structures and the small choices that can ripple through a lifetime and destroy that which has been so hard fought to preserve. Susan Bennett does an admirable job fully forming the characters into believable women and not just the stereotypes that they could have easily lent themselves to becoming.

While the opening night house was only half-filled, I hope that word-of-mouth will help increase ticket sales so that the remaining performances get the larger audience this show deserves.

Performances at the Phoenix Theatre underground Aug. 22,  26 and 27. Get info and tickets at indyfringefestival.com.

IndyFringe: Cody Clark, A different way of thinking

PWJW_Indy IndyFringe, Reviews, Stage , , , , , , , , ,

By Wendy Carson

If you weren’t aware of it going in, you will certainly know before leaving, Cody Clark is Autistic. However, he has discovered a way to embrace that part of his being through his skills as a magician. The show is an autobiographical journey through his life up to now and how he has been able to overcome so many of the issues regarding his autism primarily through his study of magic.

Not only will you be delighted by the illusions performed, you will also be privy to a lot of data regarding autism and the day-to-day challenges faced by those inflicted.

Since autism causes a person’s brain to be literally “wired differently”, social interactions as well as physical or athletic abilities are a challenge that are often difficult to overcome. Luckily, Cody’s early passion for magic helped him develop not only the courage and confidence to believe in himself but the deft motor skills in order to perform.

Even if you take autism off the table, this is a very solid magic show by a young talent that is already making a name for himself. His takes on various standard tricks are creative and they embellish his story rather than detract from it.

The show is very family-friendly and even though most of Thursday’s sell-out audience were college students, the sheer delight that they beheld lets me know that this is the show you simply must bring your kids to.

One quick word of warning, though. There is audience participation and no area of the audience is off-limits to be drawn from. I know this might hinder some, but since the theme of the show is that it’s OK to be different, you will not be scorned if you choose not to go onstage. There will be plenty of other willing volunteers to take your place.

Performances are at the Theatre  on the Square second stage Aug. 22,  26 and 27. Get info and tickets at indyfringefestival.com.

IndyFringe: Victory for the Recycled Virgin

PWJW_Indy IndyFringe, Reviews, Stage , , , , , , ,

By Wendy Carson

What seems at first to be just a funny little story about how a seventy-nine-year-old woman is still full of life and vitality, takes several surprisingly dark turns in order to fully hammer that point across.

Houston Robertson’s tale of just exactly how far she’s come and the hurdles she’s faced throughout her 79 years is vivid, touching and raw. She’s that Grandma you see on the back of a Harley cruising down the highway with her much younger boy-toy in tow, and she’s bringing us all along for the ride.

Coming from an era in which women were considered more of a decoration than an equal, her journey is far more impressive. She fights to further her education and find personal meaning despite her husband constantly uprooting her and foiling her plans. She even takes their inevitable divorce and the surprising situations surrounding it in her own stride.

You’ll laugh at her various turns through the dating scene: personal ads; one-night stands; vacation gigalos; etc. While you are aware that she will eventually “get her groove back”, the challenges she faced in doing so just serve to remind us all that we should be proud of the lengths that feminist trailblazers went to in order for us to have all of the opportunities we do today.

This show is sad, sweet, silly, crude, outrageous, and very compelling. It’s a testament to exactly what’s meant by “You’ve come a long way, Baby.”

Performances at the Indy Eleven Theatre on Aug. 22, 26 and 27. For info and tickets, see www.indyfringefestival.com.

Active August

PWJW_Indy Games, IndyFringe, Stage , , , , ,

By John Lyle Belden

It has been a busy month, though you wouldn’t know that here. That should change a bit: GenCon was last week, and Wendy Carson and I will be giving more attention to the “games we play” portion of the blog with some reviews and info on the games we found at the convention.

Tomorrow (Thursday) also starts the IndyFringe festival, which will be a rich time for reviews and reports both here an at my “day job” with The Word (www.thegayword.com).

To all in the Indy area, have a look at the Fringe – we’ll be having a lot of fun and it would be a shame to miss it.