Due to an unfortunate confluence of events, we were unable to attend the Fringe again for a week, when the shows are in their last runs. Normally I wouldn’t tease readers with notices about shows no longer available, but tonight we saw three shows we thought really stood out.
First, Size by Somerville Productions was an enthusiastic meditation on the problems of body image in today’s society.
Second, Measure4Measure by Rough Magic Performance Company is a slimmed down retelling of Shakespeare’s Measure For Measure. These are actors who know how to say their Shakespeare, and a playwright who knows how to slim him down, as this fit – tightly – into the hour limitation of Fringe. We really enjoyed this production.
Third is A Confederate Widow In Hell by Breaker/Fixer Productions. This is a well-constructed and acted two-man show (one without a head) in which the eponymous lady, tormented in hell, insists upon the importance of preserving Southern culture, curses her descendants for their foolishness in donning white sheets and indulging in prevarications concerning the reasons for the Confederacy, confesses her husband to be a heartless bastard, and generally blames the South for the sins of the free market. This one is quite memorable, and there’s a chance you could catch this in some other venue, as Breaker/Fixer appears to have been around for at least a couple of years and advertises it as having been produced in other venues, although their web site appears to be out of date.
If you do happen to run across any of these shows, don’t hesitate to watch them!
