Last week we saw our first two Fringe plays of this season’s offerings.
It’s-a-Me, a Musical! is based on SuperMario Brothers, games and movies and merchandise, stripped of enough detail to discourage lawyers bearing trademark infringement paperwork. It being a first-night presentation, it suffered from the usual technical glitches; but it also needed several rewrites of the script. As is, despite the earnest efforts of the performers, it’s not compelling, and my Arts Editor wants that hour of her life back. The one real plus? The production program was the best I’ve ever seen at a Fringe show. Alas, that didn’t save this production.
The second production of the night was the mystifying Fly Tape. Three siblings, speaking mostly in cliched slang, are rummaging through their late mother’s lifetime accumulation of stuff, discovering uncomfortable secrets along the way. Sadly, these performers, despite efforts that, again, can only be described as earnest, cannot overcome the script. I think that it’s a lack of chemistry, with a consequential glacier pace that did the presentation no favors. The mystery is the intermittent presence of a character who is auctioning off, through a puppet he carries, some of the mother’s possessions to the audience. If you choose to see this production, on entry keep an eye out for a basin of coins and scoop up one or two. You can use them to participate in the production.
Another visit on Thursday, we hope.
