What I liked
Fight Song is, at it’s core, a retelling of Jean-Paul Sartre’s seminal play No Exit. And dare I say it, Fight Song is a much needed update to the story. The same message (“hell is other people”) is conveyed, but through a much more dynamic and layered structure than Sartre’s classic. By viewing purgatory through an experimental lens, Fight Song leads the audience to their own conclusions about what is being said, but leaves just enough breadcrumbs to inspire deep understanding. Especially as the playwright’s first foray as both author and director, Fight Song is a triumph.
The artistry begins with the script and direction. Full of dark comedy and affecting yet realistic dialogue, Lauren Ashton Baker shines a light on a world that is entirely foreign to the California native writing this review. The script, while structurally mercurial, takes full advantage of the medium and resources available to craft a stunning mashup of what is clearly a specific region she’s very familiar with, and the mercurial concept of purgatory. The dialogue often flies from the hilarious to the hideous, expertly mirroring the experience of being a young southern woman in the sixties and dealing with death in the only way humans can. There are some excellent monologues in the piece that shine a spotlight (often literally) on a character’s inner life, that any actor would be overjoyed to perform for a casting panel. These moments, and the rest of the show, are directed meticulously with an eye for the theatrical. The set, essentially devoid of anything to stand or sit upon, would be expected to create a void of varied visuals in the hands of a less capable director. However, time and time again, stage pictures are varied and used to accentuate the characters’ relationships and social positioning.
The design of the show comes together to create beautiful textures and a haunting atmosphere. Special attention must be drawn to Brianna Patillo’s lighting and Sonya Berg’s costuming, which generate a unique aesthetic that perfectly encapsulates the strange and specific world the production is so deft at crafting.
However, the show really shines in the performances of the actors. Samuel Camp’s Lucifer is tortured, lonely, and pitch-perfect as an embodiment of apathy. Gabrielle Galloway’s Prom Queen is incredibly haunting and achieves the grandiose stature and visual splendor that most Prom Queens only dream of. Or rather, she is the upside-down nightmare reality of what such a culture of competition may do to a young woman’s self esteem. Sophia McDowell is radiant as the heavenly mother, a stark contrast to the bloodied, torn, and sullen rest of the performers. Each of the four cheerleaders is phenomenal in their own right as a distinct stereotype. Special mention must be given to Olivia McKown, who portrays the innocent, overly devout youngest member of the squad. She manages to simultaneously make the audience howl with laughter and fear for her safety in the big scary world around her. It is her character’s arc that truly makes the story a tragedy, and McKown’s performance is the glue that holds the rest of the show together.
The team behind Fight Song have done a truly remarkable thing, and I couldn’t be more delighted that the production will continue to have life beyond Hollywood at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It’s tough for artists to get there, and I urge anyone who has read this far into the review to send a few bucks toward the artists behind this marvelous production to support their journey and allow this story to continue to be told.
What I didn't like
The production at certain moments touched on issues without commenting on them enough to dive deep, leaving them feeling like loose ends. In particular, the discussion of race in the play and it’s role in Texas culture was underdeveloped, and seemed like a throwaway line. In a tight production like this it’s tough to make every aspect shine, but I hoped for some of these ideas to shine brighter.
The mother character was definitely underutilized as a presence, and the Prom Queen character felt completely separate from the action of the play. While this was clearly intentional, her dialogue did not connect to the current moments enough to justify the interruptions of action her character brought. However, both of these issues were barely troublesome because of the electric performances of Sophia McDowell and Gabrielle Galloway, who owned every (limited) moment they had.
My overall impression
If you’ve ever enjoyed an experimental production, do not miss Fight Song. The acting, writing, direction and design are superb, and the ensemble works together on and offstage to craft a brilliant production, full of laughs, darkness, and more meaning than I thought a 50-minute production could muster.
