What I liked
everything
What I didn't like
Can’t think of anything, seemed super well-tuned.
My overall impression
I just got back from the last show of Medicine Woman’s Los Angeles Fringe run. And as the best shows, concerts, and art do, I’m left with FEELING something deep, rather than just being entertained or given something to think about. Have I been healed?
I presume this was the exact intention of Veronica, our star, shaman, and master of sultry-yet-sincere ceremonies. I was hooked from the opening blackout, feeling like I was a kid boarding a ride at Disneyland—the thrill of departing somewhere unpredictable yet exciting.
An all-around talent, she’s taken her hard-earned skills, insight, and personal trauma, and woven it all into something unique yet universal enough to give us an opportunity and safe space to transmute our own trauma/issues, using just the right amount of audience interaction and boundary-pushing.
For example, I felt actual catharsis in being able to “expel my negative energy” in a way that’s often lacking in our society outside of primal scream therapy and cults.
She names and speaks to enough of a variety of flavors of insecurities/trauma to feel completely inclusive, and actually allows us to go deep with them because she takes the brave step of doing it first for us—all while cushioning the overall mood in a gleeful silliness.
This show, and Veronica as an entertainer, are just so fun and funny. From her perfect comic timing that I’ll forever question how much is inborn and how much is from her years of experience, to the pacing and flow of the interweaving segments, to her expressive face, ever-changing physicality, and hilarious impressions… go see this show if you’re lucky enough to have the Medicine Woman roll through your town.
