What I liked
The world-building was so clear with sound cues, videos, lighting (LOVED the beauty and simplicity of the evening stars and the versatility of her white square tent/closet/wall divider) and all of the ways she involved various members of the audience. The audience involvement tipped this piece into clown for me in the best way possible – playfully disrupting our expectations and keeping the show fresh and on its toes, guaranteeing audience’s return with the promise that each show will be slightly different from the last.
While she mainly played the truly perplexing Teresa Tottle, her switches between other characters were clean and well-defined.
I have a personal preference for solo theatre that is not autobiographical, and if you’re looking for inspiration to accomplish that, this is the woman to watch.
What I didn't like
SPOILERS***
Fringe is “fast and dirty” and oftentimes shows need to stay under the 60-minute mark, but I really wanted to see Teresa finish the race! I’m not sure if the show needed to be under a certain time limit or if we were intended to see her possibly perish before finishing, but I felt that the ride ended a little abruptly and I wanted more!
Really the show was so perfect and I was having so much fun that I didn’t want it to end – so greedy on my part!
My overall impression
This is the second solo show I have seen Maria put on and it did not disappoint. She has an absolute knack for hilarious and compelling storytelling, unique character development, and using her environment to her advantage.
