My overall impression
I had no idea what to expect from White Hot based on my interview with some of the team. They also invited me to their final dress rehearsal, so I saw The Vagrancy load into the space and heard some of the last-minute shenanigans that come with 15 minutes of in-space preparation – ah, Fringe!
As much as I love a few black chairs and blocks on a Fringe set, I also appreciate companies that solve Fringe limitations creatively. White Hot doesn’t require much more space than the Aslyum Lab offers, but they did need specific lighting. I can’t imagine this story, which felt like Pinter throwing knives, or noir on heroin, without the lighting shelves turned set pieces enclosing the characters into uncomfortably tight spatial relations (which works for the show).
The story centers around two sisters who appear to have a similar vague mental illness and deal with it in polar opposite ways. These coping mechanisms usually result in using and hurting one another: you know, sisters. Then there’s the conservative, mind-ruling husband who somehow looks his best with a stupid knitted animal hat on his head. There may also be a mysterious man with a mysterious case in a hotel room or two.
Performances are excellent, direction is tight and you can tell everyone is whole hog committed to this sort of insane journey through mental derangement. I’m not sure how it all adds up, but it was a weird and intriguing ride. Go see White Hot and let me know what you got out of it in the comments.
- See more at: http://losangeles.bitter-lemons.com/2013/06/09/lets-fringe-last-of-the-sneak-peeks/#sthash.PrErzz1c.dpuf
