My overall impression
Originally posted on Bitter Lemons – “Fringe Femmes” |
“Sex, Lies, and Social Media”
plays by Mary Steelsmith, Elin Hampton and Lorin Howard |
First of all, how fabulous to see the very traditional (read, male) Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights shaking things up a bit with some female energy in its first Fringe outing! On their bill of five short plays, three are written by women. Nice!
There’s nothing wildly experimental or risky here, but these plays (all of them) work together to make a cohesive evening of theater that speaks to ALAP’s longstanding reputation as a community of solid and supportive writers.
A few of the pieces have a successful track record of productions, including Mary Steelsmith’s clever Happy and Gay; the playwright is suitably dour performing in this incarnation, well matched by an ebullient AnnaLisa Erickson. The oft-mounted (pun intended) Uncomfortable Sex, by Lorin Howard, is a sweet diversion, with strong turns by veteran actors Joanna Miles and T J Castronovo along with Kristen Gull. The evening’s surprise is Elin Hampton’s new Casey229, a funny and biting comment on real human needs and virtual realities, performed by Hampton and David Fury.
A shout out to the five directors and also the male playwrights involved: Ron Burch and Dan Berkowitz. After all, what’s an evening of short plays without some smart, comic jabs at succubae and Facebook?
- See more at: http://losangeles.bitter-lemons.com/2014/06/12/fringe-femmes-sex-lies-and-social-media/
