Sweet Dreams: The Prologue

With this show, Shine On Collective offers a tantalizing glimpse into their new fairy tale world. The Prologue tackles some heavy material but by filtering it through the lens of a modern fairy tale, it generates an intelligent social commentary on what those ideas would mean today. It also provides just enough of an introduction to Rose, Philip, and their world to grab the attention of their audience and entice them to come back to learn more as they slip deeper into Sweet Dreams. Sweet Dreams: The Prologue will be remounted periodically during the San Diego Fringe Festival between June 30 – July 31. Part Two, another, different preview show will run during Midsummer Scream in Long Beach on July 29-30. Part 3, the main show, will ru... full review

Shine On Collective debuted at Fringe last year with their immersive piece The Truth. This year they’ve created a stand alone “Prologue” to what will be a larger piece later this year. The premise of this piece pulls from fairy tales (á la damsels in distress) and twists them into a dark, enigmatic world for adults. The piece begins in the cab of a U-haul van where you meet Phillip (Alexander Echols) who's desperately staring at a well-worn map. He’s searching for the girl of his dreams, Rose, and thinks I’m there to help. “You know the story,” he tells me. I don’t but, but shrug “sure.” This introduction doesn’t set up much and needs more work. If writer Anna Mavromati and director Marlee Delia want the participant to be more active, ... full review