What I liked
See below
What I didn't like
See below
My overall impression
This show has managed to take almost every classic theatre convention in the book: Shadow/light box visuals, puppetry, scale, music, spectacle, dance, poetry — and merge them into a really beautiful piece. Aristotle would be proud.
Like torn chapters out of a book, we follow true origin stories of women from folklore who have been victimized, damned to eternity, wrongfully accused and overall, screwed over. These stories are narrated by an ensemble member while other the rest of the cast, through multiple mediums, act/dance/pantomime the visuals. This is a cast comprised completely of young women who share every duty on stage. There is no “lead” player; everyone is just as essential as the next.
There is a small folk band with an acoustic guitar and fiddle player that provides a down-to-earth score to each scene. Because everything is so clearly rehearsed and timed out sometimes the actors can get a little ahead of the music, which caused them to pause until the particular bar they were supposed to be on — but I’m sure those little small wrinkles will be pressed out as performances continue.
Lastly, the set, which is pretty large-for-a-fringe-show compliments the tone and organic/folky aesthetic perfectly. I felt like I could be somewhere deep in the south on a porch swing, sipping a lynchburg lemonade while my three-legged dog sits on my lap.
In conclusion, go check out this show!
