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a silver medal
highly recommended
provoke
abstract
absurdism
creativity
current
deep
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NIKKI MULLER
certified reviewer
June 29, 2019
tagged as:
Avant-garde exciting bold daring
Exciting, daring work from a group of young auteurs. It’s great to see people taking risks and doing theatrey theatre instead of settling for the safe known quantity. Definitely “weird” if you’re looking for old fashioned realism, etc, but I personally loved this abstract exploration of authority and resistance....
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MARNIE OLSON
certified reviewer
June 25, 2019
tagged as:
abstract ·
surreal ·
freedom ·
revolution ·
resistance ·
orwellian ·
futuristic ·
risk ·
loud noises
Abstract, surreal and I didn't expect to like it so much. ...
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JENNIFER CHUN
certified reviewer
June 26, 2019
With it's percussive chant-like poetry, Start Swimming is a call for revolution. This piece haunted me into the next day and when I tried to describe it to my mother on the phone, I choked up. This is not your usual Fringe show, nor is it for everyone, but if you can stomach a hard look at what the young people in our culture are facing today, then absolutely see this play. ...
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DABBY AQUINO
certified reviewer
June 27, 2019
It was a great and awesome show. One of the character is my nephew and he did really good job. So proud of you Jeion Aquino ...
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JOLA CORA
certified reviewer
June 28, 2019
This is the kind of play I truly value, we need more of them!...
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CARLOS MENDOZA JR.
certified reviewer
June 07, 2019
I enjoyed the show, it was unlike anything I had ever seen. It was like I saw a revolution. ...
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RYAN CARBREY
certified reviewer
June 08, 2019
One of the things I dig about theater as a medium is it not only allows artists to go for it in terms of concept and execution, but it encourages it. There's a place for kitchen sink drama or Mamet style biting dialog, but theater can also do away with the hand rails entirely. Instead of an answer, it can reframe the question.
Start swimming is an exercise in just that. Through the self described Pavlovian rewards and punishments, answers become meaningless and arbitrary. You are on or off, you will obey or not obey and both choices are part of the plan. The answers are neither wrong nor right, the question is wrong. Not to reduce a complex play down to a trite soundbite, but it invites you to question the question. Every generation goes ...
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DAVID GRAYBILL
certified reviewer
June 08, 2019
What is the right answer?
In a Pavlov-ian exploration of the modern world, Start Swimming asks the question, “Why?” and then attempts to explore all of the answers. In a play that James Fritz (the author) describes as, “something that would articulate how our cast felt about growing up marginalised in a major city during a time of incredible political upheaval” (Introduction, Start Swimming) this is not a resolution to the revolution. It is reason behind it. It is the story of our own minds, our hearts, and how we got to where we are now.
The director, Alexandra Fiallos, has taken the text of what could be an abstract exercise in repetition on paper and delivered context in a way that only theatre may provide. It is a theatrical exper...
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SIVAN AVIV
certified reviewer
June 19, 2019
The show moved quickly and was intellectually provoking. It’s clear that the director designed the show in a way that could be interpreted in a variety of ways, leaving the audience to come to their own conclusions. The acting was raw and true to the circumstances in which the characters found themselves. ...
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