Fierce: LA Streets

Great collection of pieces. Nice to see shorts that work well together. A really interesting assortment, with good acting all around.... full review

Writer Jan O'Connor has scored a trifecta at the Fringe Festival: Saturday afternoon was the hilarious "Gayby's Playdate" in Fierce Relations (homophobia being dealt with even at the playpen level!)... and Sunday evening she had two more terrific entries in Fierce L.A. Streets, "Dusted" and "Pool of Gold in the Sky." The former concerns Tinkerbell, now a little bitter and down on her luck, and the latter, a lost airline pilot dealing with a couple of street people who may or may not be Jesus and Mary. All feature funny, smart dialogue, unexpected turns and excellent acting. L.A. Streets concludes with Amy Tofte's "Trio," a rhythm piece that viscerally takes us to the city mean streets and gets us to feel her characters' desperation.... full review

Jan O'Connor brings the Fierceness of the Streets with the mezmerizing "The Pool of Gold in the Sky," starring the sensational Jeffrey Wylie, as a man, trapped in vacant lot at midnight with vagrants (Stephen Spiegel and Crystal Flores), who may or may not be Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary returning to earth for the second coming. The joy of her direction and her writing is that Jan O'Connor makes what at first seems absurd become somehow plausible and the audience has to decide for themselves whether these two people are actually who they claim to be. This brilliant show is bookended by, first, another Jan O'Connor play, Dusted, directed by Amy Tofte based on a whatever-happened-to-Tinkerbell premise that is loaded with laughs and ... full review

I really enjoyed the show and appreciated that it took chances. It just had a feeling that it could've been more polished and it's messiness intended instead of confusing. In Dusted Corey Clifford was absolutely charming & adorable and yet with a swipe of her wand reverberate like no other Tinkerbell. I do feel the direction let her down. Pool of Gold is very interesting and leaves you wondering..."was that truly our lord"? Reminiscent of a Twilight Zone episode written by Jan O'Connor. Crystal Flores had a tenancy too over act and push her emotions while Stephen nailed his character. He was focused and in every moment as Jesus. Ah there was the messiness that was beautifully crafted. Trio is a strange piece. I have a feeling you are ... full review

Not your average collection of short plays at all - an intriguing mixture all the way from comedy to thought-provoking experimental. There is some great acting from all involved and you will leave the theatre talking about what you watched for a long time afterwards.... full review

I really enjoyed this trio of plays. They were not written to be performed together and yet together they absolutely fulfill the "Fierce: L.A. Streets" category more strongly together than they might separately. I liked the framing of the Trio characters being onstage in the beginning, so that Tinkerbell, of "Dusted" is placed in the setting effectively as a classic Hollywood just-off-the-Greyhound new arrival. Corey Clifford nails the Tinkerbell role in Jan O'Connor's fractured fairy tale epilogue. I believe! "Dusted" and "Trio" call to [my] mind the old Concrete Blonde song "Still in Hollywood"--reminding you that the casualties on the streets each have their own stories. Tofte's "Trio" is a kind of experimental dance/theater piece th... full review