There's a Tsunami at Your Door
- A short play by Mary Ellen Whitworth.
- A woman about to commit suicide is interrupted by a desperate cable salesman.
- Similar to "Velocity" from last week it its use of a tragedy that happened in the past as the cause of what's happening now.
- But it is a straight-forward narrative, not fractured like "Velocity."
- The acting was slightly raw.
- The play had funny moments despite its grim subject.
- This struck me as fairly innovative.
- Instead of a musical score, there were three short, personal stories by Diana Weeks.
- They were recorded by her and played over loudspeakers.
- She sat stage (she's an older woman, perhaps in her 60s or 70s) while the dancers danced.
- The dancers "interpreted" her story through dance.
- The connection was tenuous, but--
- Both aspects--the story and the dance--were enjoyable.
- It was like, say, riding your bike while listening to your Ipod. You get simultaneous pleasure from both activities.
- A short play by Paul Locklear.
- Slight, farcical story about a hillbilly who comes to L.A. to make it big on the spelling bee circuit.
- He ends up working as a male prostitute.
- A pretty minor piece of work, I'd have to say.
- These were cartoon public service announcements from the 1980s, featuring the G.I. Joe characters telling kids about safety.
- Eric Fensler has recorded new dialogue for them.
- This had the potential to be funny but predictable.
- But Fensler's dialogue (often sounds or made-up foreign languages) was absurd and bizarre.
- It wass still really funny--but not in an easy or obvious way.
- A documentary by Laura Harrison about a soon-to-be ghost town.
- 18 people still live there.
- The National Park Service has bought out most of the folks in town. The intent is to turn this coal mining town into a park along the lines of Mystic Seaport.
- It felt like a typical documentary, one that had neither the power of the old-school documentaries of, say, the Maysles brothers.
- Nor did it use the innovations of Errol Morris or Michael Moore.
- Not that it was bad, just not all that exciting...
- These were the best things I saw all night, indeed the best out of both nights.
- Three solo dances, three solo dancers. They were highly controlled athletes, but each with a kind of way about her that marked them as artists.
- Catalina Molnari is stranded on unsteady looking rectangular boxes. She barely moves as she grips them and attempts to balance.
- Mechelle Fleming is the dancer in this strangely sexual piece.
- In the first part, there is a film of a girl (Valle) being questioned, job-interview style, about why she would be a good girlfriend for the unseen male interviewer.
- The interview itself is forced and calculating, dealing with the value she brings to him as a girlfriend. She is desperate.
- When the interview seems to go wrong, she remembers something.
- She tells him, "Oh, I forgot! I'm good at sex!"
- The whole time, Fleming is sitting on a chair, facing away from the audience.
- She twitches and makes small moves, as if she is constrained and ready to move.
- The movie ends and she starts dancing.
- Her dance struck me as almost tortured. I can hardly describe it in a way that makes sense.
- She seem struck by things outside herself, while engaging with a negotiation with herself.
- She seemed buffeted, struck by forces.
- (But, it should be said, it was clear she was fully in control as a dancer.)
- Finally, she took off her dress.
- And it ended with her standing there in her underwear.
- It it appropriate to mention that she is an astonishingly beautiful woman?
- I regret not having photos of the Fringe Festival, especially for the three dances that Valle choreographed.
- The dancer was Valle.
- Her skin was covered with white, pasty makeup except for her eyes, which were kind of a red racoon mask.
- The dance was done seated, under a soft, dim red spotlight.
- Weirdly enough, I was reminded of the installation by Carlos Runcie-Tanaka called "Tiempo Detenido/No Olvidar." The atmosphere was similar.
- Her movements were constrained by her seated posture.
- But the effect was nonetheless electrifying.
General vibe.
- I sat under a fan, so the lack of AC wasn't too horrible.
- They have us fill out an audience poll that includes demographic info.
- Apparently collecting this info will help them get grants.
- With which they can, say, buy central air-conditioning.
- The seats at Frenetic are only slightly more comfortable than airline seats.
- It seems like a lot of folks are there just to see their friends or family's performance.
- Consequently, a lot of people leave at the intermission.
- Maybe it's not so bad on Saturday and Sunday.
- But one would certainly wish for more support from people who have no personal connection with the performers.
- (Of course, I could be wrong about the audience...)
- I wish I could photograph some of the performances and put them up here.
- That said, there were two photographers with serious-looking photo set-ups in the audience.
- So perhaps if you search the web, you can find some images.
