Highlights in the second week of the Festival included:
AutoPilot performed in a tiny Old City gallery with superb acting performances and interesting lo-fi lighting and projections from an old overhead projector;
Nicole Canuso’s Fail Better which reprised some of her earlier work and included a new piece involving lots and lots of wooden blocks. I think it was the Inquirer that said she has a great face for dance, and she really does have a wonderfully expressive face;
Lunchlady Doris who gave us long-form improv sketch comedy as good as you’ll find in Chicago or NYC;
Crazy Gary’s Mobile Disco from Inis Nua Theatre Group with three extremely well-performed monologues which ultimately tie together in an edge-of-your-seat conclusion;
and Contest created by Jeb Kreager of New Paradise Laboratories with a cast of about 20 in yellow track suits competing for blue ribbons and shiny trophies.
The cavernous, domed room of the Rotunda and lighting on the old peeling walls and ceiling was a great atmosphere for the closing night event with DJ Spooky and King Britt. I’m already thinking ahead to next year’s adventures.

I had such grand plans to blog every day during the festivals, and I started out doing ok, but my duties as publicist kind of hijacked my blogging time.  If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to handle PR for a 16-day festival that includes over 160 shows, about 85 venues, and hundreds of performances - well, it’s a blast but insanely exhausting.
So, I thought I’d post a few recaps of what I saw.  I managed to get to about 24 different shows including work in both the curated Live Arts Festival, and the open-to-all Philly Fringe.  Mason’s already written about Ps & Qs, House, and Amnesia Curiosa which were all amazing.  I was particularly smitten with House from Kate Watson-Wallace who is quickly becoming my new favorite local choreographer.  Philly has some incredible talent in the dance community and I was fortunate to see so much of it in the last few weeks.
Miro Dance Theatre presented a new work in collaboration with German choreographer/visual artist Antony Rizzi which I thought was extremely risk-taking and new.  The movement language was intriguing and not always pretty - which I really respect.  These dancers are ballet trained but willing to experiment with movement that is raw and edgy but still pleasing to watch.  A section in which two dancers mirrored video images of a fountain was particularly lovely.
Every year I see one show that I know I will be talking about for years to come, and The Convent from Jo Stromgren Kompani was that show this year.  Honestly, I’ve never seen anything like it and I won’t do it justice with words.  In fact, words aren’t really appropriate because the 70-minute performance used an entirely made-up language.  The story involves three nuns in a remote convent where food and drink are scarce.  In the bleak surroundings, the nuns begin to struggle with hunger, faith and start to taunt each other.  Sounds like a hoot, right?  Actually, it is.  I was surprised at how much humor the performance had and how the gibberish language made complete sense.  It sounded real, but I had no idea what they were saying, and it didn’t matter.  I loved the concept of presenting a narrative story devoid of text.  The mix of theatre, dance and singing was stunning as were the performances from the three women.  If the company returns to the U.S. do not miss them.

Megan and I had the privilege of seeing an early “in progress” version of Geoff Sobelle and Trey Lyford’s new show “Amnesia Curiosa” weeks ago, and I was really excited to see how it had evolved. That early version was captivating but they still had some loose ends to connect.

They perform in the country’s first surgical amphitheater, a domed room with tiered seats surrounding the performers. The feel of the room is closer to a museum or a library than somewhere you’d like to be operated on and the piece perfectly suits that setting. Since they’re performing in the round and there are audience members 15 feet above them in the balcony they are completely and closely surrounded. It makes for a very intimate experience.

As the piece explores the nature of mind and memory they morph more than transistion between characters and moods. It’s very dreamlike and the effect is wonderfully meditative as you get deeper and deeper into the connections between memories. Fortunately they know just where and how to deliver some absurdist humor to keep it from getting meloncholy on the way. At one point they dissect a banana as if it were a human brain and then proceed to eat it, tasting all of the memories once locked inside.

P’s & Q’s

We barely made it in time to catch P’s & Q’s at the Ethical Society (perfect venue!). The room was absolutely full and we took our place in the last available corner. The setting is an awkward dinner party roughly 50 years ago and everyone is anxious about their manners. The narrative is driven by sound clips pilfered from old insructional ettiquite films. “Betty isn’t sure if she’s set the table correctly”, “What should Bob do when he’s forgotton someone’s name?”. The party soon derails as people forget themselves and reveal what they’re really thinking as they’re clinking their glasses.

House

Enchanting and amazing. I wanted to see it again right after it was over. But don’t take my word for it. Here’s what the NY Times has to say.

What a gorgeous installation piece from Subcircle. Still Unknown gives you a choice of following a negative or positive path when you enter, and the audience splits into two groups.  You’re taken through a series of vignettes as lighting and sound morph from one scene to the next.  You can hear music and talking from other rooms and you’re left to wonder for a while if the other group is seeing a different show than you are.  The piece includes performers Olase Freeman, Makoto Hirano, Christy Lee, Gin MacCallum and Niki Cousineau and designers Jorge Cousineau, Matt Saunders and James Sugg.  Tickets for this one are going fast, so get yours soon at www.livearts-fringe.org. (show runs through 9/14)

photo courtesy of the amazing JJ Tiziou

The offical start of the Live Arts Festival & Philly Fringe was a dreary, rainy evening but the show must go on, and somehow our first night choices seemed to be suited to the weather. First up was The Uhaul Trilogy where about 15 of us were closed inside the back of a pitch black truck. “The wheels are moving,” comes a voice from the darkness followed by a lot of banging, and then three dancers appeared with handheld lights. I guess I’m not as limber as I used to be because the 15 minute performance was just about as much time as I could scrunch up on the floor of the truck before my limbs started to go numb. Of course, I can stretch before the 2nd installment next week.

Next, we made our way over the The Wilma for Sabooge Theatre’s Every Day Above Ground. I was so excited to see this company again that I forgot to bring my camera. I saw Sabooge’s Fathom in the 2004 festival, and I still remember that show vividly, so I was really looking forward to seeing their new piece. As before, the lighting, set, costumes and acting style were stunning, but I missed the sense of story that Fathom had. The narrative was very abstract, although the language was at times intriguing and graphic, as Billy the Kid seemed to make a slow, eerie decent to hell. The soundscore was interesting, but I found its constancy distracting and it made me feel like they were building to something they never actually got to. Regardless, I look forward to the next project from this company and hope they’ll make their way back to Philly.

We finished off the night at the Late Night Cabaret listening to a brilliant set from Cynthia Hopkins and her band Gloria Deluxe. Every time I see this woman perform, I become more convinced that she’s a genius. Her show Accidental Nostalgia was my favorite from last year’s festival. Her set previewed songs from part II of The Accidental Trilogy, which I’m sure will be a don’t-miss show.

What better way to kick off the 10th annual Philadelphia Live Arts Festival & Philly Fringe than with a trashy, rockabilly extravaganza that includes cheerleaders, strippers and a puppet called “Big Fat Fucker”? That’s Brat Productions’ “EYE-95 Retarred” opening the festival in white trash style last night. With a can of PBR in one hand and a bag of Frito Pie in the other (that’s chili and Fritos), the show is a blast to watch and I can see why it was such a big hit in the first Fringe 10 years ago. The set is a runway which doubles as a highway and connects two stages at either end of the space (a big wharehouse at the Northern Liberties Design Center). On one end is the trashy kitchen of Emmaline, the Jack Daniels drinking stripper mom, and on the other is the band and the big city where her daughter Babydoll goes to find herself and her “bonafide father”. In between we meet cheerleaders and strippers (who make ample use of the poles on the runway) and even South of the Border’s Pedro. This one’s sure to be a hot ticket. Check out more photos on Flickr.