Reviews:
The Christian Brothers was well-written and very well acted, the best performance I've seen thus far. The only reason I'm not totally raving about it was because the theme just wasn't something that I personally was interested in. The reason I went to see it was because I like shows that deal with teaching, and I loved how hard this guy tried to really be a teacher to the boys. It was sad to see how hard someone can try to do something and still fail at it.
Wool was okay, but it really exemplified what some of the issues I have when people try and both write and act in an autobiographical show. It's about a young man's journey to the Isle of Mull in Scotland, where he spends many months with many sheep. He admits that he's not an actor (he's a composer by trade) and that he just wanted to get this story out. Having travelled around a lot, I get the temptation to write about my experiences because they have been so life altering, but really I find it can sound so pompous and self-involved when I actually try to formally tell the story. If felt like he should acknowledge more that he's not the only one who has been changed by their travel experiences, and that his is probably just one of many stories like it. Instead, it was a little like "this is my wholly unique experience which you plebes will never understand." But he did a pretty good job nonetheless, and kudos to him for trying out a whole new art form. The only real problem I had was that, though he was charming (and it was cute that he still had the Scottish storytelling patter and intonation), for most of the play, he seemed to put on his "actor's hat" and not be himself. This gave the impression that he was very distant from the story, that the story wasn't really resonating emotionally with him, when I think that a story like that has to be told like you're completely re-living it. There is one moment when he takes that hat off, and tells the story as himself and not as an actor, (right before he dunks his head in a big bucket o' water) and that moment was worth the ticket price.
The Opposite of Infinity is beautifully scripted and very well acted. My favourite of the plays I've seen thus far. This girl is the story-teller that the Wool guy is striving to be. The story isn't autobiographical, but it resonates with her, she is living it. She completely involves you in her life and you really believe, for those 40 minutes, that there is no difference between this girl and the girl she is "acting like." This is not a life-altering play, but it's simple perfect story-telling as it should be. I was talking to the Wool guy, and he said that this girl had a partner, but the guy bowed out at the last minute, so she re-wrote the script in five days, based soley on the title and the blurb she'd given the Fringe programme. This would explain why she did have a couple of "memory moments" where she needed to take a second to remember a line, but recouperated nicely.
The Christian Brothers was well-written and very well acted, the best performance I've seen thus far. The only reason I'm not totally raving about it was because the theme just wasn't something that I personally was interested in. The reason I went to see it was because I like shows that deal with teaching, and I loved how hard this guy tried to really be a teacher to the boys. It was sad to see how hard someone can try to do something and still fail at it.
Wool was okay, but it really exemplified what some of the issues I have when people try and both write and act in an autobiographical show. It's about a young man's journey to the Isle of Mull in Scotland, where he spends many months with many sheep. He admits that he's not an actor (he's a composer by trade) and that he just wanted to get this story out. Having travelled around a lot, I get the temptation to write about my experiences because they have been so life altering, but really I find it can sound so pompous and self-involved when I actually try to formally tell the story. If felt like he should acknowledge more that he's not the only one who has been changed by their travel experiences, and that his is probably just one of many stories like it. Instead, it was a little like "this is my wholly unique experience which you plebes will never understand." But he did a pretty good job nonetheless, and kudos to him for trying out a whole new art form. The only real problem I had was that, though he was charming (and it was cute that he still had the Scottish storytelling patter and intonation), for most of the play, he seemed to put on his "actor's hat" and not be himself. This gave the impression that he was very distant from the story, that the story wasn't really resonating emotionally with him, when I think that a story like that has to be told like you're completely re-living it. There is one moment when he takes that hat off, and tells the story as himself and not as an actor, (right before he dunks his head in a big bucket o' water) and that moment was worth the ticket price.
The Opposite of Infinity is beautifully scripted and very well acted. My favourite of the plays I've seen thus far. This girl is the story-teller that the Wool guy is striving to be. The story isn't autobiographical, but it resonates with her, she is living it. She completely involves you in her life and you really believe, for those 40 minutes, that there is no difference between this girl and the girl she is "acting like." This is not a life-altering play, but it's simple perfect story-telling as it should be. I was talking to the Wool guy, and he said that this girl had a partner, but the guy bowed out at the last minute, so she re-wrote the script in five days, based soley on the title and the blurb she'd given the Fringe programme. This would explain why she did have a couple of "memory moments" where she needed to take a second to remember a line, but recouperated nicely.
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