Category Archives: Cincy Fringe Festival

TRAGEDY: A TRAGEDY Review

CFF_Tragedy A TragedyTRAGEDY: A TRAGEDY presented by New Edgecliff Theatre as part of the 2014 Cincinnati Fringe Festival.

You can read the show description here.

TRAGEDY: A TRAGEDY, written by Will Eno (Thom Pain (based on nothing)), takes a satirical look at our 24-hour news cycle. Eno’s densely-written script has some smart and funny moments, but it did feel to me that the production lacked forward momentum in places.

Director Jim Stump has a talented cast, but I found the performances lacked character and individuality. Yes, everyone had the “news reporter” cadence to their voices, but with a sameness that would allow, for example, the female reporters to switch roles without really impacting the show.  Where are the strong personalities that deliver the news, such as Bill O’Reilly or Nancy Grace? Even “the witness” seemed a bit too normal for this over-sensationalized event. The pacing of the opening night performance was also hampered by slow line pick-ups among the cast.

Overall an interesting work that could use a bit more oomph.

Four performances remain through Thursday, June 5.

More information |

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SON OF A HUTCH Review

CFF_Son of a HutchSON OF A HUTCH presented by Left Out Productions as part of the 2014 Cincinnati Fringe Festival.

You can read the show description here.

Fringe favorite Joe Hutcheson (writer/performer 2011 Critics’ Pick of the Fringe MISS MAGNOLIA BEAUMONT GOES TO PROVINCETOWN) returns this year with a personal story.

Hutcheson’s script is smart, funny and touching as he shares memories of family and growing up as a “Hutch.” A great performer and storyteller, he easily slips in and out of characters as he reenacts key moments from his past. Due to how the show is structured, it does jump back and forth in time very often. There were a couple of instances where the transitions in time were a little unclear to me. Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing some of the stories performed a bit bigger to offset the quieter moments.

Overall a great start to this year’s festival.

P. S. It’s nice to know that my dad wasn’t the only one that “watched” TV with his eyes shut.
P.S.S. Best dog name ever!

Only three performances remain through Sunday, June 1. The Gateways to Healing venue is on the smaller side, so I’d recommend getting weekend tickets early.

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BOOTY! A REVOLUTIONARY PIRATE TALE at Fringe

Musical Takes Play Goers on a Hip and Happening Adventure
The cast of BOOTY!

The cast of BOOTY!

Actress and musician Serenity Fisher and her band The Cardboard Hearts will soon bring the original score of a romping pirate tale to Cincinnati’s 11th annual Fringe Festival. Serenity takes the stage for the Cincinnati Fringe Festival for the fourth time.  Fisher and co-founder of Tangled Leaves Theatre Collective, Robin O’Neal Kissel, are at it again, this time bringing a musical based on actual historical stories of American female pirates in “Booty! A Revolutionary Pirate Tale.”

“Booty! A Revolutionary Pirate Tale” takes place in Boston, MA, 1976, just before the celebration of the American bicentennial.  Here we meet 17 year old Ramona Schmidt as she unexpectedly releases three “girl pirate ghosts” from “pirate purgatory.”  All of the pirate ghost characters are based on real pirates who plundered the Eastern American seaboard in the 17th & 18th centuries. Once released, the girl pirates are on a mission to steer Ramona on course and earn their freedom from purgatory. Each ghost visits Ramona in the form of a musical vision. Their nemesis, the evil “Pirate Hicksey” is equally determined to capture Ramona and send the girl ghosts back to purgatory. Meanwhile, in 1976, Ramona rebels against authority, explores activism and seeks to find freedom and love.

Tangled Leaves Theatre Collective has produced three Fringe pieces in the past, “Sophie’s Dream” in 2010, “Opal Opus: Journey to Alakazoo,” in 2011 and “Vortex of the Great Unknown” in 2013. All three shows won the “Audience Pick-of-the-Fringe” Awards. They are back for their fourth Fringe show in 2014, with live music provided by Serenity’s band, The Cardboard Hearts, featuring piano and guitar by well-known local musician, Bobby Fisher and cello by the very talented Michael Gilbert Ronstadt.

All of the actors in “Booty!” play multiple roles, with all 6 male roles played by the one and only Jared Joplin. The production also features artistic pole dancing, as the pirates become a ship’s mast and are hung by nooses and shackled in chains.

“Booty! A Revolutionary Pirate Tale” opens at the Art Academy of Cincinnati Commons on Wednesday, May 28 9:00 PM.  Additional dates and times are Sunday, June 1 7:00 PM, Monday, June 2 8:45 PM, Wednesday, June 4 8:45 PM and  the final show is Saturday, June 7 4:15 PM. For more information visit http://www.cincyfringe.com/performance/booty-a-revolutionary-pirate-tale/

Avast Ye Mateys! We want to announce that thanks to the wonderful Jeffrey Johnson, Booty! will have two performances with ASL interpreters: Sunday, June 1 at 7pm and Monday June 2 at 8:45 pm.

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CPT Brings Kevin Crowley’s SARGE to Fringe Festival

Christine Dye as Jerry Sandusky's wife, Dottie, in Kevin Crowley's SARGE.

Christine Dye as Jerry Sandusky’s wife, Dottie, in Kevin Crowley’s SARGE.

Can a person be so close to evil it leaves them blind?  This question and others are examined in the new play “SARGE” premiering at the 2014 Cincinnati Film Festival   The play and its title character were inspired by the recent headlines surrounding football coach Jerry Sandusky.

Jerry Sandusky’s wife, Dottie is re-imagined in monologues.  In the Jerry Sandusky scandal, one figure remains the most enigmatic to the public, his wife, Dottie, or Sarge, as she was known. People tend to dismiss her as complicit, a liar, naive or delusional. “Sarge”, imagines her in three settings over the course of a year as the Sandusky scandal plays out.  The play is the work of actor/writer and director Kevin Crowley, who when not acting on the silver screen, calls the Clifton Performance Theatre home.  Crowley explains how he was drawn to the subject as soon as it hit the headlines, “I was very interested in this case from the beginning. I became particularly drawn to Jerry Sandusky’s wife as she continues, to this day, to defend him and deride anyone who believes his guilt. It hardly seemed possible that 40 plus accusers could be wrong therefore denial must become it’s own form of reality. I read as much as I could find out about the actual couple and then created, or reimagined, a fictional version of Dorothy in three different settings.”
Crowley has created a script that leaves one grasping at every word from the title character, looking for a moment to lay blame. Crowley says he does not want the story to provide answers, “I never wanted to make anyone love or hate her. I really just wanted to know, for my own edification, what was it like to be in that situation as the wheels came off their life together. But as I wrote, I grew incredibly empathetic towards her and believe you need to separate her from her husbands actions.” The words are carefully crafted and presented with great precision by actress Christine Dye. Dye’s turn as the tough den mother to wayward boys takes you on a roller coaster ride of emotions.  Dye explains, “I suppose some people will feel sorry for her, while others may think she’s a fool for not realizing what is happening under her roof, under her very nose. One cannot help but feel empathy for someone whose whole life implodes by the actions of another, yet in that same vein, the audience may question why she didn’t take action to prevent it. Kevin has written a wonderful and deeply moving play about a woman whose inability to recognize the signs of disaster, ultimately leads to her own destruction.”  Is she villain, victim or both?  Find out for yourself when the play opens at the Cincinnati Fringe Festival May 29. http://www.cincyfringe.com/performance/sarge/
Venue Art Academy Auditorium
  • Thur, May 29 @ 7:00 pm
  • Sat, May 31 @ 5:00 pm
  • Mon, June 2 @ 7:15 pm
  • Wed, June 4 @ 7:15 pm
  • Fri, June 6 @ 7:00 pm

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CFF14: PREFER NOT TO SAY

CFF_Prefer Not To SayPREFER NOT TO SAY
Presented as part of the Cincinnati Fringe Festival ’14
Coffee Emporium
Over-the-Rhine 

I’m an INTP female white single British scouse cynical artist guilt-ridden introverted student feminist. I’m not an ENFJ comedian teacher actor extroverted optimistic worrier. But she is. This show is devised comedic bathetic pathetic prophetic improvised interactive immersive…. Tick all that apply… Or ‘Prefer Not To Say’. Interactive theatre exploring categories and labels. Labels swapped, overdosed on, destroyed, repeated, disobeyed and rebranded. And then we can see what, if anyone, is left behind.

  • CANCELLED

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