Category Archives: Cincy Fringe Festival

June 2, 2016 · 7:08 am

My Fringe Schedule: Day 2

For the second day of performances, I scheduled myself for two productions.

CFF_I Hate It HereSHEatre: Cincinnati Women’s Theatre inaugural fringe offering is I HATE IT HERE, written and directed by its co-founders, Abby Rowold and Caitlin McWethy respectively.

Shelly and Margaret are at an impasse in their relationship. Shelly’s an unemployed, outgoing hypochondriac, and Margaret is a highly functional agoraphobe who hasn’t spoken to anyone but Shelly and their cat, Mr. Furrypants, in a year. To jumpstart their lives and eliminate their faults, they try to meld into one person.

The cast includes Abby Rowold and Sarah Fischer. Be sure to keep an eye on their official website, http://www.sheatretheatre.org/ for information on their future staged readings.

CFF_Tesla3_sm

Ricky Coates as Nikola Tesla. Photo by JMC Photography.

Working hard to avoid any electricity puns, my other performance for the night is TESLA EX MACHINA. This one-man show is written and performed by Ricky Coates, a Seattle-based theater artist.

In 1892, the famed inventor Nikola Tesla awoke with partial amnesia. Using his incredible willpower, he pieced his life back, memory by memory. In this one-man biopic, Ricky Coates examines humanity and science using his trademark theatrical prowess. Featuring: tap dance, robots, historical figures Thomas Edison and Mark Twain, and live electrical wonders! “Ricky Coates is a bit of genius in a slick and muscled body” – Edmonton Journal.

Wednesday night, CESSNA enjoyed a near-capacity audience. I’d recommend you get tickets for the remaining performances sooner, rather than later. DARLINGS also performed to a packed house.

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June 2, 2016 · 6:41 am

Indian Epic Explored in Fringe Festival Play

CFF_DURYODHANA THE UNCONQUERABLE

Taylor Greatbatch and Katie Eichler. Photo by Prabir Das.

Shakespeare’s greatest plays are full of huge, powerful stories such as the intrigue of succession after a king dies (“Hamlet” and others), great love which transcends death (“Romeo and Juliet”), or love which erupts out of the passion of hate and hurt (“The Taming of the Shrew”). He also writes of beings with supernatural powers (The Tempest and others). So it is with the classic Indian epic of “Mahabarata”—love, valor, jealousy, hate, politics and war are all presented in the clash of amazing and memorable characters.

Prabir Das, Mason resident, playwright, actor, and director, has taken these 3000 year old characters and fleshed them out in his play DURYODHANA THE UNCONQUERABLE which will have its world premiere at the Cincinnati Fringe Festival June 1-11, 2016.

His 60-minute play shows Prince Duryodhana, the proud son of an abdicated king, who fought not only for his rightful realm after his king and uncle, dies, but he fights for the love of a beautiful foreign princess he abducted many years before.

Das envisions the wife, Bhanumati, as one of the initial feminists with a zeal for freedom of rights for herself as well as for all other women. Though it was not uncommon during that era to abduct women to marry, Bhanumati finds this practice unloving and demeaning. However, she kept Duryodhana captivated, as she internally struggled to find the strength to voice her true feelings.

“The passion in the story is universal” says Das, who grew up listening to these epics and reports all people from India know these stories. “I want Americans to meet these characters who are proud and powerful, and amazingly interesting, like Antony and Cleopatra, or Kate and Petrucchio.”

Das has written the script and is also one of the founders of All Shades Theatre. This non-profit is dedicated to bridging the theatrical gap between East and West. “Indian stories can be told with actors of any background, they do not have to be just the stories of India, but of all humanity,” shares Das. “All people are interested in valor and virtue, in love and honor, politics and power.”

Das has collected a team of local artists, all with a connection to Northern Kentucky University. Professor Darryl Harris is directing, and alumni Taylor Greatbatch and Katie Eichler are performing. Tyler Gabbard, NKU SOTA Publicity Manager  is scenic designer, alum Bryce Liebert is lighting designer, and current NKU student Amanda Miller is Stage Manager.

More information about the background of the play is available on the ALL SHADES THEATRE Facebook page, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duryodhana.

DURYODHANA THE UNCONQUERABLE will be performed at the Art Academy, June 1 and 11 at 7:25 pm, and June 2 and 8 at 8:25 pm and June 4 at 4:00 pm. Single tickets and day passes to the Fringe Festival can be purchased at www.cincyfringe.com.

All Shades Theater ● P.O. Box 1224 Mason, OH. 45040 ● (513) 913-5153 ● info@satfcincy.org

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June 1, 2016 · 6:01 am

My Fringe Schedule: Day 1

Day One of performances, of the 2016 Cincinnati Fringe Festival, kicks off tonight.

I was able to squeeze three productions into my first evening.

CFF_Cessna logoAs I’m typing this Tuesday evening, only a handful of tickets remain for the inaugural performance of CESSNA: A Drama Noir:

December, 1982. An unexplained plane crash leaves five officials and confessed embezzler Carl Johnson incinerated in a ruined Montgomery bookstore. The box of cash they sought? Buried in Cincinnati. Agent John Lockwood seeks answers and redemption in a dark caper where none can be trusted and fate carries out its own inscrutable design. Based on true events, CESSNA features live jazz music.

Created locally by Hugo West Productions, their previous fringe productions include: DON’T CROSS THE STEAMS: THE CEASE AND DESIST MUSICAL (2013), HOT DAMN! IT’S THE LOVELAND FROG (2014) & ZOMBIE-LOGUE (2015).

CESSNA is directed by Greg Procaccino. The cast features local favorites: Michael Hall, Michael G. Bath, Mindy Heithaus & Carter Bratton.

CFF_Other Bother logoThe second performance of the evening is OTHER BOTHER (no, not OTHER BROTHER) by The Performance Gallery, a Cincinnati-based collaborative of theatre artists.

Others have infiltrated our daily existence. Others are irksome and tedious. Others believe weird stuff and do weird things. They’re cretins. Evolution has not solved this problem? Why? WHY? WHHYYYYYYY? We will get right down to the real nitty gritty. We will solve the problem. We will make the world a joyous place. Join us as we explore how to conquer the bother of another other.

Previous original fringe productions include: IMAGES OF A BEATING HEART (2004), THE KILLER WHISPERS AND PRAYERS (2005), GODSPLAY (2006), GIRLFIGHT (2007), FRICATIVE (2008), KAZ/M (2009), THE COUNCIL (2010) THE BODY SPEAKS: SCRIPTED (2011), RODNEY RUMPLE’S RANDOM REALITY (2012), MATER FACIT (2013), HEIST (2014) & SHIRTZNECOCKLE (2015).

OTHER BOTHER is written by Derek Snow & Regina Pugh and directed by Regina Pugh. The local cast includes: Willemien Patterson Van Dartel, Maya Farhat, Justin Lee, Jodie Linver, Patrick E. Phillips, Regina Pugh & Samantha Russell.

CFF_DarlingsRounding out my first night is DARLINGS, by Animal Engine of New York City, featuring the husband and wife team of Karim Muasher and Carrie Brown.

A re-imagining of PETER PAN told from the perspective of the Darlings, two parents struggling with the loss of their children. They search for them by day and tell stories about a place called Neverland by night … where the mermaids will drown you, the pirates might kill you, and you can’t trust the charming little boy with the impish smile. A dark and dangerous fairy tale for adults.

Previous Cincy Fringe productions include: THE VINDLEVOSS FAMILY CIRCUS SPECTACULAR! (2011), PETUNIA AND CHICKEN (2013 – Artist’s Pick Award and one of my personal all-time favorite fringe shows) and DOG SHOW (2015).

I hope you have a chance to make it down to Over-the-Rhine and catch a show or ten. Feel free to say hello and remind me to take a Facebook Friends Project selfie. Happy Fringing.

 

 

 

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June 1, 2016 · 5:53 am

SHARP Dance Company to Present SEVEN WINDOWS as Part of Cincy Fringe

CFF_SEVEN WINDOWS PROMO2

Photo by Bill Hebert.

SHARP Dance Company, a Philadelphia based modern dance company
to present SEVEN WINDOWS

June 8, 10  & 11 at Gabriel’s Corner as part of the CincyFringe

Philadelphia, PA—  SHARP’s newest performance, SEVEN WINDOWS utilizes collaborations with amazing visual artists from around the world. Based on the dream of a dancer in which she is visited by her recently departed mother, SEVEN WINDOWS looks into the world of reincarnation and moving on in the afterlife. With new choreography by Diane Sharp-Nachsin and inspired by original paintings made by: Patricia Zarate (NYC), Jill Brandwein (Italy), Danielle Hallman (Philadelphia), and Julia Salinger (Massachusetts), SEVEN WINDOWS asks the questions, “How do we know it’s time to move on?”

CFF_SEVEN WINDOWS PROMO

Photo by Bill Hebert.

SHARP’s striking work investigates the gravitational support each person is able to call upon in life.  A striking balance between the time to grieve and the time to be strong, SHARP’s newest work channels through the emotions and struggles of denial and acceptance to bring about a work that is highly relatable and eerily honest.

SHARP strives to bring together a company of strong dancers to perform work with a new vision. Their mission is to translate raw human emotion utilizing contemporary movement to connect the audience through individual interpretation. With a theory of “meaning behind movement”, which is shown prominently throughout their work, SHARP believes dance should be more than a performance, it should be an experience.

SHARP Dance Company is a six-member modern dance company based out of Philadelphia, PA. SHARP performs nationally and internationally and has been seen in such festivals as the: Bedfringe (UK), Chicago Fringe, Phoenix Fringe, Seacoast Fringe, Boulder Fringe, San Diego Fringe, Cool NY, STEPS Performance Lab (NY), Fringe Wilmington and the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts (PIFA). Artistic Director Diane Sharp-Nachsin was also named a BAU Fellow in Italy in June 2013 and an artist residency recipient in Paros, Greece in 2015.

For more information on SHARP Dance Company please visit us at www.sharpdance.org. To purchase tickets please visit www.cincyfringe.com. Three performances of SEVEN WINDOWS will take place June 8 at 6:15pm, June 10 at 9:00pm and June 11 at 3:45pm at Gabriel’s Corner 1425 Sycamore, Cincinnati, OH 45202 (on ground floor of Salem United Church of Christ).

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June 1, 2016 · 5:50 am

2016 Cincy Fringe Press Release-THE MUNITIONS MAN

CFF_The Munitions Man logoTHE MUNITIONS MAN
The Fringe Development Piece of the 2016 Cincinnati Fringe Festival
Produced by Paper Pete Productions

Book by Mike Sherman and Rory Sheridan
Lyrics by Mike Sherman, Rory Sheridan, and Stephen Variames
Music by Stephen Variames

A grotesque parody of a Broadway classic…with guns

Paper Pete Productions will produce THE MUNITIONS MAN as the FringeDevelopment piece as part of the 2016 Cincinnati Fringe Festival. The piece will be developed by local Fringe Festival artists, as well as some veteran Cincinnati theatre performers, over the first week and half of the festival culminating in a single performance on Wednesday, June 8th at 9:15 pm at the Art Academy Commons.

The production parodies the plot of the Meredith Wilson classic to examine the politics of American gun culture. Traveling gun salesman and proud NRA member Gerald Gill spreads fear and paranoia (through song and dance!) into the citizens of Gullible Falls, Idaho.  Standing in his way is Carrie Anne, the town librarian, who stands alone as the voice of reason in the town.  Will she get the town to listen to reason, or is the only thing that can “stop a bad guy with a gun,” a “good guy (or girl) with a gun?”

The cast includes Fringe Festival artists and local performers Rory Sheridan, Lauren Carr, Sean Mette, Shelby Becker, Randy Bailey, Lisa DeRoberts, James Creque, Patrick Phillips, Zach Robinson, and Andrew Ornelas.  The show is directed by Mike Sherman, with musical direction by Stephen Variames. Stage managed by Courtney Hickenlooper.

Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at cincyfringe.com, or buy calling 513-300-5669.  Run time is 60 minutes with no intermission.

Poster art courtesy of Eamon Hill.

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