AT THE ST. LOU FRINGE - WINDING DOWN

Not much more to go, since I shot barely 20 of 40 shows. These are two of the last from Sunday. First, Henchmen, about executioners, literally headsmen, in Tudor-ish England. The man on the left in the second picture looks the role to me but the one on the right seems more like he is wearing traditional Italian priest's garb (think Father Guido Sarducci on SNL, https://youtu.be/lWBhsiBMOIo?si=xhgNPkbXp29mEMam). I can't remember what the woman was about. Toward the end, the man in black tells the man in white that it is his turn to be executed. No reason was given that I could tell.

Then we have Improvsburg, done by two women from a small city in Indiana. Hey, it's got its own improv company! Improv often leans into audience participation and the group was sadly small on a Sunday morning. However, St. Louis' peripatetic theater critic, Tina Farmer, volunteered and got the job done. 

 

AT THE ST. LOU FRINGE - MAGIC SYNAPSES WITH JAMES HIGHGROUND

When I spoke to James Highground before the show, he said he would describe himself (at least in this presentation) as mentalist rather than a magician. Not sure what that means. The act involved manipulation of numbers, words, images and sensory perception. I have shot a lot of magic shows at The Fringe over the years and I have yet to capture how any of them do it.

                          

AT THE ST. LOU FRINGE - KING JOHN

Powerful stuff. Matthew Windham presents a solo condensed version of Shakespeare's King John. It's one of his least produced plays, but seeing this makes you wonder why. Windham cleverly switches roles with the simplest of props - white and black chess kings for the contestants to the English throne; a pawn for the ordinary people caught in between; and ornate fan for Lady Constance; and a small teddy bear for Prince Arthur, who threatens John's claim to the  throne. Abuse of power comes as no surprise.

           

           

AT THE ST, LOU FRINGE - DEAR EVAN HANSEN

Dear Evan Hansen is  a musical that ran on Broadway for almost six years. I won't summarize the story here; you can find out at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dear_Evan_Hansen . It was performed by a group of top-of-the line local theater kids. The production, acting and singing was terrific. I didn't like the show itself at all (and I may be seriously in the minority about this). I thought the plot was, well, awkward, and the music completely forgettable. - and where did the title character get that awful wig? By contrast, we saw a professional production of Guys And Dolls a couple of days ago, and the brilliance of the music blew me away. Each to their own taste.

 

                    

AT THE ST. LOU FRINGE - THE DOCTOR SHOW

Something different. Jared Schwartz is a real licensed physician. He finds it convenient to wear two stethoscopes over his lab coat, over his scrubs. The premise is a game show hosted by St. Louis Magazine executive editor Sarah Fenske. Odd medical questions were projected on the back wall. Dr. Schwartz would comment on them and state whether, in his opinion, the premise was true or false. A panel of two comics and Fringe executive director Matthew Kerns discussed the matter and voted on whether the doctor was right or wrong. The question on the wall behind the first photo shows the tone.