IndyFringe: This is what you missed

...but then, this gives you something to look forward to for next year's festival (and the Fringe Fridays between now and then, keep checking back with IndyFringe.org for details).

Wherein I review: Simple Joys, Nevermore, A Cynic Tells Love Stories, Thurgoode, I Do I Do in Dehli, The Rise of General Arthur, Another Classic of Western Literature, Love Me Tender

Fringe Festival shows seen over this past weekend:

Simple joys (Theatre on the Square second stage)
This performance art piece is about "simple joys, uncomplicated playfulness, innocent delights" as Jennifer K. Sutton says in her promotional materials, as well as during the show. The first half of this exploration of delighting one's inner child was movement at its most boring. Sutton and her partner silently go through various exercises, which I'm sure were fascinating for them, but my inner brat was getting cranky. Then things abruptly changes as they pass goody-bags out to the audience. She remains on the stage alone, and guides us through the items in the bags -- candy, a balloon, a noisemaker, bubbles, a little plastic man -- and we are all encouraged to play and interact with each other using them. This was kinda fun and kept the show from being a total waste of time (and money, had I not got in on a pass).

Nevermore (Theatre on the Square second stage)
A brilliant two-person play about a despairing writer and the "Raven" who visits her. We are given an excellent telling of the life of Edgar Allan Poe and a look into the melancholy into which so many great writers have fallen. Poe was a critic as well as a writer, and has his say on other tragic authors, including Jim Morrison and Hunter S. Thompson. The woman, sitting with her empty bottles of gin, absinthe and pills, comes to fear she will understand this all too well. Features great performances by Amy Pettinella, who also wrote the play, and Russell McGee.

A Cynic Tells Love Stories (Phoenix Theatre)
Katherine Glover would like to present herself as sexually liberated, aloof and wildly experienced. But we come to find out she isn't, she just wants love, like the rest of us. And the result is an entertaining series of monologues detailing her adventures and misadventures in romance, including her short-lived marriage and a moment of discovering (in spite of having being a "safer-sex slut" in college) that she was the least adventurous person in the room.

Thurgoode (Theatre on the Square mainstage)
This show in concept could have been very good and enlightening. A teenage girl deals with having multiple personalities, which on stage are represented by a cluster of actors around her, all acting and talking in different ways, occasionally echoed by the girl as she loses her will to one of them for a moment. While it makes for an interesting show, the result is rather pointless. It isn't based on any actual cases of Disassociative Identity Disorder, even admits within the play that aspects such as the personalities aware of and interacting with each other is unheard of, and the "cure" presented -- literally a magic pill -- not only doesn't exist but could do more harm than good. From what little I know of the disorder, the treatment is integration of the fractured personality, rather than the obliteration of the different aspects as presented in the play. I credit the actors for a good job with what they were given, but can't say I like the show.

I Do, I Do in Dehli, or How to survive an Indian wedding (Phoenix)
Karenina, a white American who first met her Indian friends in college 40 years ago, is invited to the wedding of one's son back in India. She is an artistic type, heavily into Yoga, so embraces the cultural differences with open heart and mind. Her body, though, soon feels the exhaustion of the numerous parties that attend a big Indian wedding. An interesting story by an interesting storyteller, complete with a few Bollywood dance moves. Her friend frequently tells her "I love my India!" And you can tell she does, too.

The Rise of General Arthur (Phoenix)
This ain't "Camelot." This show my have the most impressive bibliography of the Fringe (next to Phil the Void, of course). Based on texts of Arthurian legends by Geoffrey of Monmouth, Wolfram von Eschenbach and Sir Thomas Malory, the story of the warrior-king Arthur, seen through the eyes of the knight Pellinore (known for madly following the "questing beast") is reset during the first Gulf War, with its main characters American soldiers. The language is thick and imagery sometimes hard to follow, but fascinating if you can keep up.

Another Classic of Western Literature (Theatre on the Square mainstage)
The story of a CEO so corrupt he makes Monty Burns look like a saint, and how he deals with the coming collapse of his financial empire. The plan involves his son, who isn't too bright and working as a temp in the basement of his office high-rise. He also has a giant mutant hand giving the middle finger, and his shenanigans bring on a visit from God, who just wants to drink his scotch. This could have been better written, and the ending was way too muddled. Still, it shows signs of genius, such as the hilarious manner in which the younger man butchers the English language. Perhaps this work by local actor/playwright Matthew Roland (presented by Indy's Heartland Actors Repertory Theatre) will show more polish if it shows up at another short-play event or next year's Fringe.

Love Me Tender (Phoenix)
A Fringe show can be anything. It can even be someone sitting down with a couple of fellow musicians and playing a set of "cuddle tunes." No ironic "lounge lizard" act here, just a straightforward hour of light music by Randy Strand and friends. His voice is good, and the musicianship is excellent. It was the final hour of the festival, so for me this made a nice "dessert" to the weekend's theatrical feast.