New York City Fringe (formally the FRIGID Fringe Festival) is an open, lottery-based theater festival that gives artists an opportunity to let their ingenuity thrive in an environment that values freedom of expression and artistic determination. In true support of the Indie Theater Community, 100% of box office proceeds go directly to the artists whose work is being presented.
The Fountain
Two men walk up to The Fountain. William is wearing a t-shirt proudly proclaiming Miss Fabulous. Diego dons a shield with a sword at his side. Cosplay? No. These men are from two different eras, the present and the reign of King Phillip in the 16th century. One sings about bottles of beer on the wall to pass the time. His travel companion would rather hear stories.
The two banter about this and that. William (Jordan Grzybowski) references Hot Pockets and other arcane details that are mysteries to Diego (Hugo Salazar, Jr.). He will hear about electricity and the consumers of that ubiquitous frozen sandwich (“the young, poor and drug-addled”). The pair are wandering inside a labyrinth with no clear idea how to get out.
Standing atop the fountain is a female Grecian stone statue (Larissa McCoy). There are coins and other treasures in the water. The statue speaks “offer your tribute”. It has to be something of value to the person giving the offertory. Wisecracking William seizes the opportunity to wish for material things. What about exit instructions for the labyrinth? Nah, everlasting health and wealth is more desirable.
When the statue does not grant any additional wishes William calls her a “water bitch” prior to his moving on. Diego enters into a long conversation with the statue and secrets will reveal themselves. Other people are in the labyrinth. Is William still inside? In answer the statue will channel his flamboyant physicality along with William’s voiceover.
Religion and truth are the themes explored in this thoughtful ode to the power of storytelling. Diego has faith and kills heathens for the king. “If you have faith then it is real?” is a question posed. Books tell us stories and we have favorites which stay with us. Are one of the similar, yet different gods in various books real or is the labyrinth which entraps all of humankind the inescapable trap?
My interpretation of this very interesting piece may be different than intended but this short, meaningful play definitely offers much to ponder. All three actors are engaging throughout, notable Mr. Salazar’s Diego which is the richest character written and developed. While I enjoyed the statue pantomiming William along with his voiceover, it might even be more fun letting her do the impersonation with vocals as well.
Amidst the spiritual ideas flowing through this “good and dark magic” are some truly funny moments. Diego asks the statue who she is. The reply kills. She cites many variations including Lady of the Fountain and Enchantress. Then the brilliant deadpan follows. “Most recently, water bitch”. Tony Patryn wrote and directed The Fountain which is making its debut at this festival.
TransMasculine Cabaret
Backstage and onstage are the two locations which are inhabited by Vulva Va-Voom, a trans cabaret performer. Quite a few warnings are announced up front. TransMasculine Cabaret will be “a total fucking bummer of a one man solo” and a “social bummer piece”. Tongue-in-cheek meets self-deprecating safety shield.
Soon thereafter the Billy Joel song “We Didn’t Start the Fire” will be rewritten as “we cannot warn for triggers”. Those triggers include strap-ons, jokes about sperm, ADHD and cuss words. The chorus: “I have tons of trauma and it’s in this drama”. Wearing such warned about strap-on, Mx. Va-Voom will assault the audience swinging her plastic weapon. Their butthole is like Waffle House, “only closed in case of emergencies”. There is a lot of blue humor and more than a few dildos.
A heckler (voiceover) shouts that he is “sick of this nonbinary garbage”. The show transitions from smutty cabaret to an exploration of Vulva’s incarnation as a performer and person inhabiting a gender which does not conform to traditional binary beliefs. This dissection will cover a wide swath of influences which speak to the difficulties and hurts experienced during a lifetime of accusations they have mental illness.
Vulva notes that the SNL character “It’s Pat” was the first one they encountered in mainstream media. Of course Pat was viewed as repulsive but at least there was representation. Their androgyny was “hideous” and “pitiable”. The script dives deep but generally pulls out to offer more clowning like the voiceover ad which advises “ask your doctor if being put in a hospital by bigots is good for your health”.
A meaningful story about a church intervention follows but the show frequently does not let us, or the performer, take a breath. The seriousness underneath the facade is too quickly buried. It is easy to understand how humor is evoked to deal with societal slights. In this case, the joke list and sight gags are crammed to overfill.
A little editing here and there might help focus a heartfelt storyline clearly aching to be heard. I might nix the heavy metal German housemates (also voiceovers) and slow down the serious parts. Letting the audience further in can only be good for all of us rather than simply classifying the show as a “bummer”.
Miss. Adventure
A multi-media musical comedy choose your own adventure is the promise. Early on the view is a bit hazy. “I don’t know if this is a show or just masturbation”. What follows is certainly at least a dream fever. Forty million cultural reference will be tossed about in under an hour. Maybe not that many but a ton of them.
Eating ice cream in bed leads to the appearance of Cherry Garcia who offers stoned advice. Channeling Frodo’s quest, our heroine is told to bring the magical NuvaRing back to its source. This stage musical is accompanied by a fairly elaborate film. That helps keep the proceedings on track as our sole performer leaves the stage quite frequently.
Beauty and the Beast enters the fray in both song and in the on screen persona of Sergey. Men are dogs is presumably the rant since he plays fetch with her tampon. The man in the moon sees all the “freaky stuff”. The eaten shoe line escaped me.
A talking mail box (“Mail Time!!”) reminded me of Pee Wee’s Playhouse. Why is it named that? “If they called it a female box, (the mail) would never come”. Funny. So many zany things are tried which is admirable but I ultimately found it very hard to understand what this show was trying to do. A choose your adventure motif was the promise but it was not really realized in any meaningful way.
Miss. Adventure also has a tagline “Hop on the Magic Mushroom Bus”. There will be a bus ride with a version of the Frizz to a place where the humor is blue and the stay is prolonged. Rachel Pallante, our host on this adventure, is talented and can hold a stage (when not backstage). It’s the adventure that’s a bit of a missed opportunity.
The New York City Fringe runs through April 21, 2024 at three locations: The Wild Project, 14Y Theater and UNDER St. Mark’s. Most shows are also livestreaming.