"How Do I Love Me?' at Fringe Festival

Aleksandra Berczynski allows us to admire her enviable body, then subjects us to a laundry list of self-indulgent complaints. Her one-woman show could be the most unintentionally funny piece in this year’s Fringe Festival.

How Do I Love Me? by Aleksandra Berczynski. Through September 13, 2008 at Philadelphia International Institute, 242 Race St.
www.livearts-fringe.org/

Jim Rutter

Sep 09, 2008 · Articles · 3 minute read

LaBute vs. Durang at the Fringe Festival

In Bash: Latter Day Plays, Neil LaBute presents three monologues of American Mormon life that draw upon classical Greek tragedies. In A Streetcar Named Durang, Christopher Durang parodies pretentious American playwrights. It’s very funny stuff, but such easy targets. LaBute has set himself the greater challenge.

Bash: Latter Day Plays. By Neil LaBute. Through September 12, 2008 at Holy Trinity Romanian Orthodox Church, 723 N. Bodine St.

Jim Rutter

Sep 08, 2008 · Articles · 4 minute read

Erica Saben's "Inside' at Fringe Festival

How can a body seem alive without moving? Through the demonic negation in her eyes, Erica Saben discloses her “Inside,” the title of her piece. This interiority has a voltage; it is charged, in her case, with psychic danger.

InFlux. Works in Progress by Mascher Space Cooperative, including “Inside,” by Erica Saben. August 29-31, 20087 at Arts Bank, 601 S. Broad St. www

Steve Antinoff

Sep 08, 2008 · Articles · 4 minute read

"Pushkin at Boldino' at Fringe Festival

Armina LaManna’s Pushkin at Boldino concerns the tyrannical relationship between a writer and his creations. Even if you’ve seen Tchaikovsky’s opera of Pushkin’s Queen of Spades, LaManna’s funny and engaging play creates an inventive new dimension for the story’s conflict.

Pushkin at Boldino. By Armina LaManna. Presented through September 7, 2008 by Crescent Moon Entertainment Co. production at Plays and Players, 1714 De

Jim Rutter

Sep 08, 2008 · Articles · 3 minute read

Live Arts Festival's "Sea of Birds'

Sebastienne Mundheim’s Sea of Birds is a remarkable collaboration of music, dance, puppetry, theater, video— and engineering, too.

Sea of Birds. Created and directed by Sebastienne Mundheim; score by James Sugg; choreographed by Kate Watson-Wallace. September 2, 2008 at Ice Box Projects Space, 1400 N. American St. www.livearts-fringe.org/2008/details.cfm?id=2882

Lesley Valdes

Sep 07, 2008 · Articles · 1 minute read

Fringe Festival's "Oedipus at FDR'

Oedipus was exiled to Colonus, and Center City’s skateboarders were exiled to FDR Park in South Philadelphia. It takes brilliance to bring them together, and the effect is mesmerizing.

Oedipus at FDR. Adapted and directed from Sophocles by Emmanuelle Delpech-Ramey, with some original text by Suli Holum. September 4-6, 2008 at FDR Park, South Philadelphia. www.livearts-fringe.org/2

Lesley Valdes

Sep 07, 2008 · Articles · 3 minute read

Fringe Festival: "Waiting for the Ship at Delos'

In Waiting for the Ship at Delos, actor-turned playwright Steve Hatzai gooses up the last days of Socrates but adds little in the way of original insight.

Waiting for the Ship at Delos: The Last Days of Socrates. By Steve Hatzai. Iron Age Theatre production through September 13, 2008 at Franklin Hall, American Philosophical Society, 427 Chestnut St. www.livearts-fringe.org/2008

Jim Rutter

Sep 02, 2008 · Articles · 2 minute read

Fringe Festival: "Widow's Blind Date' (1st review)

I’ve enjoyed Israel Horovitz’s work—and Green Light’s Fringe shows—in the past. But The Widow’s Blind Date was the worst show I’ve seen in this year’s Fringe Festival.

The Widow’s Blind Date. By Israel Horovitz; produced by Green Light Productions. Through Sept. 13 at Walnut Street Theatre Independence Studio on 3, 825 Walnut St. (215) 413-1318 or

Jim Rutter

Sep 02, 2008 · Articles · 2 minute read

Nichole Canuso's "Wandering Alice'

Normally, I dislike performances that ask the audience to join in. With Wandering Alice, we never feel manipulated or imposed-upon. Rather, we feel liberated.

Wandering Alice. Written, directed and choreographed by Nichole Canuso with Suli Holum. Nichole Canuso Dance Company presentation through September 13, 2008 at Christ Church Neighborhood House, 20 N. American St. (215) 413-1318 or www.livearts-fringe.org

Steve Cohen

Sep 02, 2008 · Articles · 4 minute read

Fringe Festival: ""¦And Piano Make Three'

Philip Seward’s short one-act opera serializes the love triangle between a pianist, his girlfriend and… his piano. If only the lyrics had lived up to this unusual idea and Seward’s pleasing melodic lines.

…And Piano Make Three. Music by Philip Seward. Through September 6, 2008 at Painted Bride Art Center, 230 Vine St. (215) 925-9914 or www.livearts-fringe.org/2008/det

Jim Rutter

Sep 02, 2008 · Articles · 1 minute read