This year the festival has made me re-evaluate my ranking system. It’s an insanely good year for Cincinnati Fringe and to quote the youth: the festival is filled with banger after banger after certified banger.
Now that I’ve made all of you cringe, let’s review some more Fringe!
Antonym by Solasta Theatre Lab (Cincinnati, OH)
This show is cool and esoteric and a bit confusing at times. Antonym is this year’s offering by Solasta Theater Lab. It’s a Puppet show and all of the dialogue is all Kafka and Bukowski, and I’ll admit following the plot was a bit hard, but the artistry and skill that Carr and Nenova put on is truly a sight to behold.
The puppets they use range from a white thin cloth on wire to a realistic looking mask of Nenova’s face. The movement and dance elements present are also compelling and skillful. My only complaint is that the story is hard to follow and there appears to be one, but I still found Antonym very entertaining.
Rating: 4 out of 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Antonym remaining performances in the Puppet Pit:
- SUN, 6/7, 8:45PM
- TUE, 6/9, 8:45PM
- THU, 6/11, 8:45PM
Locusta’s School for Assassins by Samantha Joy Weil (Covington, KY)
This is honestly one of my favorites this year. It’s funny, educational, and brutally honest about how messed up the Roman Empire was. As a class of poisoners you learn from Locasta herself and through a narrative about her and Julia Agrippa, who was the sister, niece, and aunt of 3 Roman emperors respectively.
Samantha Joy Weil pulls off the titular Locusta spectacularly. She’s snarky, treacherous, oddly grounded and overall a very good teacher. I learned a lot about poisonous plants. The audience participation gets everyone involved and I really enjoyed playing. The cast makes you invested in their quirky band of murderers from the word go.
So is the show historically accurate? Kind of. From the perspective of the characters everything said about Rome and its Emperors were actually believed by the Public of the day. Many of the rumors and stories, particularly concerning Nero, have grown into the legend of these men. In short this show is a strong contender for Pick of the Fringe, and a must see for the festival. See this Show!
Rating: 6 out of 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Locusta School for Assassins remaining performances: (check first–some are sold out!)
- SAT, 6/6, 4:15PM
- TUE, 6/9, 7PM
- WED, 6/10, 8:45PM
- FRI, 6/12, 8:45PM
Frontier So Far by Justin Dodd and George McConnell (NYC & Bryan, TX)
This show made me want to hug my Dad.
In many ways Frontiers is about a Rodeo Clown and a Spaceman past their prime, and further than that about dreams, roads taken and not, living life, and satire on masculinity. My favorite portion is the Alpha male podcast where I was instructed to literally eat rocks to boost testosterone. The show features a wide range of bits from the comedic to the sober, but all are done in an almost avant garde style. Robes and Clown make up, a spaceman suit, and enough scene changes to drive you blind with the bright light illuminating them. This is a show that can be at moments a bit hard to follow, but once you realize how it all fits you will enjoy the experience.
Rating: Frontiers So Far with a 4.5 out of 5. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Go see it.
Frontier So Far Remaining performances at Miami University Space:
- SAT, 6/6, 7PM
- WED, 6/10, 7PM
- THU, 6/11, 8:45PM
- FRI, 6/12, 7PM
White Whale by Autumn Kaleidoscope & Mette Puppets (CINCINNATI, OH)
This is an incredibly depressing show.
Three white Beluga whales bought not out of greed but grief. An insurance salesman conned by PT Barnum’s silent partner. A tragic loss of freedom and family for a kind soul.
White Whale is the fascinating true story of a man and his goal to honor his dead wife by displaying White Whales in Cincinnati Ohio. As I am sure that no one here needs reminding we are landlocked. There is no coast near us. While we have a waterway in the form of the Ohio river no one in their right mind would recommend going swimming in it. The pollution combined with the fact that its not salt water makes it pretty nasty for whales. And yet their tank was full of it and dissolving barrels of salt.
Incompetence and ignorance, and the tragedy is played up in full force, yet there is a comedic element to this Mette is a hell of a performer and you will feel the full range of emotions during the show. He combines multiple forms of puppets and lighting effects, along with his own bombastic and fun presence as a storyteller with history of Cincinnati stretching back well over a century and pointing out that many of the facts we have on record about this incident are incomplete. White Whale is a powerful and meaningful piece and we are fortunate for its inclusion in this year’s Fringe.
Rating: 5 out of 5.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I have never felt so bad about whales.
White Whale remaining performances:
- SUN, 6/7, 8:30PM
- THU, 6/11, 8:30PM
