Ah, Cincy Fringe.
For two weeks in the beginning of summer you can venture into OTR and see artists of all stripes and from all over the world banding together to celebrate the great, the insane, the hilarious, and the weird. Clowns rub shoulders with academics. Puppeteers hangout with improvisors. And we all meet at the Underground Bar for CFHHANU (Cincinnati Fringe Hard Hitting Action News Update) and a beer, probably bought by Joe Mock.
So in the Spirit of this Festival now in its 23rd year lets review some of the shows on offer.
Transcendent – Queen City Queers (Cincinnati Ohio)
Look, I’ve known of this talented group for a while. Rachel Baker is an incredibly prolific member of the Cincinnati Theatre community and locally famous as the Final Boss of Serials. They and their group, Ash, Alaysha, Emily, Leah and Cassiopeia are amazingly capable puppeteers and performers.
This show is abstract, crude, and features puppet autocannibalism. I loved and was horrified by just about every second of it. I won’t spoil it beyond that. Using puppets and surreal abstraction, the company tackles the challenges faced by the trans community while also celebrating LGBTQ+ identity. The result is inventive, provocative, and unmistakably adult theatre.
This show is thought provoking, at times somber, but also captivating and at parts genuinely funny. If you are an adult you should absolutely see this. Don’t bring children to it, because there are genuinely disturbing parts and it is definitely for adults. But all in all, a must see of this year’s festival.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️5 out 5. I would Fringe again.
Transcendent remaining show dates at the FLC Basement aka the Puppet Pit:
- WED 6/3, 8:45PM
- SAT, 6/6, 8:45PM
- THU, 6/11, 7PM
Colonial Circus – Two2Mango (Toronto Canada)
Holy hell did this show live up to the hype.
Colonial Circus is two clowns pretending to be British Colonizers throughout history. It’s funny, somewhat educational, fun and makes you think. As an historian myself, I greatly appreciated this satirical take on British Imperialism. As someone who appreciates physical comedy and witty wordplay I was delighted!
Sachin Sharma and Shreya Parashar have incredible comedic chops and timing. Chaos unfolds from the word go and while I am normally not the person to want to go up on stage for audience participation I absolutely envy the lucky few who got to help with parts of the show.
This show has won award after award after award and it’s easy to see why. You are doing yourself a disservice if you miss this.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 6 out of 5. It’s so good I broke my rating system for it.
Remaining shows for Colonial Circus at the Know Theatre Mainstage:
- WED 6/3, 8:30PM
- SAT 6/6, 2:15PM
- SUN 6/7, 8:30PM
- TUE 6/9, 6:45PM
What Art is And What Art is Good Art– Ben Dudley (Cincinnati)
Allow me to begin by saying that as a fellow holder of a Master of the Arts degree I appreciate my fellow Master of the Arts Ben Dudley for having the courage, the mental fortitude, and the powerpoint to illustrate his points on what Art is and what good art is. I have to give him credit for the research he did on Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife. Dudley does an admirable job of teaching about it and it was the part of his show I enjoyed the most.
Having said that, the performance I saw felt a bit low energy and there were a few jokes and bits that didn’t quite land. Not to mention the bit towards the end where Liz effectively claims to be doing the plot from Neil Labute’s The Shape of Things on Ben. Namely she’s leading him on to see what she can make him do while he’s planning to ask her to marry him. It feels a bit disconnected and in the performance I saw wasn’t super compelling. Still I will admit that others have enjoyed the show and it did sell out on its Saturday Night performance.
I’d give it a 3 out of 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️. Not bad, certainly not the worst show I’ve ever seen at Fringe, but not my favorite.
Remaining performances of What Art is And What Art is Good Art? at the Miami University Space:
- WED 6/3, 8:45PM
- SUN 6/7, 8:45PM
- THU 6/11, 7PM
O’Fringe is the New Black-WIT’S END PRODUCTIONS/ GAURAVI SHAH (NEWPORT, KY)
This sketch comedy show is on a limited run, and that’s a real shame. O’Fringe is a hilarious send-up of modern life, skewering everything from subscription services for seemingly every aspect of existence to productivity podcasts and ICE.
Performed by a talented cast of local improvisers and comedians, the show delivers a steady stream of laughs. The audience I attended with was thoroughly entertained, and Dave Powell, in particular, shines with his trademark comic timing and memorable one-liners.
The performers demonstrate excellent teamwork and a keen sense of timing throughout, while the musical elements add an extra layer of fun and energy. O’Fringe is witty, sarcastic, and utterly irreverent. Yet beneath the comedy lies an unexpectedly hopeful message: despite the chaos, absurdity, and frustrations of modern life, small acts of kindness and moments of joy still make it all worthwhile.
I cannot recommend this show enough.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
O’Fringe remaining show dates at Gabriel’s Corner
- FRI 6/5, 7PM
- TUE 6/9, 8:45PM
More reviews to come! Keep checking the LCT Fringe Review Grid to get perspectives from the members of the LCT reviewing team.
There’s still plenty of time to Fringe–get passes and tickets HERE.
