Friday August 24th, 2012
I sure hope the 'blog cops' don't collar me for not posting anything last night. It wasn't premeditated or anything.... just exhaustion. We did manage to see two shows yesterday. In addition to the one I perform in and the one I run sound and lights for.
We saw Part-A (at theSpace @ Surgeon's Hall). It was a musical about young adults at a party. There were 3 musicians backing up the singers. There was a very enthusiastic audience, but it did seem that some of the singers may have been used to using microphones. This show wasn't mic'd, so some of the voices didn't carry and you'd ....
oh who am I kidding? I just didn't like the show. It' seemed really whiny and superficial. The male characters were very sexist, and the female characters were underwritten and hard to hear. The audience loved it, and the place was full, so there you are.
Then we saw 'Colin Mars, A Life Full of Lemons'. Colin is a stand up who lives in our building and we bump into him in the elevator from time to time. He's a really nice guy, and funny. I could have done with fewer 'wank' jokes, but that's a personal preference because some people really like wank jokes.
A really interesting conversation at the Green Mantle led to this interesting tidbit. According to the gentleman we met at the pub, the reason that they got rid of the standard pint mug (with a handle) and went to a regular tall glass..... is that people would use the mugs in bar fights, and they made a really effective weapon because of the handle. You could grab the mug and swing it at someone and do some major damage. I'm not sure of the veracity of this, but it makes for a good story.
I saw two shows today and I really liked them both. The first was 'Ellipsis' It was absurdist theatre and extremely provocative. Written by three young (18 yr. old) women, it was challenging and interesting, and funny in parts. I really liked it. It was at theSpace @ Jury's Inn.
Then I stayed for the next play in the same venue 'W.E.B. DuBois.' A biographical one man show about the early civil rights leader and the man who founded the N.A.A.C.P. The actor was really powerful with the material, and I learned a lot about a man who was very influential and broke many color barriers.
Tomorrow will be our final show here in Edinburgh. We do have reservations (people who have reserved tickets to see The Property Known As Garland), so we should have a fairly full house. But people in shows everywhere are remarking how small the audiences are getting. People are packing up and heading home. It's not over yet though...... so, more later from the Fringe.