We're almost at the end of the "debut days" at the Toronto Fringe Festival--I have just one more show Saturday afternoon and I'll have done my reviewing duties. A few thoughts.
* The techies are an unforgiving bunch. Says one in the beer garden. "There was this one show today and they asked me for chairs! Chairs! What do they think this is? Are they going to be asking me for costumes next?" Then she started talking about what techies would do if they ran the world. I expected it to sound like Fascism, but it was more about some kind of automated lighting system.
* Most obvious piece of dialogue today: "Life is so... alive."
* Thursday's best line: "Nobody likes the aging divorcee but everyone loves a widow."
* If there is a choice between a no-name act that seems to come from a place of passion and an act with a few "professionals" on its roster--references to L.A. or London in the program bios, for example--always take the amateurs. Big egos spell indifferent work ethic and you have to wonder: If you're doing so well in L.A., why are you in the Fringe?
* In a similar vein, I am often left wondering about what it takes to make something "entertaining." I've seen plays that have been workshopped, dramaturged, workshopped again, performed and directed by trained theatre professionals that have been vastly less entertaining that somebody just hopping on stage and telling funny stories. I suppose if Hollywood hasn't figured it out, the chances I will are slim.
* Past Fringe success is an unreliable indicator of what this year's show will be like. The best expectations are no expectations.
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