The first weekend of the 10th Great Salt Lake Fringe (GSLF) is in the books. Shows for the second weekend resume Friday, Aug. 2 and run through Aug. 4 at the Alliance Theater, connected to the Utah Arts Alliance, at Trolley Square. The Fringe campus is accessible in the near downtown area, just north of the intersection at 600 South and 600 East, conveniently located close to the Trolley Square TRAX light-rail station on the Utah Transit Authority’s University Red Line train. For more information and tickets to the Fringe shows, see the GSLF website. Also, check The Utah Review’s Fringe preview for a summary of all 22 shows on the slate.
The Utah Review presents reviews of five shows from the first weekend:
NON
While many know the late Joseph Heller mainly for his novel Catch-22, he also wrote equally good satirical novels about the absurdity of politics: Good as Gold and Picture This. In a 1988 interview for Bill Moyers’ World of Ideas broadcast series, Heller said, “American politics is funny. There are many, many things that one could say in criticism of it, and a few things one can say in praise, and one of the things you could say in both praise and criticism is that it is ludicrously funny.” Heller also explained why he skipped voting. “I don’t vote because I get no pleasure out of it, no satisfaction. I could no longer titillate myself with the feeling that I am participating in the results of an election, because I know my vote will not make a difference.” He added, “I think one of the illusions we have, and it’s very comforting, is that by voting we are participating in government. I maintain that [it] is a delusion, it is a ritual routine. The right to vote, I feel, is indispensable to our contentment; in application it is absolutely useless.” He added that the delusion is “that one’s vote matters at all — it doesn’t. That the election matters — it doesn’t. That the victorious party will be responsive to the wishes of those electing it — that is not true.”
In Matthew Ivan Bennett’s Non, the brilliant absurdist chamber theater satire, which is having a premiere run at this year’s Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival, Burlap, a political independent who is in the throes of intense gastrointestinal distress, echoes skillfully the delusions which Heller and likely many others disenchanted with politics in general know well.
Directed by Tyson Baker, this production is superbly executed satire, featuring an outstanding trio of actors who dig enthusiastically into an intelligent script that includes for the playbill, by request, a glossary of some of the vocabulary used in the dialogue.
A well-established playwright and screenwriter, Bennett, who also produced this show, decided to make his first foray into Fringe, where he freely explores his musings about the dysfunctional partisan nature of politics. With his comprehensive appreciation of intellectual history, Bennett has consistently delivered scripts of high quality, whether they are drama or comedy. Non joins this excellent canon.
Everything about this production plays effectively on the timeless realities that politics has always been absurd, which permits an individual audience member to make their own eclectic journey through history when processing and absorbing the rich satire occurring in front of them. The point ends up being, to quote Heller and others who have asserted this, that history makes individuals more than individuals make history. Kudos also go to Emma Ashton for costume design.
Burlap (played by Jax Jackman) is at the center of the story. A nonvoter and nonpartisan, Burlap has been tapped to decide an election that is deadlocked between the Purples, led by Puchis (Jason Bowcutt) (pronounced PYOO-kis), and the Yellows, led by Lémeau (Brenda Hattingh Peatross) (pronounced LAY-moh). This is about the most elegant way of portraying what the shit sandwich analogy means for a voter who is equally disappointed in either major party. With a nearly constant rictus of abdominal pain, Burlap can barely abide the task of having to evaluate both party leaders for the purposes of breaking the tie. Meanwhile, Puchis and Lémeau each make their case to persuade Non to their cause. The winner who receives a triple score will then be proclaimed in a public ceremony where Burlap will pass the orb and scepter to the winner.
The question is how long can the Non withstand their real and metaphorical pain. Early in the play, Burlap epitomizes the nonpartisan sentiment:
I am a non! I am non-Yellow, I am non-Purple. By choice, I am a non. I am neither non by mishap nor neglect. I didn’t just now discover the existence of your theme parties. I’ve read your pamphlets. I’ve seen your picket signs everywhere, I’ve seen you on the stump, for all the world lookin’ like slices of ham on wet whole wheat, a powdery rime on the crust, weevils crawlin’ out, the lettuce turned to slime. You both sicken me.
It really does not matter which party represents the status quo and the one which advocates for change, because the roles continuously swap depending on which party is in power. Lémeau says that education will teach children how to distinguish bad ideas from good ones: “When I say ‘bad’ ideas, do I mean Purple ideas? Well, I can defuse that rhetorical bomb right now: Not necessarily. Bad ideas can be Purple or Yellow. Yellow has had its own share of public boners. Of course, Puchis and the others will interpret my plan as anti-Purple. What then? Simple. I deny having any social agenda. Because I have no social agenda. I only care about good and bad ideas.”
When Burlap experiences another sharp stabbing pain in their gut, Puchis says, “Your body can tell the truth better than your psychocracy. The Yellows believe everything can be broken into bits and analyzed on sterile shining countertops. What they never pause to ask themselves is, ‘Can we see anything from outside ourselves?’ In part, yes, we can set aside our prejudices, but there is no view from nowhere. We must see from somewhere. Science is not free from human values. Is the parachute free of value? The steam engine that replaces the sail? The guillotine? The Yellows want you to believe they can remake society from some odorless starting point, but what they call clear water is old stinking urine.”
And from there, Puchis segues by claiming that the opposition is into watersports. Just remember: we already have had a presidential campaign where the possible existence of a pee tape was being discussed broadly on social media. Absurdity is reality.
In the 45-minute play, there are periodic earthquakes, making for a great symbolic bit which suggests whether or not there would be a strong enough seismic shift to shake off these delusions about politics and democracy in exchange for something more constructive.
This is a top-quality Fringe production and audiences obviously are responding to it with well-deserved enthusiasm. Two performances remain: Aug. 2 at 10:30 p.m. and Aug. 4 at 1:30 p.m.
I’VE DECIDED TO BECOME A DIGITAL PET
Like a well produced short film, a 15-minute Fringe show can be just as gratifying as the usual hourlong fare. John Wesley Sandorf’s solo show, I’ve Decided To Become A Digital Pet, is solid, crisp and delivers on its creative expectations. It is bittersweet, witty and elucidating. It also is ingeniously well-timed considering the contemporary public conversations about artificial intelligence and the implications for humans and emotional connections.
The virtual pet Tamagotchi was introduced nearly 30 years ago in Japan and it quickly became a worldwide phenomenon. In the case of the seven-year-old boy Sandorf talks about in the monologue, the Tamagotchi offers an emotional balm to take away the sting of being called weird by his schoolmates, who decided to celebrate the fact that he was moving from their school. As the story moves through adolescence and to adulthood, Sandorf pulls different toys from a box to illustrate the anecdotes he shares. At two points in the monologue, Sandorf gives a sheet of paper to an audience member to read lines as if they were being spoken by the Tamagotchi.
Sandorf’s brief script seems simple and straightforward at first but it actually opens a compelling conversation about the broader implications of achieving singularity for something like a Tamagotchi and what that possibly could mean for children like the young Justin who often find themselves alone to cope with bullying, rudeness and being ostracized from their peers.
One performance remains on Aug. 3 at 9 p.m.
SEIZE THE INITIATIVE!
Part rom-com, part a piece about the virtues of social activism and political participation, Seize The Initiative! is an understated, gentle, light comedic theatrical piece. Written by Yoram Bauman, who has a doctorate in economics and is known as ‘the stand-up economist’ and directed by Josh Patterson, who is on the theater faculty at Snow College, the show is quite respectable for a playwright’s debut. Fans of dad jokes will appreciate this theatrical piece.
Because the play’s provenance arises from the ongoing Clean The Darn Air ballot measure campaign, it becomes an entertaining way to creatively engage voters as well as campaign volunteers to join the fold. Exploring artistic and creative touchpoints for social activism is well worth pursuing and it is notable that an economist has left the comfort zone of dry restatements of statistics and talking points to try his hand as a playwright. In fact, the play grew from efforts to produce a training video about strategies and tactics volunteers can employ to gather signatures for a ballot initiative. And, in light of the Utah Supreme Court’s recent unanimous ruling which affirms that the Utah Legislature should not subvert the popular vote outcome of ballot initiatives and reference, this play is timely.
There are plenty of Utah references in the play and the romantic story arc is suitable for many potential audiences, regardless of where their political allegiances may land. After all, conservatives and liberals can still agree on the power of love. Hopefully. Given the intensity of political polarization, anything is worth trying.
Three performances remain: Aug, 2, 7:30 p.m., Aug. 3, 3 p.m. and Aug. 4, 6 p.m.
CHIASM CABARET
In a time where questions of science and technology converge on existential challenges for human civilization and the planet’s viability, the S.T.E.A.M. approach (where the arts) is embedded into the family of science, technology, engineering and mathematics) has been championed as a bridge to beefing up the public’s literacy about basic science. While many efforts have benefited children, the teachers, scientists, practitioners and researchers who are part of S.T.E.A.M. Punk Academy came up with Chiasm Cabaret for adults that turns one of the Fringe venues into a sultry, sensual chamber for 45 minutes of eye-popping instruction that properly whets the appetite for becoming literate in science. They also are part of The Salt Mine movement arts collective.
The seductive premise works, as burlesque, drag, pole and aerialist performers balanced just enough seductive mischief with fact-jammed mini-presentations on the surprising history of high platform and high heel shoes, the functions and roles of red blood cells, cows, carbon emissions, electricity, bees, pollination and climate science. The local burlesque scene has risen rapidly in quality and status over the last several years and this show featured excellent examples throughout, with Professor Beauxnaire, Duke Dandy, Mirage, Dr. McSparkles, Voluptuous Raptor, and, of course, Madazon Can-Can, one of Fringe’s best-known award winning performers and show creators. Madazon’s routine with The Sound of Music title song and Nelly’s Hot in Herre was ‘’udderly’ ingenious.
One remaining performance is slated for Aug. 4 at 6 p.m.
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
Of the numerous genres that define Fringe shows, stand-up comedy in the storytelling format is at the top of the list for complexity of impact and connection with the audience. Material should be polished to ideal timing and solid, if not impeccable, delivery; there should be good eye contact and nonverbal communication with the audience and when props are used, they should augment the storytelling but not overtake it completely.
How Did We Get Here?, a production by The Artistic Underground, featuring four comedians in brief routines, addressed the aforementioned challenges with mixed results. Comedy has a peculiar creative brief that takes on even more challenging dimensions in venues like Fringe because it should be emboldened, free of barriers and limits, including censorship. If comedy makes audience members squirm at least a bit, then it has met some of its creative expectations.
The most promising of the quartet of performances came with Nami Eskandarian and Nicholas Don Smith. Eskandarian’s story was told by proxy, through video clips of The Story of Tekken, which drips with references to father-and-son betrayals and patricide. He references many elements of the game, including a bear’s love for a panda and a stepfather figure in the form of a velociraptor sporting boxing gloves. And, who says Freudian psychology is dead?
Smith’s story about his relationship with his mother and her decline and death as a result of Alzheimer’s disease was the most memorable of the lot. It was an unexpectedly touching example of how comedy gives us the space to grieve and endure the irreplaceable void when a loved one is gone, by accepting the relationship unconditionally in the midst of every imperfection that accompanied it.
Spencer Riley talked about his neurodivergence while Sam D’Antuono related the experiences of discovering that his girlfriend had cheated on him. Stand-up routines are always works in progress and that was evident here and perhaps the initial performance would have carried more oomph, with a larger audience and more attention to production values. Then again, as Fringe artists are expected to promote their respective shows with as much enterprise as possible, when there are four performers in said storytelling showcase, everyone could have plugged more effort into boosting the signal for their performance. Nevertheless, the show has solid possibilities and deserves larger audiences.
Remaining performances are Aug. 3 at 4:30 p.m. and Aug. 4 at 1:30 p.m.
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Thank you for thoughtful, insightful viewpoints, Les. The Salt Lake City arts community is lucky to have you. Fantastic reviews all around!
Tyson already said it.