{"id":4150,"date":"2012-11-11T19:06:13","date_gmt":"2012-11-12T03:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=4150"},"modified":"2012-11-11T19:07:28","modified_gmt":"2012-11-12T03:07:28","slug":"fringe-of-marin-fall-2012-program-twos-laughs-and-insights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/fringe-of-marin-fall-2012-program-twos-laughs-and-insights\/","title":{"rendered":"Fringe of Marin Fall 2012: Program Two’s Laughs and Insights"},"content":{"rendered":"

The current crop of new one-act plays at the Fringe of Marin reflects a familiar disparity between the two programs:\u00a0 one program is stronger overall, with the best individual plays and performances to be found in the other.\u00a0 This is the most compelling argument for planning to see both programs in every season–to take in all<\/em> of the considerable talent and surprise the Fringe has to offer.<\/p>\n

In the case of this year\u2019s lineups, Program Two has in my view the better run of plays.\u00a0 It was light on drama and overladen with humor, but the laughs were genuine and plentiful.\u00a0 The first three plays all take a broad and farcial look at senior romance.\u00a0 \u201cGet a Date Show\u201d is a spoof on TV\u2019s the Dating Game, with Ross Travis spot-on as the smarmy game show host.\u00a0 Carol Sheldon\u2019s \u201cOn with the Wind\u201d mines a retirement-home viewing of Margaret Mitchell\u2019s classic, with the irrepressible Flora Lynn Issacson a standout in her rented ante-bellum hoop-skirt.\u00a0 \u201cArrangements\u201d pairs Charles Grant and Terri Barker again as a funeral services director signing a \u201cpre-need\u201d cremation contract with an outspoken client for an as-yet unspecified date. The first of five plays following the intermission continued the pattern of broad humor with Bill Chessman\u2019s Beasley family confronting a hat-stealing chimpanzee and a surprising turnabout \u201cOne Time at the Zoo.\u201d<\/p>\n

The evening took a more somber turn when an alcoholic husband discovers his self-absorbed wife has been \u201cSupplementing\u201d her romantic life.\u00a0 Then the tone turns literary as George Bernard Shaw (Kevin Copps) meets God (Jerrund Bojeste) in the witty and well-acted \u201cShaw\u201d\u00a0 (written and directed by first-timer Ollie Mae Welch).\u00a0 There is \u201cTrouble at Table 23,\u201d Charlie Lerrigo\u2019s absurd take on a hapless diner (well-played by Manik Bahl) who came for a glass of milk and finds himself ever more deeply mired in a burgeoning murder case by the talented Jean Davis in four successive roles.\u00a0 In the final play a milquetoast conspires with his therapist \u2013\u201cShe Has a Plan\u201d\u2014to become more of a man for his wife, until things go awry.<\/p>\n

Eight plays might seem like a lot for one evening, but in this lineup the time just flew by.\u00a0 Fringe of Marin Fall 2012 Programs One and Two through November 18.<\/p>\n

At Meadowlands Hall, Dominican University, 50 Acacia Ave., San Rafael CA. \u00a0Reservations and information: (415) 673-3131<\/p>\n

Fringe of Marin Website: \u00a0www.fringeofmarin.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Schedule: \u00a0http:\/\/fringeofmarin.com\/performanceschedule.html<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The current crop of new one-act plays at the Fringe of Marin reflects a familiar disparity between the two programs:\u00a0 one program is stronger overall, with the best individual plays…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[80],"tags":[174,716,175,155],"class_list":{"0":"post-4150","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-david-hirzel","7":"tag-bay-area-one-act-plays","8":"tag-david-hirzel","9":"tag-fringe-festival","10":"tag-fringe-of-marin"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"