It’s great fun performing Yes, No, Maybe So? at San Diego Fringe 2022, and I’m also enjoying getting to see all of the other shows. Here are my thoughts about the ones I’ve seen so far. I will update this post as I see more shows!
Thursday, June 2
Go see Paco Erhard: Worst German Ever if you want to see well-crafted, intelligent, international standup comedy. I love the enthusiasm with which Paco delivers his jokes. The five year old sitting in front of me, who understood none of it, laughed the entire time – because Paco is just that funny! (Click here for Paco’s website.)
Go see “On the Spectrum” if you want to know more about life from an autistic point of view. Blaize Berry gave a vulnerable and outstanding performance – and so did his mom, Marybeth Berry. It’s clear the talent runs deep in this family. Props to director Tyrie K. Rowell for beautiful staging and production!
Go see Mike Lane: Mixed Race Sweetie if you want to see a funny and sweet (I think he named his show wisely) stand-up show about the complexities of identity. I especially loved his guitar playing and early 00’s pop punk parodies. (Click here for Mike’s website.)
Friday, June 3
I caught “Shelter,” a solo show, at the Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater. Writer/performer Renee Westbrook shares her experiences being homeless. I loved the honesty of the characters she portrayed (my personal favorite was God…based on an actress who had a big impact on me as a 90’s kid. I won’t give it away!).
Next was THE PANDEMUSICAL DIARIES written and performed by BJ Robinson. I have to say that this is my favorite San Diego Fringe show I’ve seen so far. BJ has created a multimedia experience that will hijack your brain and take you back to your own quarantine experience while entertaining the pants off you (or perhaps the onesy!). Don’t miss this show!
Next was CASTAWAYS. This is some of the best acting you will see at the Fringe! Terri Park and Reegan Ray play two feisty old ladies marooned in memory care. I loved their “odd couple” dynamic, and I’m not gonna lie…I definitely liked Tonio the nurse, too (played by Michael Rodriguez).
The last show I saw was Turn Me On, Dead Man. If you’re a music fan of any stripe, GO SEE THIS SHOW! Especially if you’ve been in a band. It was very validating to watch the drama play out among the members of “a certain English band from the 1960’s” and to reflect on how much it resembled the interactions in bands I’ve been in. (Visit writer/director/co-producer Phillip Magin‘s website for more!)
Saturday, June 4
It was my opening performance, so I didn’t see any shows.
Sunday, June 5
First, I performed Yes, No, Maybe So? for a large and appreciative audience. In an interesting twist of fate, two of my 6th grade students came and sat in the front row. Their moms were also present and had put several dollars in their kids’ Therapy Jars prior to arrival.
Then it was time for SLUMBER ZONE with Mojalet Dance Collective. This is one of my favorite shows I’ve seen so far. It’s a dance show meant to simulate REM sleep, and it will literally take you beyond your wildest dreams. Also, CAUTION: you may get wet…
Next, I saw Lorelei Zarifian‘s solo show “A Scar is Born.” With music, poetry, characters, and bilingual moments in English and French, this show was like what would happen if Kate McKinnon hooked up with Edith Piaf. It was an entertaining solo performance!
I finished the night with Phina Pipia‘s solo show “Ha Ha Da Vinci.” I loved the way she created a world using music, movement, magic, and a whimsical set. Also, as advertised on the poster, THERE IS A SOUSAPHONE IN THIS SHOW. And she plays it! So it was a foregone conclusion that I would love it.
Tuesday, June 7
I’m a little obsessed with Richard Henry Dana, author of “Two Years Before the Mast,” which tells the story of his voyage to California from Boston around Cape Horn in 1834. Dana stayed in San Diego upon arriving in California and made friends with the local “Kanakas,” or Hawaiians.
Wait…there were Hawaiians in San Diego in 1834? Who were they? How did they get here? Why were they here?
Thanks to the San Diego International Fringe Festival show “The Golden Rule,” I now have answers to these questions! A big thank you to Asian Story Theater for this production featuring the stories of the early Californians we should have learned about back in the fourth grade. If you love California history, don’t miss this show!
I also saw “Are You Lovin’ It?” by Theatre Group Gumbo . To me, they are the face of SD Fringe. I remember seeing them in the San Diego Reader long before I ever thought of participating in the festival myself. They are wild, crazy, and fringey to the max. If you want to know what Fringe festivals are all about, “Are you lovin’ it?” is a great starting point!
Friday, June 10
After performing my show on Friday night for my largest audience yet (including several of my more boisterous middle school students), I headed out to the lawn outside the Centro to watch Iris & the Axe. I loved watching this creepy Gothic animated choose-your-own-adventure tale in the dark, and it was so much fun to vote on the main character’s choices using the flowers the cast gave to us. This was one of the most creative shows I’ve seen at SD Fringe – or anywhere else.
Saturday, June 11
On Saturday, I headed over to the Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater to see Luna & Solis, an ensemble musical set in a medieval fantasy world. I was impressed and delighted to see the cast performing the music themselves using guitars, ukuleles, a mandolin, and a variety of small percussion instruments. I appreciated the harmonies and the way the narration moved from person to person; this truly is an ensemble show in the strongest sense of the words. I also loved the production itself, which featured shadow puppetry, creative lighting, and fantastical glowing creatures.
Next, I went back over the Centro for Teatro San Diego: New Works! This company has strong ties to the musical theater program at San Diego State University, and DAMN – what a program that is! The singing, dancing, acting, and piano accompaniment were top notch. I especially loved the second part of their program, which featured a short musical based on the Elizabeth Holmes story written by Victoria Matlock-Fowler, who plays Stanford professor Phyllis Gardner. If there were a Fringe Genie, I would wish that this short musical gets expanded into a full-length production. I want more!
I went back to the puppet theater to FINALLY see Love in the Time of Taksim. I’ve been excited for this since interviewing Gabriela Sosa, but the Fringe Schedule Gods just weren’t friendly to our shows. This was a well-produced solo show that told a wacky tale of following a celebrity crush right into the midst of the Taksim protests in Istanbul, Turkey. Gabriela had the timing of a stand-up comedian and the characterizations of a skilled solo performer. I’m glad I got to see this show!
To finish the day, I decided to check out one of the “Bring Your Own Venue” productions, which meant leaving my comfortable parking space in Balboa Park and venturing to the marijuana-scented flustercluck of Ocean Beach…but it was worth it, because I saw my favorite show of this year’s Fringe: “Aftermath,” a two-person chamber opera composed by Nicolas Reveles. Set in a post-apocalyptic pandemic world on the Mission Beach boardwalk, it features two characters separated by a sliding glass door. Ruth (mezzo-soprano Leslie Ann Leytham), a popular self-help author, must decide whether or not to allow Evan (tenor Lucia Leon), a scavenger and former healthcare worker, to enter her home and share her supplies. I’ll write more about this some other time, but I saw my own pandemic experience reflected in this performance more than in any other COVID-themed work of art I’ve seen so far. It’s also a groovy venue – in the best Ocean Beach flusterclucky way.
Sunday, June 12
I started off the day feeling bummed that I didn’t get to see “Back to the Roaring Twenties” because I had a private lesson to teach. I did get to see a short sample of their talents at the closing night cabaret, and I thoroughly enjoyed them. A special thanks to this group for coming all the way to San Diego from the UK to perform for us!
I did make it down to the Centro Cultural de la Raza in time for Induction Dance, a wacky mashup of traditional ballet and dad jokes. Ballerina Saori Maeda stole the show with her exquisite dancing and stage presence. My favorite moment was when the cast called up a (not-so-random) audience member to translate her silent “ballet speak” into words.
Next I saw Good Vibe Cinema‘s “Desperate to be Seen, Horrified of Being Known: A Ghost Story.” As soon as I saw the set – a cactus, joshua tree, acoustic bass, and gnarly mattress lit up in eerie blue light – I knew this was my kind of show. It was like a beatnik interpretation of “No Exit” set in a California High Desert hell. When I win the lottery, the first thing I will do is hire bassist Verdell Smith to follow me around and play the accompaniment to my life like he did in this production. Or maybe in the afterlife, we all get bass accompaniment. My fingers are crossed. I loved this show!
At last, it was time for my final performance of Yes, No, Maybe So?, which meant I missed ACE Theatric’s production of “Hamlet.” I did get to see them at the closing night party, and I felt all the FOMO as I watched their haka-esque acrobatic performance of the Bard’s iambic poetry. If this gets produced again locally, I would love to see it!
In fact, there are a few shows I missed that I hope I have the opportunity to see in the future (or perhaps catch a recording if one exists) – “Bones Abide,” “Long Playing,” and Mini Van Jam! I did see a little bit of the last one while waiting for a show at the Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theatre, and I think this was one of the Fringiest productions in the festival; this performer QUITE LITERALLY brought his own venue as he performed music, stories, and poems out of his minivan on the lawn in front of the theater! The original eight Edinburgh Fringe productions would be proud.
So our revels now are ended, and last night I received the “Spirit of the Fringe” award for the 2022 San Diego International Fringe Festival. I couldn’t be happier; it’s been so much fun watching shows, writing about them, and performing “Yes, No, Maybe So?” for audiences of friends, colleagues, and fellow Fringers. I’m grateful for this acknowledgment of my efforts, and I can’t wait for my next Fringe adventure!
