Friday, August 1, 2014

Fringe Festival: "11:11"

Day: 1

Show: 3

Title: 11:11

Category: Drama

By: SaMi Productions

Created by: Sara Pillatzki-Warzeha

Location: Rarig Center Arena

Summary: A series of vignettes about the big and little moments in life that can change everything, framed around the creator's life-changing experience of a car accident.

Highlights: Sara's moving story about how her car accident changed her life begins and ends this piece. The accident reignites her grief at the loss of her grandfather, whose car she was driving (does everyone's grandpa know how to catch flies, or just Sara's and mine?), and ultimately the loss of the feeling of safety and security in life. Each of the other three performers (Yvonne Ingrid Freese, Jason Garton, and Jill Damaske Iverson) wrote a scene, along with a few other authors. Some of the scenes are more effective than others, some funny and some tragic, but all are open and honest and real. Other than the main story, I was most affected by Jill's moving performance in a piece she wrote about the loss of an almost-friend. As a whole, 11:11 is perhaps a big disjointed, but it's moving, poignant, thought-provoking, and brought tears to my eyes. I call that a Fringe success.