Saturday, August 8, 2015

Fringe Festival 2015: "Ghosts of the Living, Ghosts of the Dead"

Day: 7

Show: 29


Category: Drama

By: Consummate Productions

Written by: Ashley Kress

Location: HUGE Theater

Summary: One woman simply and beautifully reads her story about dealing with the deaths of three people in her life that affected her in different ways.

Highlights: Fringe can be so frantic, rushing from one show to another, most of which are busy or silly or ridiculous, packing everything they can into the allotted time. In that crazy space, a show like this one, with one person standing on stage reading a story into a microphone from printed pages on a music stand, is so quietly refreshing. From the deaths of a complicated grandmother, a father she never knew, and a beloved friend, Ashley Kress weaves a moving, poignant, heartfelt story of grief, loss, confusion, and hope. There's something beautiful about one woman standing on stage telling her story, speaking her truth with straight-forward simplicity and eloquence and no artifice. I had tears behind my eyes and a lump in my throat throughout the performance, as I felt every step of Ashley's journey over the past year. It's not the Fringe if you're not reduced to a weepy mess at least once, and this show delivers that beautifully heart-wrenching experience.