"The Sparrow" by Live Action Set at the Southern Theater

The lights went down, and figures staggered slowly onto the stage accompanied by loud mouth-breathing. No, this was not a stage adaptation of The Walking Dead (although I would totally go see that), it was Live Action Set's newest creation entitled The Sparrow. Like their previous two works presented at the Southern Theater (Basic North and The Half Life) The Sparrow is an odd and lovely piece that combines movement, music, acting, and spoken words. Not quite dance, and very far from what we typically think of as theater, it's an experience that defies description, but is definitely recommended if you're looking for something different and beautifully expressive (even if I'm not sure of what).

Fringe Festival: "A Brief History of Irish Music"

Day: 1

Show: 2

Title: A Brief History of Irish Music

By: Snikt! Bamf! Thwip!

Created by: The Dregs

Location: New Century Theatre

Summary: Irish comedy band The Dregs perform a half dozen songs from their repertoire, from plaintive ballads to rousing drinking songs, and everything in between. The framework for this showcase is a book called A Brief History of Irish Music, which allegedly gives the history of each song they sing. Members also act out some of the stories behind the songs (with props).

Highlights: This six-person band might be full of jokesters, but the music is fantastic. The skits in between songs are silly, and they're better musicians than actors, but that's part of the fun. They don't take themselves (or the subject matter) too seriously, and have a lot of fun playing with the audience. But don't be fooled, they are serious musicians. And drummer Tim Wick does a great job leading the band through the show as he "reads from the book" and keeping things moving along. It's worth seeing for the music, with a lot of fun thrown in. (And my friend who's lived in the South wanted me to point out that they correctly use the phrase "all y'all," which is commonly misused by us Northerners.) 

Read more of my fringe fest reflections…

… including my top 5 shows