“Waiting for Waiting for Godot” at the Kraine Theatre; “Track Twelve” at Teatro Circulo; “The Tomkat Project” at the Player’s Theatre
“Waiting for Waiting for Godot” at the Kraine Theatre “Track Twelve” at Teatro Circulo “The Tomkat Project” at the Player’s Theatre Reviewed by David Roberts Theatre Reviews Limited
Midway through the final week of the New York International Fringe Festival, we visited three shows that were not working for a variety of reasons.
Dave Hanson’s clever “Waiting for waiting for Godot” had great potential: a good script with two great actors. Unfortunately, members of the audience (including those involved with the production) felt it necessary to “feel” for the audience and howl, hoot, and hamper any authentic energy trying to reach the audience from the stage. Couple that with what one assumes was the director taking notes on his cell phone and “Nothing happens. Nobody comes, nobody goes. It's awful” (Samuel Beckett). And that is unfortunate. Dave Hanson’s script provides often delicate and amusing parallels between the unseen performance of “Godot” and the banter between understudies Val (Mr. Hanson) and Ester (Chris Sullivan) on stage as they wait impatiently for the director to call them to replace the cast. They do Vladimir (yup, Val) and Estragon (yup, Ester) proud. Next time around, ask your noisy family, friends, and creative team to sit out a few performances so you can work your craft without interruption. “Come, let's get to work! In an instant all will vanish and we'll be alone more, in the midst of nothingness” (Samuel Beckett)! Performances continue on Friday August 23rd at 4:00 p.m.; Saturday August 24th at 8:15 p.m.; and Sunday August 25th at 2:15 p.m.
Emily Comisar’s “Track Twelve” wobbles off track more than once during its ninety-minute run at Teatro Circulo. Missing pieces and missed connections occupy the action and the dialogue of a brother and sister and a broken couple as they are stranded at Penn Station waiting for outbound trains. Simon (Leo Goodman) and Jenny (Keelie A. Sheridan) fret about the past, present, and the future wedding of their mother Mimi’s to Tom. Mike (Charlie Gorilla) and Lindsay (Sarah Sanders) bicker over broken love and business on their way to a presentation which could make or further break their company’s future. The fact that they provide employee exit management is not lost on the audience. As expected, all’s well that ends well. The actors do their best with the script but seem to tire squeezing in and out of train seats – sometimes forgetting they are there. Final performance on Friday August 23rd at 2:00 p.m.
An extended SNL skit, Brandon Ogborn’s “The Tomkat Project” riffs the life and times of Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, The Church of Scientology, and a variety of other pop-culture iconic personages and iconic happenings, relationships, and rumors. The cast handles the comedic script well but one wonders if they might have worked harder to impersonate their characters with more authenticity. Some lines soared, others fell flatter than Ogborn might have expected. Performances continue on Friday August 23rd at 9:45 p.m.; and Saturday August 24th at 2:15 p.m.
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