Hellzapoppin!

On Saturday I dipped my little toe into the roiling, brackish waters of the Fringe festival and took in a couple of shows at 45 Bleecker. First, though, a disclaimer. After the first three years of the Fringe, during which I created and edited the festival's ridiculously ambitious daily newspaper, FringeNYC Propaganda (now defunct, I believe), I have grown distant from the August orgy of small, cheap theater below 14th Street. I must confess, after years of watching and reviewing a wide variety of professional theater, from Broadway spectacles to workmanlike Off-Broadway plays and brilliant avant-garde stuff from abroad, I've grown exceedingly wary of the Fringe. Don't get me wrong. I love theater. I love artists. But I don't love scores of mediocre, barely trained amateurs who put together a showcase so that producers will come and give them paying jobs on TV. Sometimes that's how the Fringe feels: A debased flea market in which the city's best companies wouldn't be caught dead. Of course, I know that isn't true. Radiohole did Bender in the 1998 Fringe. Hell, I directed a show the same year. And the wickedly funny Urinetown came of the 1999 Fringe. Nevertheless, Alexis Soloski's excellent piece in the Voice basically summarizes my doubts and frustration: I wish the Fringe would just drop the pretense of being curated (if it actually were, there would be maybe 60 shows) and open it up to hundreds of shows in all five boroughs. Make it more like Edinburgh. Otherwise, I'm sorry, but the Fringe just feels like the worst possible advertisement for Off-Off Broadway. Which we all know it isn't.

That having been said, One of the shows I saw Saturday was quite fun and I recommend it: Hail Satan, by blogger, playwright and actor Mac Rogers. In a little under two hours, Rogers lashes together several genres: workplace satire, religious meditation, critique of capitalism and family drama. The basic premise is unbeatable: Shy newbie discovers that his chipper, firmly bonded office buddies worship the Prince of Darkness. The cast is fairly solid and director Jordana Williams maintains a snappy pace. Still I could see the rough edges and abrupt tonal shifts in Rogers' script (which at times makes the play seem like a Frankenstein's monster of high-concept sketch ideas) smoothed out by a superior production, so that we can really whip from low-key laughs to horror and suspense. There is some effectively droll, quirky material there, but also morally murky rationalizations designed to seduce us. As anyone who has read his blog knows, Rogers can write persuasive speeches and as a dramatist, he's willing to suspend action for the sake of working through a difficult thought. That's a good thing. It wouldn't surprise me if Rogers is a fan of Wallace Shawn. Like Shawn, he seems drawn to shame, humiliation, ethical ambiguity. Hail Satan is a refreshing reminder that the Fringe isn't just about naked clowns or solo pieces: now and then a real play surfaces. Will any commercial producer or nonprofit institution take the initiative and develop (yes, develop) it?

Comments

[Kevin Doyle]

Dear Mr. Cote,

I've read your writing in TimeOut for years now -- had the pleasure of meeting you briefly at the Blogger event at CUNY's Prelude last fall. Never felt the urge to write though.

In regard to all the FringeNYC criticism circling around -- Ms. Soloski's article, Andy's recent remarks on Culturebot, your posting from today -- what is a legitimate downtown/Brooklyn theatre company to do?

We've been to Europe -- we know what's going on in the world and how other major festivals are run -- but what's a company to do?

We know we're doing good work -- without that Fringy Amateur Night At The Apollo Feel -- maybe even innovative work -- but we're at that transitional funding/money phase. We have too much work backlogged and stockpiled as it is -- so from our perspective the NYC Fringe is a good deal.

But not if its at the expense of losing the respect we've worked so hard to earn from people the last two years since our company's inception. And from the growing chorus I'm hearing in the last week in regard to the Fringe -- I'm concerned.

I am in total agreement with you that the bulk of what is presented here at the NYC Fringe is the worst possible advertisement for Off-Off Broadway -- hell, even theatre as an art form -- but for some folks in the rat race, like us, presenting our best work for a few nights at a reduced operational cost is a pretty sound business plan on the way to say, a month rental at the Ohio Theatre in 2008, or futher development from Barrow Street or Culture Project or somewhere else.

We know we're on the right track artistically and creatively -- but we desperately don't want to wait until the next Grant Application Cycle to be able to share our work with people.

Didn't mean to write a rant here.

Just feeling a tad "damned if you do, damned if you don't" upon reading your entry from today.

Alas.

Warm regards,

Kevin Doyle
Sponsored By Nobody

[Mac]

Thanks much, David! These thoughts are both kind and quite useful.

After I do some theatergoing this weekend I may have some other Fringe recommends to send your way.

[David Cote]

Hi Kevin: Having produced Off-Off theater myself for about six years in the 1990s, I completely agree that you get a lot of potential bang for your buck at the Fringe. And for $15, the audience could possibly see a perfect Fringe show (low budget but effective) OR something that should move to the next level (Urinetown). No argument there. But for media folks like me who are bombarded by shows on Broadway, Off and Off-Off 365 days a year, the Fringe can feel like a superfluous marketing gimmick for way too much bottom-feeder theater and international stuff that couldn't make it into better festivals. But I understand your dilemma: For small Off-Off companies like yours, it is hard. Unless you get funding and regularly produced at PS 122 and/or get locked into the European festival circuit and have regular media coverage because you're edgy, avant-garde and cool, yeah, it's tough. In the 15 years I've been in NYC, it's never been this bleak for Off-Off. Ridiculously high cost of living, insane rents, a city full of transplanted overpaid assholes who will go to a chic restaurant or club in the L.E.S. but wouldn't ever think of seeing a play. It's a sad scene, with Brooklyn as a possible ray of hope.

[Kevin Doyle]

Hi David: Thank you for the kind reply. I hear you about the state of New York -- believe me -- my family's from Brooklyn. What's gone on in the last several years is astonishing. Its a different city. An alien city. Wish you could catch NOT FROM CANADA. (that's not a press pitch). It was written as a reaction against the Legions Of The Transplanted Overpaid Assholes you reference. Plus, my parents had me inoculated as a baby to protect against all kinds of diseases, including Biltmore Syndrome. There is still hope. Warm regards. -- Kevin Doyle