THEATER REVIEW- Play on Words

‘Play on Words’ is often funny, occasionally frustratingly reductive, and always clever. This well-paced piece (a compliment that deserves its own sentence) follows playwright Fred and his goofball partner Eddie, as they recreate the episodic fragments of his relationship with a now missing Jen. The actors excel in a dramatic and professional performance, punctuated by the script’s ability to draw humor from the mundane in verbal tangents reminiscent of Abbott and Costello's “Who’s on first?” routine.

I really enjoyed the concept behind the flashback storytelling (literally unpacking memories like so many cardboard boxes), but wished that the resolution had been more of an expansion of Fred’s tunnel-vision, instead of just an unexpected twist (the classic “6th Sense” revelation). The momentum of every scene is deftly transitioned into the next; it is a commendably well-paced narrative.

Fred’s manic-depressive behavior drives away his two most important relationships, until he is alone, untethered in the spotlight on the expanse of the dark stage. It seems that at the center of the play is just a flawed, stressed, neurotic man apologizing for his variable behavior (mainly nervous breakdowns), vowing that things will be different, and hoping that they will actually go back to the way they were. Though this final imagery is indeed emotionally striking, it fails to deliver any resounding message or truth (perhaps this is where words, images, and script fail)? It is in this way that the play does not transmit the tenderness of “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” which in contrast draws its strength from the relationship at its core and uses the dialogue as window dressing, not buttresses. Additionally, Fred’s ultimate regret is discredited by his need for a psychiatric intervention; I was unsure of whom to fault with his unraveling, but the lesson could not have been simply “chill out man and keep your girlfriend,” could it?

Thought it bears the connotation of a patronizing high-five (slugger), I mean it most sincerely when I call this young company both a recorded success and an overflow of potential. I am so impressed (read: jealous) by their drive, talent….and you should check them out yourselves here.

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Halfway Mark

Edinburgh seems out-of-sorts today. The people handing out flyers have a grim sense of desperation in their eyes, while we, the viewing public, have made a game out of artful dodging and hanging permanently snide expression that says “Don’t you dare give me another one of those frikken flyers…I DO NOT RECYCLE.” Most people here are now red-eyed from a state of constant exhaustion and they only perk up long enough to trade hard guy stories on who is getting less sleep.

It might have been the steady sheets of grey rain (there is nothing sadder than a wet clown), or the universal effects of a Friday night hangover (what doesn’t kill you…), or perhaps this is the inevitable Fringe Burnout that accompanies the halfway point between start and finish.

I am trying to come up with a diagnostic list of qualifications for the official "Fringe Burnout" condition. So far, my checklist includes the following:

• Your feet have developed calluses that a professional fire-walker would envy


• There is a mountain of paper on your bed of all the Fringe shows you will never seen


• You have forgotten what sleeping feels like, but you think it must be nice and are vaguely sure that it has something to do with all of those flyers on your…what do you call that thing again?


• Nothing comes to mind when people ask for recommendations since all of the shows have now bled into one long, never-ending production entitled “The Red Rampant Rabbit Who Craved Lord Xenu in his Awkward Jihad against Fathers, Daughters and Purple Players: the Musical Cabaret”


• You seem to run into the same 6 people over and over again, unfortunately you cannot remember their names and the nature of your relationship…You are also wearing somebody else’s socks and wonder if these things are related


• Your dreams are in Scottish

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