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Eva Heinemann’s Fringe reviews: Once again good plays that ended too abruptly and left me in confusion

1). Barbara Suter’s BEST NIGHT EVER is a present day Noir story where we know who died and who killed her from the start. Peg is a sexy, kinky Blonde (Briana Layon) with a bartender friend (Tiffany Hodges) who warns her about dangerous Jake (Tim Shelton) who has a gay roommate (Ryan Garbayo) who

 always covers for Jake’s misdeeds all because they were baseball buddies in college. A detective (Lou Liberatore) is gathering evidence against Jake.
Since you know who died and killed her, the only excitement is how exactly did she die and why did Jake kill her. The acting more than made up for the limited script. My friend however liked it a lot. Unfortunately I was so uncomfortable by the rickety chair and no air conditioning that it was hard to enjoy anything.
But it was a thrill to see Lou Liberatore whom I have admired since Burn This. Mixed Face that should be Happy

2). Arlene Hutton’s VACUUM has a terrific moral dilemma and dramatic conflict. Gray (Chris Stack) and his wife Amelia (Dana Brooke) have found the cure for cancer. Trouble is his brilliant wife had an accident and has trouble remembering names of things and is content as a housewife and gardener.
Johnathan (David Arrow) an unscrupulous womanizer with a slew of exes (Lynne Halliday, Polly Adams) and current flame (Katie Wren Huard) whom he keeps on the payroll of his nefarious skin care business.
Johnathan wants to use the cure for cancer to improve your skin rather than life and the reason is pretty scary. Will Gray give in for riches or keep his integrity and debts? Can he give up his love for old intellectually equal Amelia and love this new version? Everyone comes to a realization at the end. This was a first rate production with a clever set (Josh Smith) and well thought out costumes (Margarita Delgado).
HAPPY FACE but it did have a tacked on ending with an inexplicable monologue.

FRINGE FESTIVAL: THEATER REVIEWS BY BINA SHARIF
LOLPERA
BY
ELLEN WARKENTINE AND ANDREW PEDROZA
DIRECTED AND CHOREOGRAPHER:ANGELA LOPEZ

AT THEATER 80

Sometime something is so silly that it eventually become funny,not in this
futuristic ambitious opera based on the stupid pictures of cats, all kinds of cats, happy cats, angry cats, black cats, red, purple sleepy cats, catty cats and furious cats. This can sound funny or interesting at least but trust me its not. Though they are making fun of internet in the future which is a great Idea but perhaps I misunderstood, perhaps the idea of internet in the future is that it will be the most banal thing which it already is and you can't just create a whole libretto based on stupid captions of cats on the internet. Internet has millions of other stupid things posted on it, why make only the poor cats the whole focus of an opera?
The performers are very strong with good singing skills but the whole effort seems like a waste. I left at the intermission. Thank god for that ten minute interval amongst the very boring silliness of it all.

FRINGE FESTIVAL:THEATER REVIEW BY BINA SHARIF

MEDEA PROJECT
DIRECTED AND CREATED BY SANDRA BRUNELL NEACE

MEDEA is being put on trial for killing her children. Her Defense attorney claims insanity. In the case of Madea as we all know the murder was committed because she wants to take revenge on her husband Jason who is marrying much younger a woman. Perhaps its revenge plus mental illness but the story of Medea is a fiction and the other killings of children depicted in this play about the contemporary society are much more chilling in this play because those murders are real and staring at our faces as the names of all the mothers are mentioned one by one reminding us that the evil exists because mentally ill are not aware of their actions.
Its a novel idea to bring todays crimes into a greek tragedy but its never as shocking though its happening often. We seem to justify it under the defense of mental illness. Its so sad to hear the names of real mothers who killed their own children.
The performances are all by women and the costumes are silky,flowing and beautiful adding a haunting sense to the story.

FRINGE FESTIVAL: THEATER REVIEW BY BINA SHARIF
NAMES OF THE DEAD
BY
VANESSA LENZ NEITHARDT
DIRECTED BY ROBERT GREENE

A bold piece of theater staying away from the usual silly, so called, "entertaining" fringe stuff. Jared,(Michael Nrithardt) a soldier back from serving in Iraq now contemplating suicide because he is not the same person anymore and according to him is followed by the dead, his soldier friends and the civilians he slaughtered in Iraq to free them from being enslaved, Now he hits his wife who has taken his two sons away from him to save them from him. He calls a suicide hot line where he is being calmly helped by Hope, (Kendall Cornell against the idea of committing suicide for the sake of his kids. The actor playing the soldier is very melodramatic in the first scene which doesn't work for him but improves in intensity eventually. Dave,(Robert Green) who also directed plays a fellow dead soldier who appears briefly is wonderful. Its the topic which is worth exploring. The brutal, cruel, evil war which is damaging humanity and human beings in it on both sides and the loss of life and soul is completely meaningless.