Recent arts coverage:
Four indie arts space typify the DIY attitude in East Austin | In visceral installations of Teresita Fernandez ask viewers to look - at look again | Follow @artsinaustin on TwitterAustin360 blogs > Austin Arts: Seeing Things > Archives > 2009 > July > 21 > Entry
Review: ‘Dear Fraility’
No one is normal in ‘Dear Fraility’ Arthur Simone’s oddly compelling darkly humorous one-man, multi-character show playing Fridays through August at Coldtowne Theater.
But it is nevertheless easy to sympathize with the eight not-normal characters Simone presents on Coldtowne’s miniscule stage no matter how absurd and grotesque the details of the lives may be. Perhaps that because Simone has carefully crafted each to be remotely believable. Forget the flat character parody. Instead, Simone delivers little jewel-like stories of strange but absorbing characters whose stories you want to hear.
There’s the barely recovered pyromaniac fresh from rehab, an old woman with nary a fond memory of the past, a man still suffering from the bullying he was victim to in his childhood and a single woman unlucky in love even if she doesn’t quite realize it.
With only minimal props, Simone performs each of their stories in short, neatly-paced monologues. And for good measure, Simone throws in a few absurdist presentations of his own, most humorously a rambling and ridiculous slide presentation on the future of capitalism. (The show clocks in a little less than one hour.)
The lanky Simone is something of a naturally jittery performer but that only gives his characters more of a manic edge that grabs the attention. What sets ‘Dear Fraility’ apart from most other monologue line-ups is the quality of Simone’s story-telling. There’s no ad-libbing or improv here. Rather, the writing has a tight, literary quality that unfolds thoughtfully.
Simone, one third of the trio of improvisational actors that founded Coldtowne Theater, delivers an odd odyssey that in the end remains sweet.
“Dear Fraility” continues at 9 p.m. on Fridays through Aug. 28 at Coldtowne Theater, Airport Blvd. www.coldtownetheater.com
Comments
Click here to report comment abuse.