Fringe 2011: 7 (x1) Samurai
After hearing a little bit of hype gossip surrounding some of the shows at this years Fringe Fest, I made it a point to attempt to see this out of town performer. 7 (x1) Samurai is the perfect format for a fringe show. It is ultimately a creative retelling of a classic tale (and one of the few adaptations that was NOT a Shakespeare this year). The cast is one. The props are limited to two masks and a steam trunk. Minimalist story telling at its finest.
The premise of this show was the epic Seven Samurai as "told by an idiot." David Gaines artfully uses classic mime and clown techniques melded with Kabuki and Noh style movement to re-create all of the characters of this narrative of Feudal Japan. The true treat was watching how he seamlessly flowed from one character to another, each incredible distinct in physicality.
The masks he donned only to clarify two characters...the main Samurai and the leader of the bandits who are terrrorizing the town. The physicalities he choose for each of the seven samurai, the farmers and the bandits were exaggerated and elegantly simple...making it incredibly easy for the audience to immediately discern which character was suddenly front and center at any given moment. That did give for a slightly slow start to the performance as he meticulously worked to establish each personality. But the pay out was huge during the battle at the end when 100s of voices mashed together at the same time. are depending upon one performing.
The humor flowed. David's use of pauses and transitions heightened the comedy. In addition to the humorous physicalities employed, the performance was dotted with references from childhood cartoons. With sound effects and fingers he recreated the silhouettes chase scenes so familiar to Warner brother cartoons. The farmer's initial trip to town locate a savor was followed by a comical sequence of him being caught off guard by hidden ninjas, or bodily thrown from buildings when it is discovered he cannot pay. Made even more impressive when you remember David is throwing himself.
The final moment of the epic battle is another classic warner Brothers gag, though in talking with the star after word, we discovered may audiences at other fests hadn't quite understood the gag. Such a shame...he set up the finale so well.
My only complaint was the heat of the battle...with all of the characters and action going on, it bacame a little difficult to keep the minor players clear. But even the confusion added to the bloody battle; a chaos peppered with a much more macabre and disemboweling sense of humor.
7 (x1) Samurai ended with the second highest ticket sales of the fest, earning it an encore performance on the last day of fest. The fest this year had made several much large venues the university than previous years. We had caught the final non-encore performance on Saturday...we're pretty sure the only reason we managed a seat, despite arriving 40 minutes early was because they opened up the balcony for additional seating.
I would have accepted standing room only to catch this gem of a show.
The premise of this show was the epic Seven Samurai as "told by an idiot." David Gaines artfully uses classic mime and clown techniques melded with Kabuki and Noh style movement to re-create all of the characters of this narrative of Feudal Japan. The true treat was watching how he seamlessly flowed from one character to another, each incredible distinct in physicality.
The masks he donned only to clarify two characters...the main Samurai and the leader of the bandits who are terrrorizing the town. The physicalities he choose for each of the seven samurai, the farmers and the bandits were exaggerated and elegantly simple...making it incredibly easy for the audience to immediately discern which character was suddenly front and center at any given moment. That did give for a slightly slow start to the performance as he meticulously worked to establish each personality. But the pay out was huge during the battle at the end when 100s of voices mashed together at the same time. are depending upon one performing.
The humor flowed. David's use of pauses and transitions heightened the comedy. In addition to the humorous physicalities employed, the performance was dotted with references from childhood cartoons. With sound effects and fingers he recreated the silhouettes chase scenes so familiar to Warner brother cartoons. The farmer's initial trip to town locate a savor was followed by a comical sequence of him being caught off guard by hidden ninjas, or bodily thrown from buildings when it is discovered he cannot pay. Made even more impressive when you remember David is throwing himself.
The final moment of the epic battle is another classic warner Brothers gag, though in talking with the star after word, we discovered may audiences at other fests hadn't quite understood the gag. Such a shame...he set up the finale so well.
My only complaint was the heat of the battle...with all of the characters and action going on, it bacame a little difficult to keep the minor players clear. But even the confusion added to the bloody battle; a chaos peppered with a much more macabre and disemboweling sense of humor.
7 (x1) Samurai ended with the second highest ticket sales of the fest, earning it an encore performance on the last day of fest. The fest this year had made several much large venues the university than previous years. We had caught the final non-encore performance on Saturday...we're pretty sure the only reason we managed a seat, despite arriving 40 minutes early was because they opened up the balcony for additional seating.
I would have accepted standing room only to catch this gem of a show.
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11:31 AM
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