The entire concept of a fringe show was entirely foreign to me as, before this trip, I knew very little to nothing about theatre in general. I was excited to see a fringe show because all of the other shows we had seen had been so good. Of course, I knew the fringe show would not be as good in many aspects simply because it was fringe, but I also feel like I have a very low bar when it comes to being pleased with a show. So, in general, my expectations were low, but I fear I have been spoiled by the shows we have seen as a class.
Reese, Emmy, and I saw Glengarry Glen Ross. I had never even heard of this before Reese mentioned going to see it in a theatre for our fringe show, so I basically went in blind. The only thing I knew about it was that it was a very masculine movie with very masculine characters and that this production would only have women in it. This bold decision for this production is what got me so interested in the first place. I was very intrigued to see how these women actors would carry out the roles of such misogynistic male characters.
The theatre that we saw this production at was Old Vic Theatre, which was honestly pretty big and very nice for what I had expected a fringe show would look like. The stage was a round circle in the very center of the room and it had several mechanical movements throughout the show which I also found very cool for a fringe show, but also just in general.
My main thoughts about this show are that I feel like I needed more context going in to truly understand the commentary being made here. In my opinion, this entire play was just making fun of misogynistic men, which I thoroughly enjoyed. There was no explicit joke or harsh statement about men, but the women were playing their characters so extremely, that it seemed as if they were making fun of the way men act, at least in this movie. There was a ton of dialogue and not a whole lot of action which did make it hard to keep up. It was also only an hour and a half with no intermission.
Overall, I have to say I did enjoy this production, but I don’t believe I would see it again. The only way I would see it again would be if I watched and thoroughly analyzed the movie first, because I didn’t get as much social commentary out of this play as I felt I needed. It was great, I wanted it to be better. Considering my expectations were low, this is very surprising. I love the idea, but I think it needs a bit more substance to really hit the spot of commentary I was looking for. Still a great experience, and I would definitely see another fringe show if I ever get the chance!
Cheers!
- Jill Qualls
Theatre in London U of A 