Monday, July 30, 2012

A well-rounded and inspirational Spoleto Festival.

Our annual visit to Charleston, SC and the combination of Spoleto and Piccolo Spoleto Festivals over Memorial Day was perhaps one of the best of our seven times to spend a weekend there. In addition to a good outdoor jazz concert and a fine indoor gospel choir concert, we did our usual rounds of theater outings we could fit in. And what a wide range it was.

Three of the performances we attended were one-person shows. One was essentially non-fiction: a fine ramble by Charleston's own, Jack Hitt, called "Making Up the Truth." Two others were solo performances by women: "Becoming Harriet Tubman" and "The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe." In both cases, especially the latter (originated by Lily Tomlin), the women played multiple characters, and in very convincing fashion. Strong acting that was interesting to watch in both cases.

We also caught a fine production by Dublin's Gate Theatre of the Noel Coward play, Hay Fever. Quite well performed by all involved, if not perhaps likely to be my most favorite play ever.

The most intriguing and inventive of our shows, however, for me, was by a company from London called, simply, 1927. A fascinating dark children's tale that seamlessly (other than a brief technical glitch) blended scenery with live actors with creative projections, "The Animals and Children Took to the Streets" definitely qualified as spell-binding, not a description I often use. Quite, quite fascinating. It's always neat to see the boundaries of what can be done being stretched.

For good reasons, we're not sure we'll be able to visit Spoleto next year. If that's how it turns out, we'll miss it. For sure.

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