Ottawa Fringe 2009, Day 8: I Love A Good Coincidence

After an afternoon of good work on my audition monologues, it was time to head off for another night of Fringe fun.

Half-way to my first show I realized I had forgotten my Fringe pin. Doh.

For those not in the know, in addition to purchasing a ticket, every patron must also have a Fringe pin which costs $2. All ticket revenue goes to the performers; all pin money goes to the festival. In other words, it’s the festival’s (well-deserved and nominal) piece of the action.

Normally, I end up buying about 48 pins because I lose / forget them in seconds. Thankfully, this year I’ve been very good at keeping track of my pin and this is the first extra one I had to buy. I chalked it up as a little extra donation to the fine festival and headed into my first show.

First up: No Exit Upstage. I really enjoyed the script and was sorry that it ended so quickly. Time and space is warped, neat ideas are thrown into the air, and the stage is set for a really rewarding piece of theatre. Then, it ends abruptly and unexpectedly, and the implications of what has been set in motion are not fully investigated. It feels like a very polished preview of a much longer play I hope to see one day. FYI: it is nowhere near forty-five minutes. Overheard: “Did they forget to do half the play?”

The women who told me they had loved Satanic Panic also told me they had loved On Second Thought. Because they clearly know their comedy, I resolved to see it and it was my second show for the evening.

This show is a lot of fun and very enjoyable. Ultimately, it is not terribly theatrical and really amounts to little more than the very charismatic Paul Hutcheson telling us some great stories. What sets the show apart from other one-person shows / confessionals I’ve seen is that it never feels like he is trying to represent himself to a particular audience or community, nor does it feel like he is trying to engender our sympathy. He is simply telling particular stories from his life, he thinks others may find rewarding, whomever those others may be, and as a result it feels way more inclusive. In the particular is the universal.

Team Oreo had the night off but Team Satanic Panic were on and, according to the team, so was the audience: a good turn-out and those in attendance were receptive. It is always a treat to see your actors feeling good after a show. A friend of mine attended the performance, said he enjoyed it, and also said he thought the audience was into it. A few other folks made a point of stopping me and saying job well done.

There was just enough time for a quick bratwurst and beer before volunteering. It seems the food guys switch up the type of sausage on offer on some days, so be sure to ask before committing to something else. Bratwurst and beer. Yum! Also, apparently the lamb will be back today! Ye-hah!

With a quick switch of the shirt, I went from mild-mannered audience member slash performer to orange-clad volunteer slash performer. Nominally, I was working security, but I ended up shuttling some material between HQ and a venue. The walk was a nice change of pace.

All in all, the volunteer shift was pretty fun. Notwithstanding the torture of being in the tent area without a beer, it was fun standing around chatting up whomever wandered within range. I felt more like a host than anything else. Plus, I was off delivering programs when the other staff actually had to shoo a band of roaming vagrants.

Oh: a number of people complained about the state of the porta-potties. They are hideous and almost — some said — overflowing (I declined to investigate). I sent the message up the chain of command and I really hope someone gets on it because those bad boys should have been tidied a day or two ago.

A beer tent story:

So, there I am chatting with three of five of Team Satanic Panic (Adam, Michelle, and Ray) and into our circle of conversation enters a very wasted girl, free-associating on an apple she had found. It was an odd way to join a circle of conversation, but, hey, this is the Fringe tent and theatre folk can be odd. She expressed some concern that she was interrupting and I made it clear that she was more than welcome. I will call her Tuna because that’s the name she gives, “when boys talk to me at a bar.”

Tuna chatted a bit and we made her feel welcome. It turns out she wasn’t a performer but a friend of a friend etc. Then her friend appeared on the scene. We’ll call her Grumpy. She was seething hostility and didn’t say anything. I asked her name, she ignored me. She would respond to Tuna’s comments and sometimes threw out random acts of verbal hostility. She made it very clear, as quickly as possible, that she and Tuna would be sharing the same couch later in the evening. The only way Grumpy could have been less subtle is if she had actually pissed on Tuna. Not surprisingly, a theory popped into my head as to what was happening.

Eventually, I asked Grumpy, “why did you join us if your only intention is to be antagonistic.” That cowed her for a bit but, after a moment, she started trying to harass Michele. Right about the time, I was going to tell them to go bother someone else with their little game, Tuna wandered off and Grumpy was quick to follow. For some time after, we noticed Tuna darting here and there, with Grumpy in hot pursuit. Of course, it is a game that girls play on boys all the time, but I kind of assumed girls would be too smart to fall for that shit.

Now, initially, I wasn’t going to recount this story because it is actually totally unreflective of the normal Fringe tent experience. Sure there may be the occasional and mostly accidental snub but to my knowledge no one goes out of their way to intefere with your good time with their dumb-ass games.

Then, it occurred to me. There is something right about this little drama ensnarling Team Satanic Panic. Essentially, Satanic Panic (or The Death of Al Pacino) is a love story. Sure, a sick, twisted, and hilarious love story but it is essentially a story about two lovers who ensnare two other people in their fucked up little drama for one special night on Halloween.

I love a good coincidence.

At any rate, we got over the  bump of that intrusion into our fun and ended up closing the tent.

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