FRINGE REVIEW: Myths & Monsters

Sustaining a five minute improv sketch is difficult. Constructing an unscripted hour long narrative is herculean.

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FRINGE REVIEW: Myths & Monsters

POSTED: Saturday, September 8, 2012, 10:25 AM

Every year, there's hundreds and hundreds of performances at the Philly Fringe and Live Arts Festival, and unless it's one of the big shows, it's sometimes hard to tell what you're going to get. Here at Critical Mass we're sending writers to as many shows as we possibly can for 75 pocket-sized reviews over the course of the fest. Check back in with us at On The Fringe every day for real talk on what these things actually are!

SHOW: Myths & Monsters

GROUP: Philly Improv Theater

GENRE: Theater

ATTENDED: Fri., Sept. 7, 7:30 p.m.

CLOSES: Sun., Sept. 9

BRIEF SELF-DESCRIPTION: An hour long improvised hero’s adventure following a basic structure parsed by Joseph Campbell. A team of actors moving and breathing in tandem will depict monstrous beasts and terrifying deities encountered during a spontaneously created theatrical tale of trials and transformation of a lone hero.

WE THINK: Sustaining a five minute improv sketch is difficult. Constructing an unscripted hour long narrative is herculean. So Philly Improv Theater looked to myth-master Joseph Campbell for guidance. Campbell’s conception of the hero’s adventure provides the blueprint for PHIT’s Myths and Monsters, but absurd characters and dialogue give these legendary tales some levity. Friday’s show told the story of a village idiot turned centaur savior. He experiences love, loss, pain, and redemption in his journey to save his family and friends. George Lucas also adhered to this formula for his own films, but theater-goers should know that Myths and Monsters is more Spaceballs than Star Wars.

—Michael Blancato

Posted by Michael Blancato @ 10:25 AM Permalink | Post a comment

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Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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