FRINGE REVIEW: Some Other Mettle

It's not so much a fear of the unknown that's on display here, but rather it's this idea that no matter how ballsy or timid an individual is that fear is ever-present and it falls squarely on said individual to navigate their way out.

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FRINGE REVIEW: Some Other Mettle

POSTED: Monday, September 10, 2012, 5:30 PM

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: Some Other Mettle

GROUP: Applied Mechanics

GENRE: Theater

ATTENDED: Sun., Sept. 9, 10 p.m.

CLOSES: Sept. 18

BRIEF SELF-DESCRIPTION: From the company who brought you Overseers and Vainglorious, a new work that sends its stout-hearted underdogs into battle to vanquish their fears and discover mysterious truths. The physical world transforms around the audience as they witness acts of bravery small and large.

WE THINK: The program bill for Some Other Mettle mentions that some text by poet Wallace Stevens is used during the performance. It doesn't say which piece exactly, but it seems as if its Stevens' idea that people are "constantly putting together parts of the world to make it seem coherent"" that's cultivated for inspiration. According to Stevens, reality is an activity and at best people have "a piecemeal understanding" of it. It's not so much a fear of the unknown that's on display here, but rather it's this idea that no matter how ballsy or timid an individual is that fear is ever-present and it falls squarely on said individual to navigate their way out.

The performance opens at the dawn of time with a brief introduction detailing the impending sea change about to take place, and then lightning strikes and the actors scurry, stumble and crawl to various pockets of the Jolie Laide space. The characters explore the dark corners in an attempt to assess their new surroundings, and despite the primitive grunts and cries it's clear that these people merely want to be able to explain to themselves what's happening and understand why exactly it's happening.
For the uninitiated, a show by the Applied Mechanics collective cannot be contained in merely one room. It takes place in multiple spaces at the same time, and as an attendee you're encouraged to move around and make the most of it for yourself. When the action got underway, the majority of the audience froze in place which made navigating the recesses mildly difficult. Based on my position in the crowd, the character Sy was the most visible. Everyone is dealing with some aspect of fear, and with Sy it appears that his fear is rooted in what he is capable of. It's as if he's capable of truly great things, and that idea of potential is what causes him to freak out. This is a very participatory show in the sense that there are five rooms and five performers and absolutely zero breaks. Unfortunately, I can't say much about Usco's plight and I only have a foggy notion as to what was up with Tesam and Fallow, but this is positively an event that should be experienced before it's too late.

—Chris Brown

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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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