I have a vote as one of the critics for Fringe Festival awards, so I am writing a longer piece to discuss how I’m going to be approaching my vote.
Then I see Cinema Fantastique.
It pretty much breaks all my aesthetic rules of Fringe. A loosely linked collection of spoken word, musical mashups, rap, and belly dancing (yes, belly dancing), Cinema Fantastique revolves around the pop culture sensibilities of the thirtysomething dude.
In other words, this show is about me.
And yes, the tribute to Khan Noonien Singh rocks. (If you don’t have to google that, then you need to see this show.)
So, you basically have a group that got together and put together the things that they love. It’s a cabaret show–a spoken word/belly dancing cabaret show–that’s loosely integrated, hit and miss, and all over the map. And I completely loved it.
As I ran off to see show #5 of Day 4, one of the group said, "Come to the bar, and have a drink with us." If I can fit it in to the trek through the festival, I’ll totally go again and take them up on it, even if it requires more three-dimensional thinking that I’m used to.