(ORIGINAL POST… UPDATE BELOW)
If you can call it that… perhaps trolling for reactions would be more accurate. Over the last few days I’ve been on all sites IndyFringe checking out reactions to “Dancing in the Mist“. So far so good. Here is the first straight up review of the show from IndyFringe Talks with the accompanying photo of the fabulous actors.
by Amelia Barnes | Aug 16, 2015
What’s it like to care for an aging parent with dimentia? In the beginning, singing snaps Mike’s Mom, Gillie back into reality. The show portrays the deep love of a son’s gentle and compassionate care of his Mom as she descends into the stages of Dementia. They dance together both figuratively and literally as the play takes place both in the reality of their day-to-day life and in Mike’s stage theater mind”. Sometimes calming Gillie, he is her Papa talking to his little daughter Orchid, Gillie’s pet name. Sometimes he’s Sam Spade and sometimes they dance the Tango. It’s a show of parent-child love and the reversal of caregiving from parent to child to child now taking care of parent.
Having lost my own Mother last year, I was moved by their story. A must see for anyone who has been or will be a caretaker for an elderly parent or relative.
The characters Mike and Gillie are portrayed by Xan Scott, who for ten years worked caring for elderly patients and brings her own experience to this role and Kurt Fitzpatrick, a veteran of over fifty festivals who is also in Bromance at this year’s Indy Fringe. Mike and Gillie are girl friend – boyfriend in real life, having met at Frescno and their caring for each other comes across in the play.
Great script. Well Executed. A serious topic done well with a great balance of the realities of Alzheimer’s and humor and playfulness to keep the audience entranced.
Thumbs up.
Not bad, eh? Though the first reaction I came across was this from Twitter…
And just as I decided to take it as a good mini-review… these next few popped up.
So, that told me the show is singing on pitch and hitting the right notes. This was a bit of a relief because the actors reported to me that the first performance had a rough start… with one of the actors suffering from tummy troubles. Added to that the playing configuration of the space had changed just prior to performance. The above reactions essentially came from the second performance after everything had been sorted out.
Then, this morning NUVO posted reviews of all the fringe shows playing… including this one.
A 4 star review… I’d say that’s pretty good.
So, why am I trolling for reactions? This is part and parcel of being the absent reclusive hermit playwright hoping to improve the work. (I’m sure my FB friends roll their eyes now when I post about this… though I’ve tried not to over post.) As I explained in my last post… this play is still a work in progress. There will be at least one (maybe two… or three) more rewrites after this. I suppose the challenge is to continue shaping it into a 5 star show.
Since the show was first produced here at the Rogue earlier this year, reaction to it has been somewhat mute. I have even sent a taped copy to friends and family… their reaction = pretty much nada. I take that back… a few (I can count them on one hand) have responded but the ones closest to me have not. Perhaps because it hits close to home… since it is a fiction based on my experiences with my own mother.
And believe me I’m not looking for pats on the back but honest responses as to if and how the piece is hitting. As I explained to a friend yesterday… It’s not about me but about the work. Yes, I will continue to monitor it’s progress over the next 4 performances… and may update this post with reactions.
I am proud and so appreciative of Xan & Kurt for taking this play out on the road… and the stellar work they do in it. And from a writing standpoint I am humbled that through the piece… and the reaction to it… I find I’m still connected to the human race.
Cheers!
UPDATE: 8/22/2015
A few more reviews and tweets have come in and I’m posting them here just to avoid multiple postings on the same subject. As of this update there remains 2 more performances of the show at Indy Fringe. So, be prepared for an update to the update.
First the tweets…
This review appeared here.
Fringe review: Dancing in the Mist
By Wendy Carson
When a parent suffers from dementia, the struggle to assist and deal with them can be overwhelming to the family, especially if her only son is the one the task falls to.
In “Dancing in the Mist” by Marcel Nunis, presented by RibbitRePublic at the Musicians Union Hall, Kurt Fitzpatrick plays Mike, who catalogs the challenges faced in becoming the primary caretaker for his mother, Gillie, played by Xan Scott. There are lies that must be told, bargains that must be struck, songs to be sung, various characters to be played and a wealth of sorrow for the both of them. Still, he does what he can to make the best of it for both parties involved.
Since she so often slips into memories of the past, he gets a surprising and tender glimpse into the woman she one was. He finds out much more of her history than he bargained for, including references to the mysterious “Max.” We also get glimpses into Mike’s highly-stressed mind.
Meanwhile, Scott artistically portrays a woman struggling to live with her malady and hold onto every piece of her past and sanity that she can.
This is an expertly crafted drama with gentle humor that can help serve as a guide and warning of how to behave if or when you are faced with this challenge yourself.
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John Lyle Belden contributed to this review.