All gong and no dinner. A lot of Fringe shows suffer from this condition - a decent premise but miserable execution. You see, a show about a black woman becoming the Queen of England seems like a sure Fringe bet. Especially if you toss in a solid performer (Valerie Mason-John) with phenomenal British elocution wearing a silly blonde wig and hot pink prom dress. But no - Brown Girl in the Ring is a full-on disaster.
Our erstwhile queen starts the show with a series of pointed proclamations for her Canadian subjects - then proceeds to descend into what I...
Mamet’s Speed The Plow* is a rapid-fire dissection of the corrupt world of Hollywood movie making. In the play, Head of Production Bobby Gould struggles to determine whether he should green light a vacuous blockbuster or an adaptation of an apocalyptic book of revelatory poetry.
