When I looked through the Fringe 2012 program I was really pleased to see that Jem Rolls was back was back with a new show, TEN STARTS AND AN END. I love Jem Rolls.
Rolls is a performance poet. Going to one of his shows is nothing like going to a poetry reading. At least not like any poetry readings I’ve been to. He’s always moving and there’s no reading involved. There is sometimes singing and tonight there was some audience participation – the good kind, in a group – no ‘volunteers from the audience’.
Brainiac Five is five wonderful characters. Watching them reminded me of Andy Kaufman. Are the characters more real or are the people who created them? The line between the two is blurred. The audience was involved and even insulted playfully at times, another thing Kaufman used to do.
If you are going to go see The Stray‘s version of Eugene Ionesco’s The Chairs at Fringe this year, bring a friend. You’ll want someone to discuss this show with after seeing it. I went solo and am now sitting alone in a café writing this review, wishing I had a pal to bounce my interpretations off of.
