On the Fringe of reason

FIRST WEEKEND of the Festival, and Seattle Weekly's crack troupe of theatrical reviewers have much to report, including the good, the bad, and the truly aesthetically unpleasing. Use this guide wisely, but quickly; all the shows listed have only a few more days to run (until March 19), and word-of-mouth means that if a show's a hit, it's probably already an effort to get a ticket. Stay tuned next week for a final wrap-up on the Festival.

All Fall Down Circus Contraption—This is circus for people with clown nightmares, a collection of acrobats, musicians, jugglers, and other big-top types viewed in a creepy funhouse mirror. Circus Contraption were favorites at last year's Festival and look to be gathering big houses again with their new show, an examination of the crueler side of children's games. While the troupe's circus skills are enviable and the music an intriguing mix of violins, toy pianos, and hard rock percussion, the show suffers from too few ideas tied to a fairly random collection of images, skits, and acts. The result is certainly not for children, but a bright 4-year-old repeatedly asking the producer "why?" would be a helpful tonic to a show that's got all the right elements, but doesn't quite know how to use them.—John Longenbaugh

Leonardo Ate My Baby Strawberry Head Productions—Yes, I too am sick of Leonardo DiCaprio, but this comedy by Suzi Barrett makes him seem even more of a star. Giant images of him hang over the stage as Trudy Barnett plays a 12-year-old girl obsessed with the actor as well as bad bands like N Sync and the Backstreet Boys. Tracy Kirkpatrick is her mother, Belinda, who bemoans the loss of her daughter to fandom. Barnett is amazingly believable as a preteen, full of whines and sullen pouts. However, the God as Slob character (Joshua Parrott) who appears to Belinda's aid is neither fresh nor funny, and like a bad movie, background music too often supplies the feelings of the characters.—Soyon Im

*Bed Among the Lentils Classics, Unlimited!--Alan Bennett's fascinating portrait of Susan, the wife of an Anglican priest frustrated by her small-town parish life in England, provides Julie Thornton with a riveting performance as she dissects her social circle with a graceful, Jane Austenian precision, questions her belief in God, and relates a love affair with an Indian grocer. Thornton is seated for almost the entire duration of her monologue but is able to convey an entire cast of characters simply through facial expressions and voice inflections. An elegant performance.—S.I.

The Far End of the Earth Keith McGregor—Keith McGregor's original melodrama brings three generations of a family to an isolated cabin in the Cascades. Gayle (Jill Johnston) has made the trek to see her mother Annie (Sherry Penoyer), but not for entirely selfless reasons. She's having problems with her own daughter Jo (Lysa Penoyer), a willful 15-year-old who's bridling under her mother's disciplinarian upbringing. While Annie is a self-styled "wise woman," a Wiccan who prays to the Goddess and reads Tarot, she's also not the easiest person to get along with, and there are plenty of lessons for all three women to learn in this encounter. McGregor's tight plotting is admirable, but there's too little that's unexpected in a show whose unquestioning naturalism resembles a movie-of-the-week, though the cast, particularly young Lysa, enliven the piece through their commitment.—J.L.

Cirque de Flamb鼯B>—This "Cirque" is a curious conflation of the hokey and the dangerous. (Clown-loathers beware, they are here, and they're never singed enough to necessitate their departure via ambulance.) The fire truck stationed at the venue's entrance adds a hopeful note of possible disaster, as do the firemen that sporadically rush out and spray everything with industrial extinguishers; and moments of fire-fumbling by the cast provide some real fear. The double-Dutch rope jumpers and the Pyro Vixens, along with the Roman-candle-wearing Pyro Boy, are impressive. But too many of the acts are duller than things in flames ought to be. The kids might enjoy it, but they'd probably go home and set each other on fire afterwards.—Bethany Jean Clement

Shakespeare: The Lost Episodes Sound and Fury—Richard Meritzer, Shelby Bond, and Shannon Derry present a hilarious, frenzied reinvention of Romeo and Juliet: The First Draft and Testaclese and Ye Sack of Rome. A nonstop adrenaline drive, this energetic team hailing from Los Angeles sing and dance, slip and fall, and make very bad fart jokes that manage to work. Pop culture vultures will appreciate this: Everything from The Jerry Springer Show to Planet of the Apes to The Blair Witch Project is invoked to update and explain the Bard.—S.I.

Freewriting Tower Room Players—A little girl, frightened and alone, collapses in a dark basement with Bach's "Toccata and Fugue" amplifying the racing of her mind. But when she begins to dream, the play's initial promise is broken. With the arrival of "Con," "Actress," and "Talk Show Host," we veer into a world of trite epiphany. Spoofing talk show insincerity (with a "Let's Chat" section) is a creaky plot device for character revelation, and the show's pace slows to a crawl. Jenny Parsons' lively "Girl" is memorable, and Kevin Lapin scene-steals in various roles, but neither can provide the one sadly absent character, "Originality."—Michael Baker