Rogue mini-reviews (updated): ‘Intangible Things,’ ’90 Lies an Hour,’ ‘Cranial Calamity,’ ‘S’will’
Our collective Rogue coverage continues. (As does the festival; two days remain, with final performances on Saturday, March 8.) Here are insights and reviews.
We give special treatment to Martin Dockery’s world premiere of “One Small Lie,” with Heather Parish offering a full review here. It’s a don’t-miss show (and likely a hard ticket to get, so plan accordingly).
Here’s our report from Olivia Pavao:
This was my first Rogue Festival, and will certainly not be my last. The artistry and camaraderie displayed by all of the performers and staff was thoroughly enjoyed by the community of Tower, who housed the event.
Manzanita Dance Collective, a local contemporary dance company based in Visalia, spent six months in rehearsals creating their eight chapter show “Intangible Things.”
“Our show Intangible Things is about the things that tie us together in the human experience and human emotion,” said Gianna Renata, director of Manzanita Dance Collective. “It starts with individualism and awareness and connection, romantic or platonic, as well as heartbreak and despair and then ultimately, community and hope.”
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As someone who was a dancer for years, the only way I could describe this show is a true encapsulation of the love and joys of dance. They had the entire audience in tears, and yet everyone was dancing in their seats by the end. The troupe’s ability to dissect and embody every emotion they performed was a true test of their talent displayed.
I won’t spoil too much, but my favorite part was Chapter 5: Anxiety. The chapter was an extraordinary depiction of a panic attack personified, taking the audience from the buildup to the breakdown and then through the aftermath of self-regulation that follows.
This show was a perfectly soul-stirring presentation of the power of storytelling through dance.
• “Intangible Things,” 2 p.m. Saturday, March 8, Dianna’s Studio of Dance. Tickets $15.
In search of a laugh, troubadour and professional storyteller Paul Strickland’s show caught my eye, and he definitely did not disappoint.
The Kentucky native’s extremely engaging stories and silly love songs had the entire crowd invested and laughing. He has over seven hours of unique tales varying for audiences of all ages in his repertoire.
“This show 90 Lies an Hour is a group of tall-ternative tales, reupholstered folk tales, fairy tales, and every show is a little bit different because I get a feel of the audience before the show and during the show,” Strickland said. “It changes as we go because that’s how conversation works and what we’re trying to do with conversation is build community, which is the goal of all storytelling.”
Strickland’s casual and comical social commentary is strangely insightful, and he always brings it back to some sort of life lesson that leaves you in a humorous state of self-reflection. His captivating tone and knack for reading the room is nothing short of a priceless gift.
• “90 Lies an Hour: Paul Strickland,” 5 p.m. Saturday, March 8. Tickets $15.
Donald Munro reports:
Janice Noga’s third straight one-woman Rogue show boasts the most alliterative title this side of a Dunkin’ Donuts sign: Her “Janice Noga’s Musical Career Undaunted by Her Cranial Calamity” once again mines the artist’s inspiring story overcoming surgery for a brain tumor that threatened to rob her of the ability to sing.
Noga is a dear personal friend, so I can’t be objective on this one in the least. But I think that even people who don’t know her will pick up on her sassy sweetness. (She includes the story about how she woke up the morning after her honeymoon night to find a doctor leaving her hotel room. She learned she’d had a grand mal seizure. “The sex must have been great,” she mused.)
Yet the show is less kiss-and-tell and more a celebration of persistence. Before her surgery she forced her brain surgeons to listen to her sing, wanting to impress upon them how important music was to her life. And it is a remarkable story: After waking from surgery, she could barely utter a word or memorize a lyric. With hard work, she would go on to perform an entire off-off-Broadway one-woman show from memory.
Masterful accompanist Terry Lewis is along for the ride, punching up Noga’s renditions of Broadway and popular songs. At the performance I attended, Noga’s choice for a closing song was completely unexpected when the optimistic song set list took an emotional turn. But it was somehow fitting for a performer for whom music has always been as important as life itself. If it were sunny all the time, how would we ever know that it was better than the dark?
• “Janice Noga’s Musical Career Undaunted by Her Cranial Calamity,” 10 p.m. Friday, March 7. Tickets $15. All proceeds go toward polio eradication.
I’ve swooned so many times over the years for “S’will,” the wildly amusing drunken Shakespeare romp from The Fools Collaborative, that I feel more like fan-club president than dispassionate critic. To dial back the gush dial for this review outing, I’ll refer you back to last year’s take on “Julius Caesar,” which I think of every single time I drive by the Little Caesars pizza joint.
This year’s incarnation, titled “The Emo Dane of Denmark,” lives up to the series’ stellar reputation. Drenched with enough late ’90s references to trigger a Y2K panic flashback. this sturdily written piece manages to both literary and exceedingly silly. The drinking gimmick (in which one cast member slams shots before and likely during the show) does not drive the comedy but instead offers little grace notes, such as at the performance I attended when designated imbiber Haley White, playing Claudius as a drawling, good ol’ boy cross between Anne Richards and Boss Hogg, got her alcohol-soaked face so close to Lex Martin that I was afraid he would pass out from the fumes. (“Don’t look away from me!” White snapped.)
The cast is excellent (no surprise given their local experience), from Noah Miranda’s emo Hamlet to Brooke Aiello’s Gertrude, who has a cockney Fran Drescher vibe. Miguel Gastelum is (one-word review) hilarious.
• “S’will: The Emo Dane of Denmark,” 8 p.m. Saturday, March 8, Vista Theatre. $15.
