Rebecca reviews 'Next Fall,' 'Commotion Dance Theater,' and 'No More Words'

By Rebecca Rafferty @rsrafferty

My Sunday at Fringe began with "Next Fall," a Geoffrey Nauffts play directed by Thomas Markham and staged at TheatreROCS. The show is about a group of family and friends struggling to reconcile differences in faith and sexuality. It opens with the extremely jarring sounds of a car crash in the pitch black, after which the scene resolves into a hospital waiting room. Through conversation between his parents and close friends, we learn that Luke (Michael Flanagan) is left in a coma after being hit by a taxi.

As his situation grows more grave, his long-term boyfriend, Adam (Carl Del Buono), must navigate the fact that Luke's parents don't know -- and likely won't accept -- the nature of their relationship.

The play whips back and forth in time, unveiling how the two met and moved in together. We witness how they've often badly handled the facts that Luke isn't out to his parents, and that while Luke is a devout Christian, Adam definitely doesn't buy into faith.

There's a genuine sweetness between the two, despite Luke's inability to reconcile his own desires with his beliefs about sin and Adam's perpetual jabs at religion. There's some palpable irony in Luke's insistence that his faith brings him peace, while it seriously complicates his relationship with his father and Adam.

The couple are supported by friends Holly (Holly Lowden) and Brandon (Daniel Mejak), who each navigate ideas about faith in their own ways, and Luke's parents Arlene (Mary Megan Bringley) and Butch (John Gaehring). All of the cast members were quite engaging throughout the entire flow of the play, and two hours flew by before I knew it. But I have to shout out Del Buono's excellence in Adam's moments of hyper drama and subtle asides alike, and Bringley's witty handling of the brassy but empathetic mom.

While the final moments of "Next Fall" are perfect (the way Adam handles the phone call!), the overall conclusion of the production offers no resolution, and perhaps rightfully so. The play insinuates a condemnation of faith for putting genuinely tragic pressures on what are otherwise happy lives, and more than one character who resists its yoke throughout finds solace in the word when things are bleakest. But the description of the solace is shallow at best, served briefly with kind of a shrug. It's that whole "there are no atheists in foxholes" thing, I guess.

That's it for "Next Fall" for this Fringe season.

"Commotion Dance Theater," which was held at MuCCC, was a light-hearted performance that required zero effort to enjoy. Presenters Ruben Ornelas and Laurie MacFarlane, who have collaborated for more than 25 years, took turns with their dance pieces. Ornelas performed wheeling, celebratory numbers set to the work of Chicano poets Joaquin Zihuatanejo and Eduardo Corral, which was broadcast while Ornelas gracefully swept his feet around the stage and arced his arms as if about to take flight.

MacFarlane's performances blended storytelling with interpretive dance -- she told of memories and dreams with both her movements and her voice. The show concluded with a silly, rambling piece by MacFarlane, accompanied by a couple of supporting dancers, who with the help of nursery school props reenacted the freeing absurdities of childhood.

"Commotion Dance Theatre" has ended its run for this year's Fringe.

I loved every second of "No More Words," a near-silent production by On the Edge Theater Troupe, which was formed out of a theater class at Monroe Community College. The absolutely gorgeous Prince Street Chamber at Lyric Theater was the perfect backdrop to the handful of black-clad, often masked players who pantomimed about a dozen diverse, brief acts, ranging from exhausted parents taking turns caring for one another, to the terrors of drug use, to a girl playing a video game and annoying the crap out of her avatar.

Without a spoken word element, the actors relied entirely on movement to convey their tales, often engaging in some truly entertaining over-the-top gestures and expressions. The clever dueling servers skit had me holding my sides, and I got genuinely choked up by the sweet final story, which saw an elderly couple seated together reminiscing while other actors performed their life story in fast-forward around them.

"No More Words" will be performed again on Wednesday, September 21, at Lyric Theatre: Prince Street Chamber. 8 p.m. $8-$10. All ages.

In This Guide...

Rochester Fringe Festival

Leah reviews 'A Blue Sky Like No Other' and The 24-Hour Plays

Everyone has a September 11 story -- whether it's an eerie coincidence, a "where I was when I found out," or a "my neighbor was there" -- but perhaps none can tell the story of that fateful day quite like someone who was in Manhattan when the Twin Towers collapsed. Steven Fetter, who grew up and worked in the city, has a story like that.

By Leah Stacy Sep 20, 2016
Rochester Fringe Festival

Adam reviews 'Muddy Track' and Big Wigs

I started off day three of Fringe by catching a screening of the little-seen documentary, "Muddy Track" at the Dryden Theatre -- the only Fringe event held at that venue this year. Scheduled as part of the Dryden's series on the films of Bernard Shakey (the pseudonym used by musician Neil Young in his little-known career as an independent film director), the screening was retrofitted to fit the Fringe lineup and the film makes a great addition.

By Adam Lubitow Sep 19, 2016

Fringe 2016 Fringe Reviews Muddy Track Big Wigs Mrs. Kasha Davis
Rochester Fringe Festival

David reviews 'Dangerous Theatre' and 'Marx in Soho'

Hallie Flanagan is not a well-known name today, but in the 1930's she was vastly influential as the director of the Federal Theatre Project, a WPA initiative that sought to employ actors, writers, designers, and other out-of-work theater professionals by assigning them to "theater enterprises" throughout the United States, many in areas that had never seen a live play before. The project was a great success, but to New Deal-hating politicians, subsidizing "culture" -- including plays that seemed to have a leftist political message -- was an unpatriotic waste of money.

By David Raymond Sep 19, 2016

Fringe 2016 Fringe Reviews Dangerous Theatre Marx in Soho Jack Simel
Rochester Fringe Festival

Casey reviews PUSH Physical Theatre

PUSH Physical Theatre, the brainchild of artistic directors and founders Darren and Heather Stevenson, has a satisfying repertoire built from the local company's 16 years in existence, but it's always exciting to see a new piece. The Fringe audience Saturday night at the School of the Arts' main stage was shown the world premiere of "0's and 1's," a work still in progress.

By Casey Carlsen Sep 18, 2016

Fringe 2016 Fringe Review PUSH Physical Theatre Darren Stevenson Heather Stevenson
Rochester Fringe Festival

Adam review the RIT Student Honors Showcase and 'Murder Night'

Every year at the Fringe, I look forward to attending the RIT Student Honors Showcase, the annual event held at The Little Theatre that highlights student work from RIT's School of Film and Animation. It's always fun to see what the talented group of up-and-coming filmmakers are up to, and this year's program didn't disappoint.

By Adam Lubitow Sep 18, 2016

Fringe 2016 Fringe Reviews RIT Student Honors Showcase Murder Night Bryan
Rochester Fringe Festival

Rebecca reviews 'The A-is-for-Abortion Play,' and 'Underground Episodes'

It was sort of a bummer that only about a dozen people attended the first staging of "The A-is-for-Abortion Play" at the TheatreROCS venue, which can hold an audience of 700. The meager attendance might be explained by Fringe-goers wanting to spend their Saturday afternoon on more uplifting productions, but the show's subject is an ever-important one -- and this point was hammered home a few times in the course of the story.

By Rebecca Rafferty Sep 18, 2016

Fringe 2016 Fringe Review A-is-for-Abortion Play Underground Episodes Cassandra Hume
Rochester Fringe Festival

Frank reviews Left for Dead Improv and 'Flatfoots, Floozies & Murder'

Left for Dead Improv split my guts with its astute deadpan and quick wit. In front of a packed house at Writers & Books, the group took shots at individual stories whose characters had maxed out on their quirk quotient.

By Frank De Blase Sep 18, 2016

Fringe 2016 Fringe Review Left for Dead Improv Flatfoots, Floozies & Murder Comedy
Rochester Fringe Festival

Frank reviews 'Dance Macabre' and checks out Friday on the Fringe

I started the second day of Fringe with a chamber quartet, The Chanson String Quartet to be exact, who played pieces focusing on death so gingerly and gently that the audience in the near-empty Xerox Auditorium (the TheatreROCS Main Stage) didn't quite know where or when to applaud. The group played Camille Saint-Saens' "Danse Macabre," naturally, and one of my favorites -- didn't think I had one, did you?

By Frank De Blase Sep 17, 2016

Fringe 2016 Fringe Reviews STREB KOPPS The Chanson String Quartet Slideshow
Rochester Fringe Festival

Rebecca reviews 'Confessions of a Prairie B;+@h,' and Patton Oswalt

Admittedly, I was never a huge fan of "Little House on the Prairie." But I knew enough about the show that I got the joke each time Alison Arngrim (who played Nellie Oleson) referenced it during her debut Rochester Fringe Festival performance of "Confessions of a Prairie B;+@h" at School of the Arts.

By Rebecca Rafferty Sep 17, 2016

Fringe 2016 Fringe Reviews Confessions of a Prairie B;+@h Patton Oswalt Alison Arngrim
Rochester Fringe Festival

Leah Stacy reviews 'The Kiss'

There were almost too many performance choices on opening night of the Fringe (a good sign, of course, for the festival's fifth year). After attending the opening night party where we toasted to the success of 500 shows taking place over the next 10 days, I headed to School of the Arts on Prince Street.

By Leah Stacy Sep 16, 2016

Fringe 2016 Fringe Reviews The Kiss WallByrd Theatre Virginia Monte
Rochester Fringe Festival

Jake reviews 'Anomaly'

Well, that was a beautiful way to start my 2016 First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival. A buzzing crowd filled the Strasenburgh Planetarium for a resurrection of "Anomaly," which premiered to acclaim at the 2013 Fringe, and has already sold out its 2016 run.

By Jake Clapp Sep 16, 2016

Fringe 2016 Fringe Reviews Anomaly Biodance Sound ExChange W. Michelle Harris
Rochester Fringe Festival

Meet the writers covering Fringe 2016

Get to know Rebecca, Leah, Adam, David, Frank, and Jake

Rebecca Rafferty

Sep 16, 2016

Fringe 2016 City Newspaper Writers Rebecca Rafferty Leah Stacy Adam Lubitow David Raymond Frank De Blase Jake Clapp
Rochester Fringe Festival

Frank reviews Cirque Du Fringe: 'Miracle Cure'

The Spiegeltent strikes me as a steampunk spaceship sent down to teach us the art of the spectacle. In an unrelenting fast-paced show, a sold-out crowd was treated to Cirque Du Fringe -- jugglers, contortionists, dancers, acrobats, slapstick comics, one guy who balanced 10 spinning plates on sticks the way I saw it done on the Ed Sullivan Show, and two maniacs with crossbows.

By Frank De Blase Sep 16, 2016

Fringe 2016 Fringe Reviews Cirque Du Fringe Contortionists Spiegeltent Slideshow
Rochester Fringe Festival

Our picks for Free at the Fringe

There are more than 170 free performances and events during this year's First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival. So if you're looking for a night on the Fringe without stretching your wallet, there's likely a program out there for you.

By Kiara Alfonseca Sep 16, 2016

Fringe 2016 Free at the Fringe Grimms Mad Tales Sand Mandalas STREB
Rochester Fringe Festival

Rebecca reviews 'Somnium,' 'Here I Lie,' and 'East of the Sun, West of the Moon'

My first evening of Fringe began at School of the Arts, where RAPA presented Dramatic Space's debut production, "Somnium." The zany adventure story started with the premise that a small group of scientists had observed that there was more to CERN's discovery of the Higgs Boson "God Particle" than previously thought.

By Rebecca Rafferty Sep 16, 2016

Fringe 2016 Fringe Reviews Somnium Here I Lie East of the Sun, West of the Moon
Rochester Fringe Festival

Rochester Fringe 2016: City's Daily Fringe Blogs

The 2016 First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival runs Thursday, September 15, through Saturday, September 24, and City Newspaper will be out EVERY NIGHT of the festival covering multiple shows. Check in first thing each morning for photos and reviews of the previous night's entertainment, listed below by date.

Sep 15, 2016

Fringe 2016 Fringe Reviews Downtown Rochester Rochester Festivals Performing Arts