FALLOUT FRINGE FESTIVAL 2026-Day 10

By Erik Engman

Author, Clown and Improvisation Teacher, Theatre Critic EatMoreArtVegas.com

IG: ErikReviewsVegas

It’s day 10 of the Fallout Fringe Festival and nearing the midpoint while baking in the Las Vegas heat. Today I have three new plays to review, and they’re all excellent. You can access the full schedule at www.falloutfringe.org/schedule. 

Can’t Save Everyone by Juliana Noble   

Delicious ★★★★★

The president, Abraham Lincoln, is dead. And his best friend, Henry Rathbone, was sitting right beside him at Ford’s Theatre. This incident spiraled Rathbone into a life of regret, turmoil, and PTSD, slowly becoming more insane as he saw John Wilkes Booth everywhere, waiting to jump out and kill his family and destroy everything he held dear. This is the true, tragic story of a man who was the forgotten victim of the Lincoln assassination, and this hits home for me. Having had my own bout with survivor’s guilt after my cancer, I was right there with him as he tried to understand what happened, why he survived, and how he could have done things differently. Juliana Noble writes a brilliant, heart-wrenching tale that brought me to tears. The actors are superb, with special mention going to Adam Dooley as the broken Rathbone and the brutal, provoking Nick Huff as John Wilkes Booth. Daz Weller is at his directing best. I suggest not Googling Rathbone before you see the show, because it’s best experienced as it happens. But, wow, be prepared for a gut punch. Trigger warning: this play contains the use of guns, violence, and issues of mental health. 

@ THIRD Street: June 14, 15, 19, 20, and 21

Hysterics by Allison Martone  

Delicious ★★★★★

Salem, 1692. Three sisters, Rebecca (Allison Martone), Mary (Amanda Hallam), and Sarah (Kimberly Scott Faubel), have just returned from Gallows Hill after watching the first woman hanged for being a witch. To make matters worse, they have two visitors - an unseen male physician and his assistant, Elizabeth (Teresa Fullerton), who only wants to ask questions that could destroy their lives. This play was so incredibly powerful. Martone doesn’t hold back one inch as they provide us with a heart-wrenching portrayal of a society that has fallen deep into the grip of mob mentality. As the older sister, Rebecca Martone is riveting as they desperately tries to hold the household together. Hallam gives us a tragic portrayal of the sister Mary, who learns the abusive lessons of compliance. Then there’s Faubel, who deftly brings us the voice of sanity and defiance in a world gone mad. Faubel may be best known for comedy, but she is brilliant playing this dramatic role. I hope she does more. Lastly, we have Fullerton, who gave us a chilling performance, and, as I understand it, came very late into the rehearsal process. Kudos to her. This show is obviously relevant today, and I think it will be relevant for years to come. This deserves a longer run. It will definitely stay with me for weeks to come.

@ Vegas Theatre Company: June 14

Euripides-ish’s Book 9: The Cyclops; In The One-Eyed Giant’s Cave by Euripides-ish (credited. And probably Homer? And maybe the ensemble?)      

Scrumptious ★★★★

This play was pure insanity. In 70s B-Movie style, we are given a raunchy, whimsical, and hilarious retelling of a chapter of Homer’s Odyssey. The basic story is Odysseus (Jamey Maurice Clay) and his crew land on a desolate island after destroying Troy. On the Island live Silenus (Dina Emerson) and her two Satyrs (Kelly Hawes and Napsugar Hegedus), who are fearful servants of The Cyclops (Sean Craig Stuart). With a mixture of modern language, bawdy and outrageous humor, large phalluses, and grotesque masks and costumes, we are taken on a crazy adventure that you have to see to believe. The actors are certainly having so much fun on stage that you can’t help but be swept up in the nonsense. It’s wonderful, gross, and shocking.  If this sounds like your thing, you’re really going to love it. I sure as heck did. The audience was laughing non-stop. A great success for the For The Birds Production crew on their sophomore outing. 

@ THIRD Street: June 14, 15 and 19