The Fallout Fringe Fest is a Blast! Part One

By Erik Engman

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

IG: ErikReviewsVegas

The Fallout Fringe Fest is an exciting new arts festival spanning across five locations throughout the month of June. The festival comprises over 30 acts, including pop-up parties, surprise performances, workshops, and innovative performances that push against the “traditional theatre.” Here is the first batch of reviews. You can access the full schedule at www.falloutfringe.org/schedule.

The Hummingbirds by Garret Jon Groenveld ★★★★ Scrumptious

Producer: A Public Fit Theatre Company and Fallout Fringe Festival

A simple government office. Two coworkers of the Employment Bureau, known only as One and Two, assign new careers with positive attitudes. War? Terrorists? A bomb? And what is up with the hummingbirds? What starts out as a fun David-Ives-like office comedy takes a dark turn in the vein of 1984 or Terry Gilliam’s Brazil. Breon Jenay and Jake Staley have fantastic chemistry and give excellent performances as they peel back the many layers of characters stuck in a dystopian reality. The show is a bit long, but it’s definitely worth your time.

@ Majestic Repertory: June 17

Mother Tongue by Maythinee Washington ★★★★ Scrumptious

Washington gives us a lovely story about her relationship with her Thai mother and the heartbreak of dealing with parents' inevitable aging and mortality. Through the show, we feel that same love and grieve alongside her. Washington is a wonderfully engaging performer; her story is exceptionally well written. She reads the story from her script for most of the show, which disconnected me from the experience. There are many emotional moments I wanted to be directed to me, not down to what she was reading. Still, this is a powerful story; you can’t help but be an emotional wreck by the end. You’ll want to call your parents afterwards. I did. It’s a beautiful show.

@ Majestic Repertory: June 15

Legoland by Jacob Richmond ★★★★ Scrumptious

Coming off of their successful run of Ride the Cyclone, Majestic Rep brings us its prequel. Under the guise of a school presentation, Penny Lamb (played with energetic honesty by Emma Newton) and her younger brother Ezra Lamb (played with hilarious dry humor by Jeffery DuBey) tell the story of their tumultuous lives. Director Troy Heard delivers a fun fish-out-of-water story exploring bullying, family, and first love…or at least infatuation. Maybe I related too much with it, which is always a good sign. You don’t need to know Cyclone to understand it (I didn’t see Cyclone, myself). Very enjoyable.

@ Majestic Repertory: June 11, 12, 14, 21, and 23

Everyone Loves Dick by Ernest Hemmings ★★★★ Scrumptious

Dick Ripper (played by Ernest Hemmings), a sleazy used-car salesman and substance abuse enthusiast, attempts and fails to navigate his way through life and love in this hilarious play. Hemmings has fantastic energy and sustains it through the hour-long show, portraying the over-the-top Dick and his forlorn lawyer. I found the last part a bit meandering as he tried to find a way to end it, something he admits in the play. But it’s about the journey and a journey worth going on. This was a hoot.

@ Vegas Theatre Company: June 12

Loose Thread Puppet Cult presents: Puppet Slam Pride ★★ Still Hungry

It seems unfair to review this as a regular show. Because it's not. Puppet Slam Pride is an adult variety show where performers and their puppets perform songs and improv scenes for an audience, this month celebrating pride with a queer theme. For what it is, it’s a wonderful place for amateur performers, some of whom haven’t been on stage that much, to come and have fun with their puppets and be part of a community (or “cult” as they put it). On the other hand, I wouldn’t go in with the expectation of seeing a highly polished show for a paying audience. I felt like an outsider intruding on a group of friends having fun. The performances were of various degrees of good (nothing bad, by any means), though they mostly came across as rough or under-rehearsed, which is to be expected as many of the cast are not seasoned performers. There were some standouts: Harry Ola was excellent (wasn’t given the real name), Jenny Fox was interesting, performing a snippet from her upcoming Fringe show, You Might Think Less Of Me, and the Fur & Thunder improv group was fun with their improv game and song from Rent. (Their show at Mom’s Basement Theater is very good.) I know it takes guts to get on stage, and I applaud the performers for doing so, but as it’s a show selling tickets to an audience, I feel it could use a heaping helping of some production value, rehearsal, and choreography.

@ Vegas Theatre Company: June 18

The Holy Church of Bezos by Ernest Hemmings, Conceived by Jeff Grindley, dramaturgy by The Las Vegas Collage Collective ★★★ ½ Satisfying

This is the fringiest thing so far, and it’s exactly what you think it is. You enter the space as if you were entering a church. The stage is set with a table with an office worker (played with creepy calm by Holland Hemmings) silently working on a laptop. Behind her is a screen that depicts various images and words. When the mass starts, two men, all dressed in black with ski masks, lead the ceremony - Pastor Business (Ernest Hemmings) and Father Manager (Thom Chrastka), which is a parody of a Catholic mass, worshiping Bezos, Amazon, and the Corporate Culture. We also follow the story of a beleaguered worker who falls prey to his corporate overlords. Being raised Roman Catholic and working for a mega-corporation for my day job, I loved the parody's accuracy, which depicts everyday people's fears and frustrations. All that said, it’s a one-joke idea. With a run time of around 35 minutes, it doesn’t outstay its welcome, but I would have liked for it to go deeper and perhaps be even more outrageous. That said, it’s a good show. The humor is clever, and the commentary is sadly relatable. High marks to the graphic designer. The stained-glass images are excellent.

@ Vegas Theatre Company: June 15

No Matter What You Tell Me by Benjamin Boucvalt ★★★★ Scrumptious

A young art major from a conservative family in the Louisiana Bayou finds his world rocked when he goes to school in San Francisco and meets actual gay men (!!!) and finds that they don’t fit his preconceived notions. When he then discovers his estranged deceased Uncle was gay, he goes on a journey to discover the truth. This heartfelt story of family and self-realization will pull you in and challenge your assumptions. Boucvalt is such a strong performer, I was admittedly jealous. He’s so incredibly natural and engaging; he makes performing look easy. A great storyteller. Well worth checking out.

@ Majestic Repertory: June 11, and 12.

What: Fallout Fringe Festival

When: thtrough June 25, times vary

Where: Majestic Repertory, Vegas Theatre Company, various locations

Tickets: $10 - $15, https://www.falloutfringe.org/