Something Is Happening Here But You Don't Know What It Is

So said Bob Dylan back when I was in high school.  One of the disadvantages of theatrical photography is that I can pay too much attention to visual images and lose track of what is happening on the stage. That happened during some of Five Fifths when the connections to the original fairy tales grew thin.

There were a couple of sequences in which people spent a lot of time arguing about the meaning of texts (I thought only lawyers, literature professors and theologians did that) while actual life happened beyond them. I got a little lost.

       

Snow . . . White?

Back to the St. Louis Fringe's Five Fifths, warped retellings of Grimm's fairy tales. As the evening went on I sort of lost track of which mini play was supposed to come from which story. It was hard to tell at times. I think this is based on Snow White - beautiful woman, apple - but she has evidently decided to chuck the purity stuff in favor of her sensual side. 

There were a number of characters in this bit - full size humans, not dwarfs, but they might have been meant to be analogs. I'll get to that as I have time to edit.         

Rumpelstiltskin, Part 1

Next on the lineup from Five Fifths was a very loose adaptation of Rumpelstiltskin, packaged in contemporary terms. It was put on by O'Fallon Theater works, a local company. Grimm's fairy tales were not a big part of my childhood and I had to look up the story (see here). In this  production, the miller becomes a woman who seems to be a farmer. The daughter is something  of a political activist. The king is - well, you will figure it out.

What happens next will probably appear here on Friday. I think there will be an Arch picture tomorrow.   

Waiting For The House To Open

Thou shalt not enter the playhouse until the door guard sayeth the hour is at hand.  While you're waiting, you can hang out with cast and audience members, sucking on all the kinds of rum you could possibly need. 

But don't forget to buy a ticket.  The St. Lou Fringe's Five Fifths was to start shortly . You wouldn't want to be left by yourself at the bar.

Back to the fairy tales tomorrow, if the plan holds.

Fringe Benefit

There was a run-up event Thursday night for the St. Louis Fringe Festival, whose main season is in August. The title was Five By Five - five adaptations (some quite loose) of fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm performed by five theater groups. Audience and cast members mingled during the social hour  and in the black box theater. There is a lot more good stuff to come from this.

I don’t know if the MoMA thing is a done deal yet. I do now know that this is not a photography show. It’s sort of an exhibit about modern fashion history featuring specific items of clothing or accessories. I think they want my picture for a section about black leather jackets. Not sure if a final selection has been made. I couldn’t find the hi res version of the photo but I did find the original raw file. It can be re-edited. Hope it works.    

Right In The Middle

Kranzberg Arts Center, just south of the Fox Theatre. You never know what visual or performing arts you may find. My most memorable night there was when we heard Morton Subonick.