Perhaps it’s crass, but I’ve been wondering: since I saw 30 plays using the festival’s Fringe Binge passes, would this experience be correctly termed a Fringe Purge?
OK, so it’s not nearly as funny as Andrew Zadel’s Compleat Wrks of the Lndn Frnge Festival (abridged) at last night’s Fringe Fried awards ceremony/massive party. If he can do that in just a few hours with as much back pain as reported, watch out when he’s fully healthy.
I had the privilege to see Andrew Zadel’s play The Body, starring his sister Lydia, for a fourth and final time this afternoon, in the company of talented, beautiful, and (as of about two hours ago) multiple Fringe award-winning Amber. Lydia Zadel has been no less than marvelous in the one-woman show during the week, but today she was absolutely mesmerizing. As she said her final line I felt my eyes stinging, as they have each time, but it wasn’t until a shared glance where Amber and I saw each other’s eyes welling up that we were both finally done in.
(Dammit, I’m tearing up even as I type this six hours later.)
Look, I know I’m a softie. The end of The Natural gets me every time. I get it from my mom. But this was something entirely different, an overwhelming, cathartic reaction to Lydia’s performance and Andrew’s words. So we did the only thing we could: sit there in the front row, two friends trying to comfort and console each other, as the rest of the audience filed out behind us.
Thank you, Lydia and Andrew, for bringing your phenomenal production to the Fringe Festival, and for your friendship during the roller coaster that’s been the last ten days. And thank you, Amber, for sharing the experience and literally being a shoulder to cry on.