A Fly On The Wall, May 30, 2014

Fringe is Coming
by Jim Murchison 

Well the Fringe Festival is almost upon us. I am going to soon be too busy to write much of anything but Fringe reviews, but next week June 3-5 at the Arts Court I will finally get a chance to see the full length version of my favourite production from last year’s Fringe, 6 Guitars and just enjoy the show. 

6 Guitars is far more than a terrific one man show. It is a play! Written by Chase Padgett and Jay Hopkins who also directs the story it is certainly a tour de force for Padgett’s musical and acting talent, but beyond that it makes sense as a  piece of theatre. It is probably the only multiple character solo show that I believe would be a weaker play with more actors. 

The entire point of the play is how music unites people's hearts and spirits regardless of genre, so rather than detract from the power of that message it fuses it together having Padgett perform all the parts and it ends with a crystallizing poignant moment that unifies all the characters. I have probably seen 50 one person shows in my life and 6 Guitars is in the top 2 (the other was The Divine Sarah starring the late Denise Pelletier).

@JimMurchison

Yes I am being a cheerleader which I don’t do a lot of, but this is a rare piece. I have written quite a few reviews and I can usually find a few people that disagree with me, but not with 6 Guitars. Not yet. Everyone I have talked to that has seen it has loved it.

By the way Chase will be doing another show at the Fringe this year called Chase and Stacey Present Joyride with Stacey Hallal. Check out the Arts Court or Fringe website next week for the complete list of all the plays this year.