"FOUR FOR THE ROAD

Don't let this last week go to waste.

by J. Cooper Robb

 

Now in it's final week, the 2002 Philadelphia Fringe Festival continues to surprise and delight. It's certainly an improvement over last year's wildly uneven affair, and the four productions below are just a sampling of the many shows up and running, most of which are intriguing and artistically satisfying.

 

SEVEN SKINS

 

Although sold-out hits Howie the Rookie and The Ride Across the Lake Constance have been garnering the most attention, there is another Fringe experience that seems to be proving nearly as popular. Seven Skins, an interactive art and music experience from the Day Circle Project, is attracting large and enthusiastic audiences to their "Happenings," a series of free events that invite participants to paint a white coverall ("skin") worn by artist Joan Menapace while musician Robert Berry plays either electric base of cello. A recent visit found 30 budding da Vincis expressing themselves on the canvas of Menapace's arms, legs and genitals until, with her arms spread wide, she began to take on the appearance of a psychedelic scarecrow.

Apparently irresistible to all passers-by, last Saturday saw the completion of Skins 5 and 6, which - considering the number of artists involved - were surprisingly evocative and distinct in their contrasting designs. And if the geometric blues of Skin 5 and the abstract violet splash of Skin 6 were interesting (each skin signifies one of the body's seven chakras), we can't wait to see the seventh skin, for which white will serve as the primary color...."

 

The Philadelphia Weekly, September 11, 2002