Jill's PLAF Diary for Sunday, September 10

Performances: BalletX (Ballet X) (No future performances); Lunchlady Doris (Lunchlady Doris) (Future performances); The UHaul Trilogy (Juan Souki) (Future performances); The Convent (Jo Strømgren Kompani) (No future performances).

My friend Katie tells me that I have two energy levels: either I'm doing nothing, vegging on the sofa, watching TV, or I'm crazy busy, doing two dozen things at once. Usually, I'm the latter. Which is why I only had one performance on my calendar for today, but ended up at four.

BalletX
BalletX is another company that I fell in love with at DanceBOOM, and I was really upset to discover that I might not be able to see them this festival. Until I discovered their Sunday matinee, and all was right and well in the world once more. I've previously described their work as "American Balanchine style meets signature Grahm techniques," and I'll stick by that, although I can probably revise my statement to more generally read: "classical ballet technique with a jazz/modern aesthetic." It's not usual to see dancers contract en pointe. But then, it's not easy for your corps de ballet to dance without music, instead abstractly telling the story of Carmen, or even to dance to the likes of Martha Wainwright. Not only does BalletX do all of these things, but they do them to great success. Even though their Live Arts run has already come to a close, I can't recommend them to you enough: keep an eye or an ear peeled for them, and make sure you catch their next performance!
Festival rating: Very good to excellent.

Lunchlady Doris
I love improv, but I've never seen Lunchlady Doris before. Turns out, I was missing out. Doris performs long-form improv (improv on a single topic for half an hour or so at a time), as opposed to the more familiar short-form improv (like what you see on Whose Line Is It Anyway?), so seeing a Doris performance is most likely different from what you're familiar with if you've been to other Philly improv shows. As with any other improv performance, the jokes can sometimes fall flat. It's hard to be funny—or good—on your feet. But the laughs came, funny or not, often generated by the actors' facial expressions that indicated they knew what they were doing didn't work. The Doris cast would occasionally revisit earlier "plots," sometimes leading to confusion (but that just made everyone laugh even more), and always leading to audience amazement: not only can these folks think on their feet, but they can remember it all, too. The whole production runs like a relatively well-oiled machine, but any squeaky wheels are quick to get greased. The performers are obviously friends and work quite well together, even helping each other out when someone gets stuck, and the hour long show flys by. Even if you can't catch them at the Fringe, you should try to check them out some other time.
Festival rating: Very good.

The UHaul Trilogy
(It's not a UHaul. It's a Ryder truck. The programs must have been printed before the rental was finalized.)

I didn't catch the first week's chapter of The UHaul Trilogy and I probably won't catch the final chapter, but I was walking by the truck as the performance was about to start, and the very nice house manager (inasmuch as you can have one if there's no house) let me through with my press pass. I was fairly certain that you stood outside the truck and watched the action taking place within, so I wasn't expecting to be sitting in the truck with twenty other people and two (very attractive—it's easier to tell when you're so close) performers. It was a little claustrophobic, especially the first time they close the hatch on you, but after sitting through the performance, I couldn't imagine it any other way. Whatever I review here will be different next week, but suffice it to say that the script is a stirring exploration of the way we remember things, and the way we relate our memories to each other, and that in the end, it comes full circle and is surprisingly disturbing. The performers were fantastic, and the tiny venue shook and rocked with their movement—a great, and probably intentional, effect—and the production values were surprisingly high, considering what the company had to work with. I'm not sure whether the story continues across chapters; although I wasn't confused today, I can't guarantee you won't be confused next week, but I feel that I can recommend a show I've not yet really seen, if only for its unique, personal venue.
Festival rating: Very good.

The Convent
It's a made up language. Made. Up. Language. Although the PLAF Guide, PLAF website, and program all tell you that, the House manager still has to remind you because some people are still apparentlly confused by the dialogue onstage. Here's the thing: the dialogue doesn't matter. The few times that the dialogue is even remotely relevant are the times that teh babble uses a cognate. You'd figure it out. I promise.

I don't know how to describe The Convent, except to say that it's probably not a show I would have chosen to see on my own. But I'd heard good things, and I had a friend who was interested, and it fit into my schedule. So I went. I'd expected to have a similar reaction to other shows I'd seen, where I could appreciate but not really enjoy the performance. Fortunately, that wasn't the case at all. The nuns won me over within minutes in the best way possible: they made me laugh. And continued to do so, even when the laughter was coming more from discomfort or fear. It's hard to describe the performance: both theatre and dance, with a good amount of Gregorian-sounding harmonizing performed by the actresses (who had, by the way, quite impressive vocal ranges). It was weird. And really, really, good.

The three actresses are obviously trained in physical performance (and you all know by now, I love me some physical performance), and even made old gags (fake staircases, pratfalls) seem refreshingly new. Even at its most frightening (and it gets kind of hairy toward the end), there is no denying how entertaining the hour or so of Convent truly was. I wish it was playing for more than one weekend: much of the PLAF-going community has surely missed out on a great evening of performance.
Festival rating: Very good to excellent.

Update: Both House and The Convent were reviewed in this weekend's New York Times. Thanks to Megan for the heads-up!