Jill's PLAF Diary for Saturday, September 12 – Sunday, September 13

Performances: The Brothers Flanagan (The Flanagan Project) (Future Performances); barFlies (Vagabond Acting Troupe) (Future Performances); Welcome to Yuba City (Pig Iron Theatre Company) (Future Performances)

When I look back to 2006, the first year that Phillyist covered the PLAF, I'm amazed: somehow I managed to cover more than 30 shows. (To quote Joan Didion: "Was anyone ever so young?") I've only got ten on my docket for this year—nine down—and yet I'm still exhausted. When did I get old and boring? (Oh, I know: when I found a job I didn't mind putting in extra hours at, and when I decided it would be a good idea to start an MFA program and take a novel writing class. Sorry for the delay, folks—life got in the way.)

The Brothers Flanagan
There was a lot to like about The Brothers Flanagan: solid acting; a compelling plot; the fact that it was set in a bar and audience members were encouraged to drink. But the play is very, very new—references are made to President Obama and the current state of the economy—which means that it probably wasn't workshopped before it opened at the Fringe Festival. And so, inconsistencies and moments of confusion in the play—which ultimately kept Flanaganfrom being a really solid work of theatre—didn't get ironed out before the show opened. So while the ending of the show comes as a bit of a surprise, it's because the actions are jarringly out of character. And while the reason that one of the brothers has an Irish accent and the other doesn't is explained in the second act, the reason that he reverts back to it is not. So much of the show—especially the first act—was good; it was a shame to leave it wanting more from the second act.
Festival rating: With workshopping, it could be really great. As-is, it's solid but unsatisfying.

barFlies
Technically, I'm a member of Vagabond Acting Troupe. I was even supposed to work on this show. But once again, life (in the form of an especially hectic summer) got in the way, so I can actually review barFlies with a fair amount of objectivity. (And anyway, this is supposed to be a diary of my Festival experiences and not a review.) So, what is this site-specific, experimental, movement-based piece? If you look at the title, you get a pretty good hint: barFlies is about the kind of people you always see at a bar: the drunk mess, the probably alcoholic regular, the guy having a fight with his wife, the house band nobody pays attention to, the smart-ass bartender... It's about the way they interact with one another and, more importantly, the way they interact with the alcohol. Like The Brothers Flanagan, the show is still very new, and sometimes it's telling—simultaneous sound cues were either less-than-simultaneous or just plain hard to hear (it's a very wide space), for instance—but the show featured one of the most buy-able audience plants I've seen in a while (and I was sitting right next to her), and at 40 minutes, it flew by before anybody knew what hit him. The director, Aileen McCullouch, mentioned to me that she hopes to expand the piece further, and I look forward to seeing what it becomes.
Festival rating: Raw, but fun.

Welcome to Yuba City
If you leave Welcome to Yuba City wondering what the show was about, you've missed the point. Because at the end of the day, it doesn't matter. What matters is that you were entertained, for nearly an hour and a half, by some of Philadelphia's top performers. That they made you laugh. That they succeeded at rapid-fire costume changes and entrances from out of nowhere. That they presented you with a kind of clowning the likes of which you'd never seen. That they bicycled, danced, power-walked, slap-fought, and pushed a car. That all but one ended up in a blue lycra unitard.

Did I know what it was? Nope. Do I care? Not one bit. I'd see it all over again if I could. But, as of the writing of this post, only one performance remains un-sold out, so I'm not going to deprive somebody of a seat so I can be greedy and see it twice. I do, however, encourage you to snap up what tickets are left.
Festival rating: Out of this world. (You'll get why when you see it.)