Marla might as well kill her fish Steve. He’s going to die anyway, just like the last one. That’s what pet fish do: They die. And so will Marla, someday. And if that’s true, why should she bother with love and dreams and her future?
This is where we meet the Fringe production pet fish are for killing by accident somehow it’s really quite inevitable by Dehydrated Mermaid Productions. Marla (Erin Ward) would like to end things with her girlfriend Petra — or would she? Is the problem with Petra or with Marla herself? Ward is boisterous and cartoony as the conflicted Marla… and later as Petra herself, in a clever decision by Sara Tripp and director Shelby Becker.
Marla’s roommates, Tabitha (Sarah Durham) and Antioch (Candice Handy), are facing their own crises of life and love. Tabby is on autopilot with her boyfriend of 9 years — unable to commit, unwilling to pull the plug. Durham’s Tabby is earnest and mousy, well suited to longtime boyfriend and “college Republican frat guy” Marc (Durham again!).
Antioch, a philosophy grad student constantly referencing autophobia and Platonic realism, would rather deal with her roommate’s problems than with her own whiskey indulgence and complicated past. Antioch might be taking her studies too far; she has lost sight of emotion and humanity in favor of reason and logic. Handy’s wry and hilarious “Antie” is the fulcrum of the show, balancing the timid Tabby and the manic Marla. Antioch gives the story a much-needed shove forward when she decides to take her roommates’ futures into her own hands.
Graduate-level philosophy references, character changes, two (or more) upended relationships and a somewhat tortured fish metaphor… it’s a lot for what the show description calls an “absurd breakup play.” The hour-long production has six scene changes with blackouts and interstitial audio clips; two blackouts feel like endings, and easily could have been. The writing is interesting and witty, but overly long. There might be a second or even third play buried in pet fish.
The venue does not do pet fish any favors. The OTR Community Church is an overly echoic space. Any time an actress turned her back to me I lost a line, and the occasional off-stage voice or projected audio track was essentially incoherent, depending on your seat. However, it’s a fine space for a workshop, which is how this production felt. I would be interested to see the next draft of pet fish — there’s something there.
The CINCINNATI FRINGE FESTIVAL continues through June 11. Find CityBeat reviews of 41 early performances here. For a full schedule and more info about Fringe, visit cincyfringe.com.
This article appears in May 31 – Jun 7, 2017.