At last evening’s finale party for the 2009 Cincy Fringe Festival, three “Pick of the Fringe” awards were presented:
The Audience Pick, voted by theatergoers, went to Gravesongs (pictured), Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati’s intern showcase, a piece by local playwright Sarah Underwood written for the five actresses who spent this season at ETC (Rachel Christianson, Emily Eaton, Lauren Shiveley, Rebecca Whatley and Elizabeth L. Worley). It was directed by another ETC intern, Elizabeth Maxwell. The script is about death from the perspective of women in their early twenties.—-
The Critic's Pick was 7(x1) Samurai, a one-man rendition of Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai by performer David Gaines.
The Producer's Pick went to Empire of Feathers, an inventive piece by London-based Giant Bird, presenting a fable about an epic journey in search of the truth.
CityBeat’s reviewing team of theater critics (Julie York Coppens, Jane Durrell, Nicholas Korn, Tom McElfresh, Julie Mullins, Mark Sterner, Rodger Pille and me) provided comprehensive and insightful coverage of all 31 Fringe shows, generally by the morning after they opened. Two of the festival's three winning shows were CityBeat "critic's picks." You can still review our reviews here.
Look for a more complete wrapup of the 2009 Cincy Fringe Festival in my Curtain Call column in this week's issue of CityBeat, out Wednesday. [UPDATE: Here it is.]