Monday, August 24, 2015

Hard Day's Night by Vickie Vodrie

Despite my busyness here in the City of Busy, I managed to see another of the FringeNYC shows, namely Hard Day's Night, by Vickie Vodrie of Kansas City.

Her show is playing in the same venue as my show, but never on the same day.

Beatles fans among you will recognize the title of her play as the title of a Beatles song, album, and movie. But this isn't a play about the Beatles, except incidentally. It's a coming-of-age story, about a girl in a truly kooky family, a girl who takes some big steps into womanhood.

How kooky is the family? Well, the set is their living room, and their living room is overflowing with Disney figurines and memorabilia. Kookier yet, the living room is also overflowing with loving labeled shoeboxes containing the cremated remains of their former cats and dogs, a.k.a., their "fur babies".

Our heroine, Kelly, seems to be plunging deeper into social isolation, as she decides to communicate with her family only by singing snippets of Beatles songs. I was beginning to worry that she would be forever lost from the world of the sane, moving herself into permanent Misfitville.

But a sensitive (albeit flawed) man reaches out to her. The experience gives her a real glimpse of what life can hold, and the play ends on a hopeful note.

The writing just zips along,
making humorous use of song.
See it! You can't go wrong.

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