My Fragile Family Tree
Rating: 3
My Fragile Family Tree: A story of fathers & sons
KC Fringe Festival
The stories of crazy or off-the-wall family members are easily recognized whenever anybody talks about how dysfunctional their family is. This is no different in "My Fragile Family Tree" at the Unicorn Jerome Stage.
"An exploration of what it means to be a father, what it means to be a son, and how to mix the two" is the description the Fringe Fest program gives for this show, and is summed up by my favorite line of the show "I am a father, I am a son, and I have no idea what that means."
This play started out a little rough. The story tends to jump from one point in time to the next, with no definite timeline. The only 2 points of reference the audience is given is when Matt (the main character)'s father was diagnosed with cancer, and when Matt himself became a father. It was also very confusing to have phrases like "my father can't curse" and "Christmas at the hospital" thrown in, only to realize later that they are titles of the next part of the story. Once I figured this out, it was a lot easier to follow along.
The highlights of this play were the stories about Copper, the family dog who has tried to murder every family member except Dad, and when Matt's trying to tell his parents that he and his wife, Jeanette, are expecting their first child. This was my favorite point in the story, as it was clearly depicted which character was talking (Mom, Dad, Jeanette, and Matt). This was achieved by picking up different drinking glasses, and really made this point in the story easier to follow.
As a whole, "My Fragile Family Tree" is an enjoyable show, and I encourage more people to give it a chance. Remaining shows are Thurs at 7pm, Fri at 10:30pm, and Sat at 8:30pm at the Unicorn Jerome Stage.
read the review at KC Stage
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