KC Fringe "The Emoticons Present" review by Rabid_Reviewer

8(

Rating: 1

The Emoticons Present

 KC Fringe Festival

This is the worst show I have seen in a very long time.  I was intrigued by the idea that cell phone use was encouraged.  I was curious to see how texting back and forth between the audience and cast could be entertaining.

Answer:  It isn't.

The use of cell phones was not only annoying, but distracting.  Trying to interact using this medium doesn't work.  Here's why.

It takes time and attention to text.  Send your message in Morse code, it works just as well.  The ringing of phones makes you wonder who is getting the message, what the message will be, or even if you will hear it.

There is a time lag between the time the text is sent and the time it is received.  Whatever you were texting about on stage is no longer relevant by the time the text comes in.

And the performers were constantly distracted by the text messages, losing the through line and flow of the performance.    Ultimately, the show made no damn sense.

We have a bunch of kids on stage with what seems like a cool idea to incorporate modern technology into a theatrical production.  Unfortunately my reaction remains the same as it was before they put on this show.

Leave your cell phone at home.