"Hexing" the KC Fringe!
Rating: 4
Hexing Hitler
KC Fringe Festival
Inspiration comes from strange places. Artists are regularly inspired by the sunset, the wind or rain. Music old and new fires the creative juices in dancers and singers. But where does a playwright look for inspiration? For the creative minds behind "Hexing Hitler", a part of the Kansas City Fringe Festival, that inspiration came from a blog. Not just any blog mind you but one with information and pictures from the real life "hexing" of infamous dictator Adolf Hitler. Colley (of the Colley-Varney producing team) notes in the program that he was inspired by the theatrical look of the photos. He couldn't be more right as the sparse set and simple costumes in this production come off more believable and realistic than the real location and people portrayed in the original 1941 "Life" magazine photos.
Fans of previous Colley-Varney show "Khaaaaan! The Musical" or "Jesus Christ, King of Comedy" will find this show a departure for the producing team. While "Hexing" represents a darker theme it is not without humor and is a fascinating addition to the Fringe offerings. In many ways it is the finest script from the producers to date. It avoids the large dumps of exposition that were problems in previous shows and maintains a better conversational flow.
The performers are a nice handful of local talent. They are all likeable and experienced. For the most part I enjoyed their performances, but, a few things struck me as odd. It seemed like they all struggled to connect with their lines. At times they delivered them like they were in the way or just needed to be said so the next actor could say their lines. When dealing with large emotional subtext the actors all rose to the occasion and delivered some poignant moments. This left the show feeling a little disjointed and gave us too much "actors acting" and not enough fully developed characters on the stage. "Hexing" had overtones of an old 40s thriller with the quick patter so associated with that era. Perhaps so focused on the speed and tempo the actors left behind some important stuff?
It felt like the rituals lacked the tension I felt was in the scripted words. It caught up later but the section would benefit from a nice slow build and an attempt to add some creepiness. A mention is made of these being real rituals and nor dinner party games of "Ouija" or "bloody mary" so greater attention is needed to raise these moments above those levels.
The other small question I left with is a character identified many times as being a heavy drinker, and we see him drink quite a bit, yet he never demonstrates any drunkenness? I know there are many functional-alcoholics in the world but he threw back those rums like they were nothing more than weak tea. (OOPS!)
There is little to discuss technically. The show is lit well and I don't think there were any light or sound cues through the show. These might have been used to add some emotion and drama to the ritual scene. I expect this show will improve now that the opening night nervousness has passed and will settle out to be one of the best of this year's Fringe. The Off Center remains a great place to see these intimate shows and this is an excellent example!
"Hexing Hitler" plays at the Off Center Theatre for six more shows: Sat 7/23@ 9:30 pm, Sun 7/24 @ 3:30 pm, Mon 7/25 @ 6:30 pm, Thu 7/28 @ 6:30 pm, Fri 7/29@ 8:00 pm and Sat 7/30 @ 11:00 pm
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