Fringe, Reviewed: Broken Road
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
"The performance hones in on the intricacies of a father-daughter relationship."
[ modern dance ]
Broken Road, by Joanna McBride
Attended: Tues., Sept. 16, at Friends Center (1501 Cherry St.); closes Sept. 20.
A story of ultimate forgiveness, Broken Road explores what it means to be a child—the pressure of loyalty and onus to love. Joanne McBride uses her own experiences to create this beautifully constructed movement-based narrative. Sadness must move toward acceptance. The question is: what moves us there?
WE THINK:
Another first-time Fringe Festival artist, writer/director/choreographer Joanne McBride, 27, suffered through a dramatic childhood as the daughter of an alcoholic father. McBride’s emotions, which span from love to naïveté to sadness and back, are adequately (if at times melodramatically) expressed by her cast of five dancers and two vocalists.
An impressive performance for a cast with an average age of 15 was highlighted by cute as a button Gianna Carbonetta, 8, who played the Young Girl. “My favorite part is meeting new people and staying up late,” said Carbonetta, whose bedtime will have to be extended for a few more evenings. Clocking in at just over 50 minutes, Broken Road thankfully doesn’t make things more complicated then they need to be. McBride’s choreography conveyed the challenges of caring for someone so sick yet so loved as her dancers' body language contorted between radiant and crestfallen, and not much in between. The performance hones in on the intricacies of a father-daughter relationship and the good that can be found in even the worst of situations.
In the end, the truth to McBride’s story is the most compelling context in Broken Road. Attending this performance supports not just the arts in Philadelphia, but up and coming artists, such as McBride and her cast, before they’re discovered. McBride’s skill as a director, albeit still in development, show passion and potential, and those very sentiments are at the heart of the Fringe mission.
