Fringe 2014

Fringe, Reviewed: SLIDESHOW

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.

"A story that's relatable and visually stimulating."

Fringe, Reviewed: SLIDESHOW

[ theater ] 

SLIDESHOW, by SmokeyScout Productions/Josh McIlvain

Attended: Sept. 12, 7 p.m., Headlong Studios; closes Sept. 20 

SLIDESHOW drops audiences back in the time of Kodachrome colors, weaving a fictional family history around strangers' real slides of long ago vacations.

WE THINK: 

“Steve and Maisie loved hosting…” Josh McIlvain says in memory of his fictionalized parents in his piece, SLIDESHOW. What’s not fictionalized, however, is how the punchy-colored slides and humorous yet heartfelt prose McIlvain recites is as uncanny and nostalgic as some of our own family scrapbooks.

This piece invites the audience to be mesmerized and taken on a journey about transition, tragedy and connection. While the projector setup sparks cringe-worthy memories of seventh-grade health class presentations, you’ll be exhaling when you’re within the intimate confines of a story that’s relatable and visually stimulating.                                                      

Along with other old-school tunes, Sinatra crooned at the start of the show, followed by “Magic Carpet Ride” by Steppenwolf, all on old school portable equipment to match the projector.                                

McIlvain reinstates a feeling of safety and appreciation for those around us — family, friends, lovers, even enemies — all while we figure ourselves out. Life’s something relatively quick that we live through, but snapshots, and slideshows, help us savor the moments.

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