by Ernest Kearney — My Own Private River Phoenix is a smart and funny piece that is just not ready to be staged.
Written and performed by Ai Yoshihara she tells how she fell in love with River Phoenix at the age of 9, after watching Stand By Me, and determined that she would come to America and marry him; a decision that even Phoenix’s death could not daunt.
What this one-woman show becomes, once the objective of finding Prince Charming is removed, is a “one little-girl show becoming a One-Woman Show.”
Before leaving for America, Yoshihara recounts the promises she made her father (tellingly a figure always hid behind a newspaper). It is in breaking these promises that she is able to overcome the cultural restraints that being Japanese has imposed upon her, which results in her becoming the woman she wants to be.
The sections where she talks about mistakenly going to a Christian Texas College and her accidental involvement in the world of drug dealers stand out and indicate the direction that this show should have gone.
Now to be fair, I did see this show during previews; still it felt to me unready to be seen.
Yoshihara was delightfully funny and had a unique view to share, but the show seems too unsteady to serve as a platform for her talents.
A SILVER MEDAL to Yoshihara, herself, if not the show.
♦ ♦ ♦
Directed by
Jessica Lynn Johnson
My Own Private River Phoenix
Is Playing During
Hollywood Fringe Festival 2018
at
6448 Santa Monica Blvd.
For Fringe Information, Show Schedule and Reservations
Go To
What is the Hollywood Fringe 2018? Read More about it HERE.
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