By Ernest Kearney — Laura Grimaldi is a whirlwind of a performer with a winning mixture of humor and honesty. In Left Turns, her one-woman show, she slides easily into a host of characters (I stopped counting at 21) as she leads us through the minefield that Is her life.
She recounts a lot of psychic damage done at the hands of a small rogue’s gallery of villains from an early encounter with a pedophile neighbor, to abusive relationships with men as a young woman, to an older sister who convinced her she was “a weed” and made me thankful for being an only child.
While Grimaldi does an excellent job at keeping all the dramatic plates spinning, unfortunately her overloaded narrative disperses its potential impact.
Solo shows should not be approached like David Copperfield, when their structure is suited for A Perfect Day For Bananafish.
Left Turns, which packs in material for 2 or maybe even 2 ½ shows would have benefited from losing the “-s suffix.”
Grimaldi’s tale of her evil sister is the strongest of the segments that she presents us and, in and of itself, would have served as a firm foundation for the evening.
I have seen a number of solo shows at Hollywood Fringe Fest 2018 which, while holding great promise, and sharing a common denominator, begged more preparation to be fully stage ready.
Left Turns and Grimaldi display potential and great courage but could benefit from fine tuning.
And for those two virtues a SILVER MEDAL.
(Featured Image: Laura Grimaldi)
♦ ♦ ♦
Left Turns
Played During the Hollywood Fringe Festival 2018
For Continuing Information on this Show Go To: hff18.org/4928
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