SUGAR AND SH*T … Bad Soup, Famished Horse or Baby with an Eye Patch.

By Ernest Kearney   —  Sugar and Sh*t , at the Hollywood Fringe Festival ’21, is full of moments that clash and tumble and deprive both the actresses and their audience of the show that could have been.  Which is a pity because Lenny Langley (the Sugar) and Macy Pitt (the Sh*t) both have a solid stage presence and stories for the telling.

The main problem is neither these stories nor the evening have been structured to function in-sync dramatically.  Another hindrance to the show, and one that I’ve encountered too often at this Fringe, is the need for a director.   Their Fringe-site lists the assistance of a “special coordinator,” “directorial support” and even a “coach.” 

Now the maxims come flowing:

“Too many cooks spoil the soup,” “A horse with many masters starves,” “Too many generals and the army marches nowhere,” “Many captains and the ship sinks,” “Too many nannies and the baby loses an eye.”

Soup, horse, army, ship or baby, the fault is a diffusion of responsibility which is always dangerous in any creative pursuit.

No Medal.

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An award-winning L.A. playwright and rabble-rouser of note who has hoisted glasses with Orson Welles, been arrested on three continents and once beat up Charlie Manson. His first play, "Among the Vipers" was a semi-finalist in the Julie Harris Playwriting Competition and was featured in the Carnegie-Mellon Showcase of New Plays. It was produced at the NPT Theater in Ashland, Oregon and Los Angeles’ celebrated Odyssey Ensemble Theatre. His following play, “The Little Boy Who Loved Monsters” was produced at The Hollywood Actors Theater, where he earned praise from the Los Angeles Times for his “…inordinately creative writing.” The play went on to numerous other productions including Berlin’s The Black Theatre under the direction of Rainer Fassbinder who wrote in his program notes of Kearney, “He is a skilled playwright, but more importantly he is a dangerous one.” Ernest Kearney has worked as literary manager or as dramaturge for among others The Hudson Theater Guild, Nova Diem and the Odyssey Ensemble Theatre, where he still serves on the play selection committee. He has been the recipient of two Dramalogue Awards and a finalist or semi-finalist, three times, in the Julie Harris Playwriting Competition. His work has been performed by Michael Dunn, Sandra Tsing Loh, Jack Colvin and Billy Bob Thornton, and to date, either as playwright or director, he has upwards of a hundred and thirty productions under his belt, including a few at the Bob Baker Marionette Theater as puppeteer. Kearney remains focused on his writing, as well as living happily ever after with his lovely wife Marlene. His stage reviews and social essays can be found at TheTVolution.com and workingauthor.com. Follow him on Facebook.

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