By Ernest Kearney – All I was expecting from Al Fine —(Italian meaning: “to the end,”) a ten-minute show about “the final moments of the musicians on the Titanic,”— was a group of actors on stage going “glub-glub-glub” as they threw ice cubes at the audience. Curtain.
To my surprise, I found a playlet that despite its brevity was more intelligently crafted and historically honest than an overly produced full-length drama which I won’t name.[1]
The iceberg has ripped open the Titanic side, dooming the vessel. The five musicians of the ship’s orchestra (played by Arihanth Z. Kalaga, Payne Harris, Colin Breslin, Ethan Rockwell and Jacob Collard) are confronted by their limited and dire choices: try to escape the inevitable or accept their fate and play to comfort the passengers as the crew tries to get them safely aboard the lifeboats.
Playwright Lauren Raymond has placed all the required bases in her succinct script and Director Collard has seen to it that all his actors tag them as they run the diamond.
A ten-minute play is creative fast food, but nevertheless Al Fine is mighty tasty.
[1] I lied, “The Whipping Boy” by Matthew Lopez
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During the Hollywood Fringe Festival 2024
at
The Broadwater (Second Stage)
6320 Santa Monica Blvd.
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Wednesday June 19 2024, 8:00 PM | 10 mins
Friday June 28 2024, 5:00 PM | 10 mins
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