Fringe and Lancelot du Lac

For the first time in my 13+ years in the city, I attented a show at the Minneapolis "Fringe Festival," an annual huge conglomeration of alternative &/or new amateur theatre with venues throughout the Twin Cities over a number of weeks. It was really only loosely on my radar the last number of years, but came to the forefront this year, as my network of friends & associates in local theatre scene is growing.

The show we saw last night, Elaine Thompson's Showbiz Showcase, actually was written by and starred the actress who played the wife of my "sneeze" character in "The Good Doctor," and will be starring in the first of our upcoming Reader's Theatre Series; as well as featuring one of my troupe's company members. Seemed like a really good place to start. It was an enjoyable show three energetic & funny skits with a number of talented performers. One of my main critiques would be bang for the buck, as the show cost $12 (plus a $3 "Fringe Button" required to see any Fringe performances) and clocked in at only about 50 minutes of total time.

Luckily, that left us with enough "sitter equity" to swing on over to Town Hall Brewery, where I had a great veggie burrito and a really, really tasty seasonal California Cooler-style beer: the SFO.

Later on, after returning home, I decided to take some time to myself and watch a movie. Our DVD player recently went on the fritz so I've taken to what may be my primary method of solo movie watching in the future: watching it on my computer. Especially considering my poor eyes can't consistantly even read subtitles from my couch in the living room, sitting relatively close to the computer screen (which has far superior resolution than my TV, to begin with) is a welcome upgrade in quality of picture. It works great; the controls are far more simply than in my remote, and this comfy old chair I inherited from my grandfather is just perfect for sitting back, headphones on, for a good watch.

Anyway, I delved outside of my Netflix queue, which is something I'll continue to do on my visits to the library. See what's available (usually not much, but yet usually at least one or two things interesting), and take a chance. A good way to see relatively random things that otherwise might never make it into the rotation. This time it was between some classic B/W movie which I cannot now recall, and a 1974 French-made story of Lancelot of the Lake. Given my recent small deliving into the Arthurian legends, I thought the latter would be a good choice.

Interesting movie. Very different, style-wise, than most anything else that's out there. The setting is after the decimated knights of the Round Table have returned following a failed quest for the Grail. Sparse sets, dialogue, and even pacing'; along with a really dreary backdrop and very understated performances all contribute toward this feeling of melancholy and lack of morale among the knights. Arthur wants his shell-shocked, few remaining knights to spend time in prayer before taking part in any more action, as surely it was their lack of purity that led to their failure. All the while, Lancelot is internally conflicted & tortured over his secret love with Guinivere, wanting to forsake her in the name of God but, of course, unable. Ultimately, all the melancholy & sparseness left me a little hollow, but I think I did give it three stars on Netflix. I may go back and do four, as my appreciation has grown after a little reflection.

More importantly...in the same manner that Destry Rides Again was clearly the model for Blazing Saddles; this movie clearly was the model for Monthy Python's: The Holy Grail. Set-wise, costume wise, but especially battle-wise. The first five minutes of "action" features the knights rampaging with sword-fighting and "gore" so remarkably, laughably identical to King Arthur's battle with the Black Knight in Monty Python, that it will leave you gaping and asking aloud: is that for real?

I think it was an interesting film, and probably worth watching on its other merits. But God damn, those first five minutes are unbelievable.