Vegas Fringe Festival offers something for everyone

All the world's a buffet. Especially in Las Vegas.

But there's one particular buffet that serves up plays, not plates: the third annual Vegas Fringe Festival.

Seven short plays, plus one double-header and a scripted finale - appropriately titled "The Final Four" - turn up on the menu of the two-weekend, seven-day theater celebration that kicks off tonight.

Hosted by Las Vegas Little Theatre, the festival features productions (presented in the troupe's Mainstage and Black Box theaters) that "run the gamut" from mainstream to avant-garde, according to festival producer (and LVLT president) Walter Niejadlik .

As befits a wide-ranging theatrical buffet, the festival features "a little sample of everything," he notes. And "if it's not something to your taste, maybe the next show will be to your liking."

LVLT's production, A.R. Gurney's "The Open Meeting" - which, like the other plays, will be staged multiple times during the festival - "is definitely an established piece," Niejadlik says, with "some twists and turns" as mystery surfaces during the title gathering.

By contrast, there's edgy playwright Neil LaBute's dark "Iphigenia in Orem" (presented by Olde English Productions), in which a young Utahan on a business trip to Las Vegas relates a tragic tale to a stranger in a hotel bar.

Table 8 Productions, new to this year's Fringe Festival, will premiere Erica Griffin's dark comedy "Roles for Women," about actresses preparing to compete for "the role of a lifetime."

Other fringe premieres include Ernest Hemmings' "Asphyxiation/Masturbation" from Test Market, an experimental collection of sketches, film footage and sounds that explores everything from time and space to fast food. And "Dick Johnson: Private Eye," from Poor Richard's Players, depicts the comedic adventures of the title character. (Maxim Larden and Mark Valentin wrote the play; Benjamin Loewy contributed songs.)

None of the productions lasts longer than 90 minutes; Found Door Theatre and Chaos Theatre share one time slot for two even shorter plays, "Kissing Hank's Ass" (based on a James Huber short story) and the philosophical comedy "Maranatha," by Nicole J. Cyrus, about a man who thinks he's Jesus - and a reporter trying to expose him as a hoax.

Chaos Theatre's "Soul," by Michael O'Neal, centers on a group of college students and dropouts who must face their decisions as they're shadowed by the play's title character, an embodiment of their own evils.

Endless Productions also goes philosophical with Eugene Markoff's "Expanding the Relative, Pondering Einstein," in which the great scientist applies his theories to "where technology is taking this world" - and its impact on humanity, explains director Tim Burns.

"Expanding the Relative" represents a definite departure from last year's Endless Productions' fringe production: an adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's family classic "The Wind in the Willows," which countered the notion that "a lot of times, people think fringe has to be shocking," Burns says.

The sheer variety of plays means that audiences, as well as participants, experience "a diverse energy" generated by "different theater companies with their own particular voice," comments Table 8 artistic director Troy Heard, who's directing "Roles for Women" at this year's festival. "It's a celebration."

It's also a way of reaching out to new audiences "who have never heard of our company," Burns points out. "We all have our own audience base." At the Fringe Festival, however, "we get a lot of new faces."

More than a thousand theater fans attended the first two Fringe Festivals, Niejadlik notes.

And when you're at the Fringe Festival, "you can't help but feel arty," Burns says - whether you're onstage or in the audience.

For those onstage, the short running time of each play contributes to what Burns calls "that kinetic vibe."

In part, that's because "we don't allow folks to build sets," Niejadlik explains.

There's no time - not with a 10-minute turnaround between performances.

"That encourages a lot of interesting staging - and creative use of props," Niejadlik says, recalling a previous LVLT fringe production in which sand-colored tarps doubled as a beach, "because we could set it up in three minutes."

But that's part of the festival spirit - a spirit that extends to the fringes of this Fringe Festival, in Burns' view.

"It's a good sign that a lot of us are moving away from our sand-box mentality," he says. "There's a great feeling of pride in working with everyone. We're not rehearsing together - but we're in this together."

Contact reporter Carol Cling at ccling@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272.