Rogue Round-up, Day 3

Day 3 of Rogue gave me two shows and they are two shows I'm so glad I had the time and ability to see!

Erika MacDonald: TeaTIME (show #936)

Just from the title I was intrigued, and from MacDonald’s two-minute teaser at the Teaser event, it became a can’t-miss. I was right. Erika MacDonald’s TeaTIME is an exquisitely paced and well-suited show for rewarding patience in a world that demands more and wants it yesterday. The very nature of the show matches the beautiful process one embarks on when preparing the perfect cup of tea. (And yes, several lucky audience members will get a live made cup of tea ((I was one of the lucky recipients at the Sunday matinee performance I attended.))) MacDonald’s nuanced and truly attentive-to-the-audience tone and interaction matches her monologues and storytelling elements. What audiences leave with is a wholly charming and compelling show.

MacDonald utilizes voices, facial expressions, and alluringly staged tea-making blocking to capture the audience’s attention and focus from the first entrance. We are assigned to be the whistling cue that the tea pot is done boiling the water. And, at first, we were studios at completing our task with each pot of water. But, by show’s end, we missed our cue several times because we more enraptured with MacDonald’s performance than the task at hand. But, we were in good hands, as MacDonald navigated the tea prep like a pro. 

Through relating the tea-making process to living with depression, travelling constantly, figuring out the length of a moment, and understanding how much a child trusts you just by the way they say your name when they ask you a question, the tear-jerking realizations that something as small and simple as tea has become a delicious, quenching metaphor for life. 

TeaTIME is a must-see, because it’s one of those instances where someone’s talent and ability is in perfect sync with the script and the audience. You’ll fall in love with tea, and MacDonald’s performance when you see this show, so do go see this show!

You can catch Erika MacDonald’s TeaTIME at The Lotus Room on:

Thursday, 3/5 at 5:30p

Saturday, 3/7 at 5p

Once More, Before I Go

Rogue Festival veteran Jayne Day, aka AirplaneJayne, is back in her first solo show in a decade! Through the weaving of stories in the process of repairing a broken pot the audience is privy to Day’s romantic foibles, drug-induced adventures, and what jumping out of planes can do to someone. 

Day quickly establishes a camaraderie with the audience at the top of the show by acknowledging how the broken pot on the stage mirrors how she feels as a mom, retired teacher, former skydiver, and a slew of other identities in her active past and in present day. Day’s structure of anecdote matching another piece or two being repaired plays nicely as a spoken comedy show, and finds its relatability in its specificity and self-deprecating nature. While all having a dramatic and heart wrenching climaxes, Day’s ability to find, and effectively deliver, the humor in her tales makes this comedy show worth your ticket and time. 

You can catch Once More, Before I Go at The Grove at Veni’s on:

Thursday, 3/5 at 7p

Friday, 3/6 at 10p

Saturday, 3/7 at 8:30p