Double Take Festival Shines for a Second Year

What a pleasure it was to be able to choose from eight, yes eight different short plays all in one night. For the second year in a row, Greenfield came alive with theater and the Double Take Fringe Festival spread thespians all over town in different venues to share the joy of live theater.

This year there were eight, vs last year when 10 productions made it almost impossible to see every one.  Gone too was a slightly remote venue, the former Carr Hardware store on Chapman Street which made for a too-long walk but boy what a crazy show that one was. People followed the actors from room to cavernous room.

But this year there were two highlights for us, the first was a return to the lovely little theater atop the town’s best restaurant, Hope and Olive. “A Shot in the Heart by Way of the Funny Bone” was two scenes from a full length play called Almost Maine, set in the mythical town of the same name.  Both two-person scenes were poignant, one involving a mentally disabled man who can’t sense pain, and another two dumb lunks who lament over the sad inconsistency of their love lives.

There is a line, that they identify, that turns a friendship sour, and despite their approaching it, the pair of blue collar lunks realize that they are lucky to have each other in friendship.

The Ha-Ha’s consistently amaze with how they can create lucid scripts out of thin air, and the women who staged what they called “Facebook Event,” did a brilliant job conjuring up amusing characters with familiar quirks, in the context of speed dating and relationships with parents when you get older.

The shows continue tonight, and there are still tickets–and yes you can pay Linda by credit card to buy your tickets at the little red building set up across from the Arts Block.  Go see it! www.double-take.org or look on Facebook.