3rd
Annual New York International Fringe Festival 
**Fringe Excellence Awards given out August
29th**"The Second Hand Circus" Inspiration Conspiracy At the Present Company Theatorium Reviewed by Antonio Sacre for Theatre Reviews Limited Is there a better place than a Theatorium in a fringe festival to see Inspiration Conspiracy's "The Second Hand Circus?" In one of the "fringiest" acts at the fringe festival, the audience is challenged to think about time, desire, and fear in a series of bizarre, challenging, and gratuitously naked acts that make up this glow in the dark circus. Conned, charmed, and seduced by the Ringmaster to give up an hour of our most precious commodity, time, the "power that runs this town," we are forced to examine our greatest fears and desires through the collage of three desperate and depraved characters. A sad clown asks if any of us have ever thought about sleeping with our sister, and waits uncomfortably for an answer from the audience; a stripper spreads the legs of a male audience member and does a lap dance between them; she later paints her naked body and jumps into a blank canvass at the behest of a Barbie doll on a stick; a spy who doesn't know who she is has sex wearing a gas mask with a man behind a scrim; three lucky audience members are asked to shoot water from water guns at the naked clown running around on stage; the ringmaster plays and uncomfortable game of truth or dare with the audience, and these are just a few of the seconds that we are assaulted with by these gutsy performers. A Glow in the Dark Naked Band provides a perfect accompaniment to this circus, and the finale of 1000 ping pong balls shot at the audience is the last nail in the coffin of the hour that we breathlessly, fearfully, excitedly, let the Inspiration Conspiracy steal from us. "SECOND HAND CIRCUS" Created by Sandi Carroll, Alisa Conaboy, and Nathaniel Eaton. Presented by Hoverground Studios at The Present Company Theatorium, 198 Stanton Street (at Ridge Street). In August at the New York International Fringe Festival on the following dates: Monday the 23rd at 11:00 p.m.; Tuesday the 24th at 4:15 p.m.; Thursday the 26th at 7:45 p.m.; Saturday the 28th at 10:00 p.m. All tickets are $11.00. For information and reservations visit http://www.fringenyc.org |