Fringelog 2009: Moving Along ****1/2
Moving Along becomes Chris Craddock’s catch-phrase in this play as he regales his audience with stories from his life. What makes this play more special than your average stand-up monologue, though, is the set design.
Crammed into the corner of the tiny little Wunderbar BYOV space is what looks like a cross between an electric chair and a dentist’s chair. Mounted on and around the chair are lights of various intensity (some on dimmers) and direction. As Chris performs, he controls which lights are on through a Star Trek captain’s chair-like control panel on the arm.
As he switches from topic to topic, and from persona to persona (think split personalities) the lighting is used to incredible effect to portray him, literally and figuratively, in a different light.
The stories are funny, especially when he starts asking the audience if they’ve “ever felt that way” about something, always met with a perfect stony silence from the audience, and a resigned “oh” from Chris. Sometimes they’re a little sad, but he always keeps it from getting morose by switching the lights and saying something absurd to lighten the mood.