Review: PANDORA'S BOOMBOX at Actors Company

Pandora’s Boombox is a metaphysical, absurdist, family-friendly clown show through June 28th at the Actors Company on Formosa, as part of the Hollywood Fringe Festival.  This is the kind of show that I always hope to see at Fringe - clever, wildly unusual and imaginative, hugely entertaining, and nothing you would ever usually see in a standard theatre season.  

By Karen Hall and More Play Productions, Pandora’s Boombox is thoroughly enchanting and surprisingly family-friendly.  My little ones, age 7 and 8 years old, loved it every bit as much as the adults in the theatre.  The two-person, one-hour mime production is very accessible, with almost no dialogue, which is refreshing.  As a writer who loves to over-write, I admit that I have a weakness for words and a tendency to use a lot of them, in compulsory, lavish overabundance.  But Pandora’s Boombox has almost no dialogue, and it is a master class in how little we need to words to tell an entertaining, vibrant, richly nuanced story.

Cota and Karen Hall have sparkling comedic chemistry together.  Pandora's Boombox tells a mythical story about an Adam and Eve style fall from grace, when Hall unleashes Pandora-like chaos into the serene world by tapping on four mini white boomboxes.  In contrast to another show that I recently saw at Fringe, Pandora’s Boombox has a brilliant use of aesthetic.  The props, down to the smallest bird feather and candy-colored rotary phone, are vibrant and quirky and delightful, with an Amélie - like resonance.  

There are many hilarious moments in the show, like Cota's brilliant impersonation of a dandified cowboy slinging wild gun-fingers, and Hall answering an infinitely ringing phone with increasing swings of panic, mania, and despair.  As a comment on humanity and the nature of modernity, Pandora's Boombox has a kind of understated and compelling brilliance, but it also wickedly enjoyable as pure entertainment.  

This is the Fringe show you do not want to miss.

Los Angeles Awards - Live Stats

Best Musical - Top 3

1. JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR (Hollywood Bowl)

5.9% of votes

2. HEATHERS (Backyard Playhouse: Treetop Production)

5.8% of votes

3. HAIR (Conundrum Theatre)

5.4% of votes

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